Should I talk about the bad stories or the good stories?

Okay, the bad part is hearing that something’s wrong with you. That burns me.

I don’t want doctors bothering me--just leave me alone. I don’t know why I’m afraid of doctors. Sometimes I just don’t like to hear them talk. I just found myself going more to the doctor after I was diagnosed. Before, I didn’t have to go to the doctor. I was healthy.

 

 

Bronx, New York 

I contracted HIV in 1992. I got into an accident in Miami. My friend was driving: He didn’t see the stop sign, and there you go...I think that’s why I got the HIV. Then I moved back to New York. That was years ago. But I feel hopeful. HIV doesn’t bother me too much yet.

 

 

Bronx, New York 

 

I’m originally from Guyana. It’s a little country in South America, between Brazil and Venezuela. I’m from British Guyana, and we’re the only English-speaking country in that hemisphere. My whole family came from there together--my wife, my daughter and I. My daughter was around eight years old at the time. She loves it here now. She says she doesn’t want to go back. We came as legal residents, but now I’m a citizen.