Living with HIV, cared for by the MUHC

You wouldn’t expect someone with HIV to call themselves lucky, but that’s how Stephen sums it up when he looks back at nearly three decades of managing the disease.

“Ninety-nine point nine per cent of the time I stick to the medical regime,” he says. “I also watch my diet very closely. I have a tremendously high activity level, and I’ve been able to maintain that. ”

Stephen (not his actual name) learned he had HIV in 1987, a time when a diagnosis was a virtual death sentence. Through the years of upheaval that followed he remained focused on staying alive, first to see his children finish high school. Then college. Today, at age 65, he’s focused on being there for his grandchildren.

The same year Stephen was diagnosed, Dr. Norbert Gilmore began working as an infectious disease specialist at the Royal Victoria Hospital. As such he has been a front-line witness to the transformation in HIV treatment.

“It has been a huge human journey,” he says. “I have gone from seeing people die to now, where with the right combinations of drugs people can stay alive and live normal, active lives.”

Today’s antiretroviral drugs are highly effective and have transformed HIV treatment. The right combination of medications and lifestyle, along with good doctor patient communications can produce lasting results.

But HIV treatment is about more than just the virus: Patients may see their world turned upside down. In Stephen’s case, it eventually resulted in the end of his marriage, his job, and huge changes in his family relationships.

That’s where the team at the Chronic Viral Illness Service can step in to help people with HIV or hepatitis C. A dedicated team of social workers, a psychologist, a psychiatrist, nurses, outreach workers, pharmacists, a dentist and even a lawyer, the team provides necessary support to patients who may need help in many aspects of living with these illnesses.

“We want to try to bond with people, to make them feel supported,” says Gilmore. “I tell people I love success, and this is a great service.”