http://blackvoices.aol.com/black_lif...28133509990001
An Epidemic Among Us
by Latif Lewis, blackenterprise.com
Born into a dysfunctional family with two heroin-addicted parents, Rae Lewis-Thornton is no stranger to adversity. But the healthy-looking, divorced, 43-year-old woman, living with full-blown AIDS for 14 years, has a strong message for African Americans. Taking the cards she's been dealt, coupled with an infectious zest for life, she is educating other African Americans, who are disproportionately infected by the disease, on prevention and treatment.
In her new self-published book Amazing Grace: Letters Along My Journey ($14.95), Lewis-Thornton chronicles her 10 years of speaking, letters from those she's touched, and the changing attitudes of HIV/AIDS.
Q: How did you find out that you were infected?
A: I was diagnosed with HIV 19 years ago. I donated blood and what I thought was a thank you letter was a letter telling me that something was wrong with the blood I donated. For seven years I lived in denial. When I made a transition to AIDS, somewhere around the eighth year, I went public. People know me most for being that woman to help to change the face of AIDS. [Lewis-Thornton has appeared on BET, 'Nightline,' the cover of Essence magazine, and won an Emmy for a CBS series on living with AIDS.]
I have been living with HIV for almost 22 years. I have been living with full blown AIDS for 14 years. And I still don't' look sick. I wasn't promiscuous. I lived a normal live. I dated in the name of love and I had sex in the name of love, but I still ended up with HIV.
Q: Why is it important for African Americans to get tested for HIV?
A:The earlier you know your HIV status, the longer you live. Most African Americans, however, are diagnosed with AIDS, not with HIV. So by the time they find out they're infected, they've already been infected for 8-10 years, they've already infected other people, and they don't benefit from treatment like our white counterparts with HIV do. So testing is probably one of the most serious health concerns for African Americans today.
Q: How can African Americans get over the stigma of having AIDS, starting a dialogue, and the fear of getting tested?
A: We need to move beyond the traditional boundaries in the African American community. The broader the coalition is around HIV, the more people begin to accept the fact that this is a reality. African Americans are in denial across this country. We are 54% of the AIDS cases, but we are 13% of the population. So it's going to take a village to stop this.
Q: Living with AIDS for so long, has treatment been a financial burden for you?
A: I have good healthcare and I don't have health insurance. I go to the Court Center which is owned by Cook County Hospital in Chicago. It's the state-of-the-art HIV infection and disease center. I get my medicines for free.
No one will insure me. I lost my health insurance about five years before I made the transition to AIDS [after several job changes. When it was time to reapply for health insurance, it was denied because it was then considered a preexisting condition]. So I have not had health insurance for 15 years.
Most people in their cities can go to the clinic that treats HIV and get treatment. There's a federally funded/state-funded, drug program called ADAP. It's a drug assistance program specifically for people with HIV. If you qualify, [they] will send the medicine to your house. [Also] public assistance does pay for HIV treatment and HIV medicines.
Q: How is your love life?
A: The reality is my HIV status has not hindered my dating life. Men are still willing to have sex with me-men are still willing to date me. And that is a testament to the fact that we all need to know our HIV status, because you don't know who's infected.
To not know could mean the difference between how long you live or how quick you die.
Soror Rae Lewis-Thornton
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