The love for my mother

Love, Maria Mejia

Subscribe to her YouTube channel MariasJournal (and ours, while you’re at it! UntilTheresACure)

Maria not only video blogs, but she also does most of them in both English and Spanish so she can help raise awareness with as many people as possible!

I’ve been HIV positive for 20 years, 10 of them without any HIV meds; and for the last 10 years I have been on HIV medication. If I could go back 20 years, I wouldn’t change a thing. I really believe (and this is only my opinion) that not taking the high dosages of AZT (Retrovir, zidovudine) that were offered 20 years ago saved my life.

Not everyone should wait this long to get on meds. All bodies are different.  My T-cell count went down to a dangerous 39; that is when I said “It is time.” I always follow my heart and gut instincts.

I was on Trizivir (AZT/3TC/abacavir) for the past 10 years. Recently I had another gut instinct: I said “Enough of Trizivir.” The reason for this is because of the AZT in it,  conversations with friends and of course my HIV specialist! Although my  viral load was undetectable, I really felt it was time for a change … and so I did.

I was put on Atripla (efavirenz/tenofovir/FTC), which was what I’d wanted. I made the best decision for me. Less than a month and half later my T cells are now 399 — they have never been so high! And my CD4 percentage went from 22 percent to 27 percent, which is awesome! I am still undetectable and very blessed.

So the one piece of advice I would give myself would’ve been the same — I wouldn’t change a thing. Now for those newly diagnosed: Things are different now! You have more options. You shouldn’t wait till your immune system is destroyed like mine was. Take your meds and live a healthy and positive lifestyle. Please find a doctor you can communicate with and listens to you. Be proactive with your illness; and most important; do your research! These are our bodies, and we are in a learning process along with our doctors.

This is the key to living a healthy life with HIV/AIDS: Don’t minimize the illness! If you don’t take care of yourself and do what you are supposed to do, you can get very ill and even die. All of this is preventable!

Please love yourself and take your Meds when you and your doctor feel it is time for you to start. It will be hard at the beginning; you may feel sick while the body adapts to the medication. This is normal. But after that you will start to feel better, and with the HIV medications your immune system will have help against the virus.

Life is beautiful! And again, keep yourself healthy until the cure comes!

-Maria-

This article was cross-posted from “A Girl Like Me,” a program of The Well Project and TheBody.com.  Subscribe to her YouTube channel MariasJournal (and ours, while you’re at it! UntilTheresACure)

Introducing the Hope Bracelets – $15

These beautiful beaded bracelets are modeled after Meditation beads. Meditation beads have been used by various cultures for meditations, protection from negative energy and to relieve stress.

Wear these Beads of Hope as a reminder that there is a Cure for HIV/AIDS…we are not there yet.

Of all the things your mother taught you growing up, what is the most important life-lesson she passed on to you?

When our staff discussed why we were appreciative of our mothers and what we have learned from them, surprisingly (or not so surprisingly, considering we’ve all come into the same line of work) we found that all of our mother’s had impressed upon us the importance of always giving back and doing good in the world.  Whether for other people, animals, the environment – you name it – we were taught to always be nice to whatever is around us at the time.

So this year, we all made a pact to honor our Moms on Mother’s Day with tributes instead of simply presents.  By this we meant, the gift – whether tangible or non-tangible – needs to be something meaningful and that gives back to the greater good.  There are so many options to choose from now that fulfill the traditional Mother’s Day gift ideas while also giving back when you purchase from one of the hundreds of thousands of non-profits offering “gifts that give twice” (yes, we just so happen to offer a fabulous selection ourselves  www.until.org).  We realize that not everyone has the pleasure of celebrating Mother’s Day with their mothers, and not all moms are the type who want or need more tangible things, so some of us have chosen to make a donation in their names (one option being our campaign Educate a Woman, Educate a Nation, aimed to raise awareness and $10,000 for the 16 million HIV+ women and girls worldwide).   And then there are the types like my mother – for years I viewed her as “the worst” and such a drag to shop for every single gift-giving holiday, because she downright dislikes receiving more things.  But our Executive Director gave me a fantastic idea: why not do an activity with her that gives back?  BRILLIANT.  The one thing I have learned over the years is that the only correct gift for my mom is the gift of my time, and to also spend it giving back made her ecstatic.  So this year we will be volunteering in the community garden on Mother’s Day…and it’s a gift for both of us and the community.

We would like to invite you all to join us in paying tribute to our mothers this year. Please comment below and share with us how your mother inspired you.

Happy Mother’s Day!