Story 8
Lee, 31
Miami, FL
I was born in South America and moved to the US about 20 years ago (still haven’t lost my accent when speaking Spanish). I am very close to my family and friends as only my father, mother and sister live here in the country. I am a Gay man that’s very kind, outgoing, funny and loves to make other laugh and feel welcome. I work in nightlife and with animals, even thought those are 2 vastly different careers; they combine some pleasures of my life.
My motivation for wanting to see a therapist was the fact that none of my family and friends know about my diagnosis so for about a year it was just me, myself and I, as I did not feel comfortable letting others know. I would sometimes blame myself as well for being HIV positive; but thanks to my therapist and other health services, it taught me that I have to know that what’s done is done and I cannot change the past. I can only move forwards and learn from my mistakes in order to not repeat them and be able to help others so they don’t go down the same path.
Every day does get easier and time heals all wounds. Another reason for seeking mental health was my already low self-esteem (even though many people would compliment me on my looks and great personality), and the fact that any romantic relationship I pursued would end up not working out, led me to believe that I was not good enough so it must be my outside that needed to be changed. When in fact, I just needed to learn to love myself and accept myself regardless of what other think.
In terms of HIV testing, my motivation is to continue monitoring my health and making sure that I continue to improve. My HIV is controlled through medication and going to bi-annual visits to my specialist. I get tested at Quest Health and then the results are sent to my doctors where we discuss the results obtained.