Today, I got some results back, and as is general form, Amy came to wait with me. I wouldn’t have minded half as much if the wait hadn’t been one of an hour and a half. I would have minded less if my appointment hadn’t been at 2:45. And I would have been totally fine if I hadn’t have had to go through all of that for a 20 minute consultation and a physical. But that’s the National Health Service for you.

I had a fairly decent physician today, though. She was about mid thirties with a good manner about her. She agreed that my counsellor in Hull is feckless and should be put down, and that my GP clearly has Münchausen’s-by-proxy. Which is nice. So then we got down to some talking, and the results came out. I won’t bore you with all of them, because I had about 13 blood titres taken and it would be a waste of space here, so the two most important ones are down there.

CD4 count – 330 (This is low, and the next result made me wonder why.)
Viral Load – 625 (This is actually very low, which Is why I was wondering about the CD4, but anyway…)

The viral load is worked out on a log system – that is to say, it goes up in multiples of ten. So you have 10, 100, 1000, 10,000, etc. Having said this, 625 is a fairly low count. It also means that I probably haven’t had this very long, which is maybe a good thing. The CD4 count being so low, however, means that the subject of treatment was broached. To be honest, I probably won’t need treatment until my CD4 count is less than about 250, but it’s nice to know that I might need a soon. Do I mean nice? No, I think I mean useful. Of course, it’s hard to make a full assessment of a CD4 count using only one blood titre, as throughout the course of HIV, my CD4 will fluctuate. It will go up, stabilise, then have a rapid drop. Wash, rinse, repeat. But enough of that. The biology of this disease is probably the last thing any sufferer wants to have to read about.

The physical was the usual. I had my eyes checked, throat checked, was pokes and prodded in the chest and abdomen, had my stomach cyst grabbed and twisted. And then I was told I would have to go and have a routine chest X-ray. So off me and Amy toddled to the LGI X-ray department, for another 15 minute wait, followed by possible the quickest “shirt-off-stand-there-we’re-done” procedure I’ve ever been through. And so it was done. And then I had two pints of cider and black.

So I’m feeling… well, just as ambivalent as I always did about it. My heart was in my throat when the CD4 count was read out as I knew it should be in the thousands (not the hundreds), but I suppose for now everything is still alright. I’ve got my medication leaflet to look through and panic over when I have the time and the energy. But that’s not now. It’s later. Now I’m busy ignoring it, and trying to cope a bit more…

PosLife