I think one of the most eye-opening things for me at the Summit was just being educated further in the matter of living with HIV. It is an area I have been researching since HIV adoption seems to be on the rise. There are so many mis-conceptions so much ignorance surrounding this issue of HIV. Really....many people are stuck in the 80's when it comes to AIDS/HIV. I came away from the summit determined to do my part in advocating for these children and to help educate people on the realities of HIV.
Here are some facts:
You are 287 times more likely to be struck DEAD by lightening than accidentally contracting HIV from living with a positive person.
There are 33,945 car accident deaths in the US every year.
There are 3,650 swimming related deaths every year.
There are 3,109 fire related deaths every year.
There are 1,818 deaths from fall on stairs every year.
There are 872 choking deaths every year.
There are 82 lightening strike deaths every year.
There are 0 home HIV transmissions in a year.
There are only 3 ways HIV can be transmitted: Having sex with someone infected with HIV. Sharing needless and syringes with someone infected with HIV. Being exposed (fetus or infant) to HIV before or during birth or through breast feeding. per the CDC
Having HIV is considered a chronic and manageable disease in the United States. Children with HIV are expected to live long healthy lives. To marry, have children and see their grandchildren.
I met some amazing mothers involved with project hopeful who have all adopted children with HIV. Some pretty amazing stories! One little girl who was adopted from Ethiopia at the age of 10 was in stage IV AIDS. We are talking miraculous that she is alive!! She weighed only 32 pounds and was written off! Her mother arrived (founder of project hopeful) and fought to bring her home. Selah's hemoglobin levels were so low she was not even going to make the flight home. She needed a transfusion but since she was in advanced stage of AIDS and blood is so precious in Ethiopia they wouldn't even consider giving her a transfusion. The only way was if her adoptive mother would somehow be a match! Of course....just like God!!! Her mother was a match, she received a transfusion of her mother's blood, was able to travel to the US and within 3 months looked like a completely different child! She is doing amazing, viral counts very low and is a miracle of God!!
Countless stories of children written off by the world, scooped up, brought home and thriving. I am not sure yet how this will affect our family. I do know I will become involved on some level. Whether it is helping to debunk the myths, advocate for these children, adopt one, fund raise, etc.
And tomorrow......I will introduce you to a precious bundle of energy that forever changed the face of HIV for us! She captured my heart way before she kissed my cheek but the kiss sealed the deal!!!
If you want further information or education visit www.projecthopeful.org A great organization changing the face of HIV adoption.
3 comments:
have to admit i may be ignorant here... can HIV not be transmitted through blood? i.e. i have a cut on my hand, and I mop up some HIV blood which gets into my cut. It can't be spread that way?
From what I understand the use of drugs suppress the viral count to the point that it is nearly undetectable in the blood. The chances of blood to blood transmission is very low because of this. One of the mother's I talked with has a 9 year old son whose counts are still so low he doesn't even have to be on drugs yet. There is so much for me to learn yet but I was amazed by the information I received already. Does this make sense at all to you? I will do some more checking though.
Hey there! Great to 'find' you here too. :) Looking forward to reading about what's up with ya. :)
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