Yeah, baby!

I took the train to Baltimore this morning to see my doctor and get the results of my latest blood work. I wasn't really expecting that much since I had such a great increase three months ago, and I thought that my recent illness might have depressed my numbers a little. However, my t-cell count now stands at 515, a 25% increase over three months ago. My t-cell count has doubled in the past six months. Viral load remains undetectable. Wahoo!

I talked with him about the bug I suffered during my Rehoboth trip, and he said it sounded like it was just a case of the stomach flu. He said it's been going around. As it turns out, Russell has been suffering from something similar for the past few days. He's going to try to get in to see Dr. Westrick this afternoon, so I gave the doctor a heads up.

One of the things that made this bug scary for me is that I had a friend stay overnight on the night before Russell and I left for Rehoboth. This guy also has HIV and I had his cock in my ass without a condom, although he didn't ejaculate. So I had these fears about reinfection running through my brain while I was sick, even though I tried to reason that I wouldn't see any reaction in only two days and that it was far more likely that I had caught the flu from him instead. However, it wasn't until the doctor agreed with me and pointed to the good lab results that I really felt free of that concern.

Another reason for safe sex: avoid unnecessary fear. It was an unpleasant reminder.

We also talked about a couple of dizzy spells I've had recently, where I've stood up from the couch and had my vision get dark and I felt dizzy. I haven't had those since I was a teen, but my blood pressure checked out okay. I just need to be a little slower getting up from a prone position. :-)

Finally, we talked a little about possible lipoatrophy in my face. I think I see some changes going on, but there's nothing obvious yet. If I am developing lipoatrophy, it would be a good idea to change my meds, because early lipatrophy can reverse itself if the drug causing it is changed, but that will be more difficult later on. But we're going to take a wait-and-see approach before changing my drug regimen, especially since it seems to be working well for me. We'll revisit the topic in three months.

So, nothing but good news from the good doctor this morning! Whee!

Ride 'em, cowboy!

Eric and I drove into Silver Spring Saturday evening for a movie, blundering right into the Silver Spring Jazz Festival. I always like events that block off city streets to automobile traffic, where the streets are clogged with people instead of cars.

We managed to catch a showing of The 40-Year-Old Virgin. It's a fun movie, not at all a waste of money. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. In fact, it's kind of a coming-out story, in its own way.

On an impulse, I dragged Eric into the Borders store there and found a copy of Annie Proulx's Close Range: Wyoming Stories, a collection of short stories that includes Brokeback Mountain, the story that is "now a major motion picture!"

I finished reading the story on the train this morning. It didn't make much of an impression on me, although I can see where a properly executed movie will just wring me out. It's a good story, but the writing didn't really grab me, despite Annie's Pulitzer Prize. It seems a little too terse to me, I guess. I've read books that moved me to tears, and this story didn't do it. I've gone back to the beginning of the book to read the other stories, however. Maybe I'll appreciate her writing more after more exposure.

I'm looking forward to the movie's release in December.