I thought I'd introduce myself. My name is Willy. I guess that my "title" is administrator........ but really, I am barely that. I am just here to help facilitate things and make some improvements if I can.
I will tell you a little about myself. First of all........ I'm not HIV positive. I do some work on our "sister" site; HCVanonymous. Yup; that
does mean that I am positive for the hepatitis c virus. I just found out that I was positive for HCV about 18 months ago.
It was a hell of an awakening. One moment you think you are fine...... the next moment you have a life threatening disease. I had some experience with a 12 step group (al-anon) and so when I found out that there was a HCVanonymous I checked it out. Within a week, I had found the bulletin board. I was fortunate enough to find people there that knew something about the disease to help me. They had medical information that could help. They had practical experience where I had none. Perhaps, as important as anything they had a positive attitude, and even a sense of humor....at least a sense of perspective where I had none.
I hated having that information; that I was positive for HCV. I have since learned that knowledge is power. There are thing which I cannot control........ such as that I contracted my virus....... and there
are things that I
can control. I can control what I eat and drink. To some extent...... I can control my attitude. ( well..... kinda
) I can control my education about my disease. I can control my choice of doctors......or treatments.
One thing that I have enjoyed,that has given my life some meaning, is helping people that are afflicted with HCV. You may not be aware of it, but you have a tremendous ability to help people that are afflicted with HIV. If you can share your experiences, if you can help people that are browsing, looking for information, or looking for support. You can really impact on peoples lives when they most need it.
Our board at HCVanonymous has over 20 thousand posts. It is the HIVanonymous's "sister site" and you are welcomed and encouraged to visit. I would like to have a "co-infected" forum for those that have both viruses. I feel that we share many of the same needs, health concerns, social stigmatisms, challenges, and similar solutions. Here is the link to the HCV Message Board;
http://www.hcvanonymous.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.plIf there is anything which I can do to help you...... or this board...... please let me know.
Best,
Willy
HIV ANONYMOUS
Author
