rousseau

Hello, I jusst joined. I'm not sure whether this is the best venue for my questions, but I'll find out.

I am what might be called a caretaker/advocate for a hiv/aids patient who does not really have a clue as to how to deal with bureaucracies. She is 36. She was given hiv by her then-partner, who has been long dead (of aids). She has had the virus for a verified 14 years, possibly longer.

This in itself is unusual, because untreated people were dying, back in the day, after 4 or 5 years. She is stubbornly untreated, saying that the medicines (which she once tried for a matter of days) make her nauseous. She has the belief that if she does not 'worry about it' she'll be ok. For the occasional infection, antibiotics are sought.

She does seem to be maintaining. So I choose not to browbeat her, concerning treatment, as her doctors do. It's counterproductive and exhausting.

I often think, though, that a person who has maintained for so long should herself be an object of inquiry. What's going on with her biochemistry that might be useful to others?

Be that as it may, let's get on to the true oddness. She also suffer from 'life-threatening anemia', in which red blood cell loss from undetermined cause necessitates an rbc transfusion every six months.

She has had two of these. After the first, her viral load dropped to 'undetectable'. Her health care professionals congratulated her, thinking that she had begun to take her medicines. She hadn't. After the second transfusion, there was no change.

I am convinced that there was some factor in one of the donors' blood --- there were two donors --- that ate up the virus like pac-man eats up those little golf balls. What other explanation is there? Should not this donor be investigated by every research resource available?

I described this case in letters to two hiv researchers. In neither case did I receive a reply. There is probably no theoretical base to account for it.

No mistake was made in the blood test; the unusual results prompted the lab to re-test. No error.

What should be done, and where should I go? Some other message board? I know the rules are pretty tight here. Also, if only for her sake, I'd like to find that donor.