Ma San San Maw, a caregiver from Pyi Gyi Khin’s Pathein office would like to tell of how a client under her care is able to enjoy life once again thanks to ART.
We have to take responsibility to protect ourselves from HIV, and the decision to practice preventive behaviors for the benefit of our health lies with us. However, we often refuse to believe that just a single episode of unprotected sex could lead to being infected with HIV. This is my client’s story.
He used to earn a good living as a dressmaker before he was married, but after he married and his family started to grow, this income was barely enough to support his family. It was at this point that he decided to take a new path in life and make a living as a truck driver. His earnings from truck driving were enough to support his family, although he often had to travel long distances and spend extended periods away from home.
He still has dim memories of one unlucky night from many years back. “I used to relax with alcohol after I had had a tough day. On one of those trucking trips when I stopped for a night at a roadside motel – tire dand away from home – I sought the company of a girl from the motel and was too drunk to use a condom with her.”
Apart from that single shadow of an experience, he had always remained faithful to his family – a loyal husband, a devoted father and a protective grandfather– and their family life was all rosy and sunny, until life took an unexpected turn .
He recounted his emotional experiences of that day. “Life was all peaceful and calm when suddenly the waves of unexpected change rose around me. I had started to have a persistent cough with fever, which became so severe that I had to quit my work. I went to the hospital for a check-up with a heavy heart. After the necessary investigations, I learned that my persistent cough was due to TB.The results of further investigations drained away the energy I had left in me:I found out that I was also infected with HIV, which had weakened my immunity to opportunistic infections like TB”, he said.
He lost hope and the courage to live. “I was overwhelmed by the fear, the sense of doom and the hopelessness. I just wanted to hide and be alone and I dared not face my family or explain to them the cause of my failing health.”
While he was struggling, he received information from the hospital TB team about PyiGyiKhin’s“Arr Man Thit”self-help group. Through regularly attending education and counselling sessions atPyiGyi Khin, he came to know about the care and support available for people living with HIV, about anti retroviral drugs, and how he could live life to the full even with HIV.
He and his wife are forever grateful to the caregivers, volunteers and staff from PyiGyi Khin: “They have understood our worries, reassured us and devoted their time and efforts to visit our home. They have assisted us to take anti-TB and other medicines and closely monito redus for side effects,” he said.
He will never forget how he was able to start ART successfully with the helpof caring and dedicated staff from PyiGyi Khin. “Doctors, nurses, staff and caregivers from PyiGyi Khin were on hand to give me the care and support I needed when my CD4 level fell to only 99 and my health started to deteriorate with AIDS-related opportunistic infections–TB, fungal nail infection, oral thrush and herpes zoster infection. They helped me to start antiretroviral treatment which actually pulled me back from the grave.”
Now that he is on ART, he can work normally and earn his living again as a dressmaker and make the most of life together with his family.
During home visits, he always cheerfully greets Pyi Gy iKhin’s care and support staff with a radiant smile, restored by the power of ART.
Pyi Gyi Khin has been implementing its HIV/AIDS programme with support from the Global Fund since 2011.
