My Weekly Blog #5

This week was the most challenging week of this year for me. It started very good, inspirational, especially on Tuesday 23rd when around 8pm my 9 year old and I were watching House of Payne, a comedy show produced by Tyler Perry. For the first time in my life I see how they added a female character HIV positive to a show to try to create conscious and use it to teach the viewers about the ways one can get the virus. In the show they have other characters uncomfortable with her presence or with her touch, I was so proud of them for having this concern and proceeding to use their show to reach millions for the good of society. This is something that I support and I wish I could be a part of. Now on Wednesday 24th, they also did like a colon cancer awareness show but nothing compare to the one about HIV. I am still going through some tough days still, because in the middle of my school’s datelines and my new grandchild being born on Wednesday, I am also sad to hear about my 16 year old going through some hard times with her biological father. I am so disappointed of him for the man that turned out to be . I want to ask all of you to please keep us in your prayers to see if I can help her the best I can through this situation. I am just so glad that I divorced him such a long time ago.

Additional Blog for this week

My two famous HIV positive Puerto Rican singers are, Hector Juan Perez Martinez, with the artistic name “Hector Lavoe” and Jose Antonio Torresola Ruiz, with the artistic name “Frankie Ruiz”.

Hector Lavoe, was borne in Sept. 30, 1946. Hector Lavoe was a famous salsa singer and his songs dealt with love and the social realities of Latino’s life (Rhapsody, 2010).
In 1979, he went through a period of great depression and look for help in a priest of the Santeria faith, to attend to his heroin addiction. After a short rehabilitation, he relapsed, following the natural death of his father, the accidental death of his son and the murder of his mother in law. These events along with being diagnosed with HIV, affected Lavoe to the point of attempting suicide in 1988, where he jumped off a balcony of El Condado Hotel in Puerto Rico. Hector Lavoe survived and recorded his last album before his health began failing. Lavoe died from a complication of AIDS on June 29, 1993 (Salsaclasica, 2010).

Frankie Ruiz was borne March 10,1958.Although Frankie was of Puerto Rican descent, he was borne and raised in Patterson, New Jersey; one information that not everybody in the island knows (Artist Direct, 2010).

Frankie was one of the first salsa singer who perform salsa with a sensual style and his major role help rebirthing the popularity of salsa beat in the 70’s (Artist Direct, 2010).

Frankie Ruiz started using illegal drugs and alcohol during his years of fame causing cirrhosis of his liver and liver failure. Although many web sources do not report him being HIV positive, others report him dying of complication of AIDS at age 40, a month after his final concert at Madison Square Garden, on August 9, 1998 (Artist Direct, 2010).

Do You Know….

Pregnant women infected with HIV are more likely to spread the virus to the children if they are carrying twins (Reuters.com, 2007).

Dr. Laurent Mandelbrot from the University of Paris commented how “the length of pregnancy, the delivery method, and other factors indicate that twin pregnancy remained 2.3 higher risk of mother to child HIV spread than single pregnancies“ (Reuters.com, 2007).

If the premature rupture of the membrane, a condition in which the sack around the fetus breaks early, the risk will increase to a 4.5. It is recommended to start up the anti-HIV therapy no later than the beginning of the second trimester (Reuters.com, 2007).

Michelle Austein Brooks an U.S. government and politics writer reported in Dec. 1, 2009, how “U.S. has helped 240,000 babies to be born free of HIV due to a program that helps HIV positive mothers prevent passing the virus on to their children”. I don’t think this number of babies being saved are enough compare to the numbers outside U.S.

Now a publication in The Ecologist, on April 2001 reported How “every year 600,000 babies are born HIV- positive. 90% of them in Africa, United Nations figures 12 millions children are orphaned by AIDS in Africa in 1999 alone. I am only hoping that this numbers go down by 2010 and that more programs like the anti-HIV therapy reach countries like Africa but in Mass numbers. It’s not just the fact that the kids are parentless but leaving them HIV positive makes even less unbearable (find article, 2001).


Works Cited

Retrieved February 27, 2010 from Brooks, M., 2009. http://blogs.americans.gov/obama/tag/hivaids/

Retrieved February 27,2010 from The Ecologist. 2001. http://findarticle.com/p/articles/mi_m2465/is_3_31/ai_73040698/

Retrieved February 27, 2010 from Mandelbrot, L., Univ. of Paris. AIDS. 2007. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKRA1794122007611

Retrieved February 26, 2010 from Frankie Ruiz. 2010. http://www.artistdirect.com/artist/bio/frankie-ruiz/487822

Retrieved February 26, 2010 from Hector Lavoe. 2010. http://salsaclasica.com/hectorlavoe/bio.asp?l=en

Retrieved February 26, 2010 from 2010. www.rhapsody.com/hector-lavoe

Weekly Blog #4

This week was a less stressful and more easy going on my books. My oldest daughter's second baby has not arrived yet, they're giving her until the 1rst to induce her into labor. My youngest son just turn 18 this week and to me this was the hardest things I ever had to celebrate. He's the one that had giving us the most challenges as parents and I am very afraid of his decision making now that he is "legal". I finally found my cousin online this week and we chatted for a while and he was telling me how well he was doing and how he just graduated from computer programming and he found a job, all while keeping up with his doctor's appointment and his retroviral medications. I am extremely proud of him and happy that he has kept himself very strong and healthy, which it takes a lot of dicipline to keep up with his medicines on a daily basis. He is very optimist and this trait I need to get in gallons of it.
This week has been a very family focused and the majority of it is due to this class because it does make one more aware of what you could lose for the lack of information and all these diseases, the images just get stuck to my brain and all I can think is if my kids would know and experience all these maybe then they'll grow some common sense and think their decisions twice.
I kept watching the news this week, and I kept hearing the National weather service saying Washington got more than a foot of snow 13 times since 1870, and I saw on TV last night how President Obama was giving a speech on a Nevada conference and he also mentioned how how so far Washington has got up to 5 feet of snow. He proceeded to explain all the changes cause by Global warming and that we have to cope with it and make changes to deal with this by doing our part and all. But I could think is what about the changes that still need to be done as far as including HIV education in our children's classrooms. I know it had nothing to do with it but to me HIV related completely with global warming because of all the drastic changes, and people freaking out, scared of what's next, and how to deal with it, what techniques need to be done to help this crisis get better like fuel efficient gas and recycling. Anyways, HIV/AIDS is also a crisis that need people need to be more aware and many more things have to be done to fight the ignorance with wisdom on this subject at least nationally speaking.

DO YOU KNOW...

Only 12 HIV positive babies has been born in CUBA since the first case was discovered in 1986 (Hoffman, 2004).
In US there has been 35 times more death from AIDS than in CUBA. As of February 2003, reported a rate 10 times higher than in CUBA, with a 0.03% of the population or about 1 million American infected with HIV (Hoffman, 2004).
50% of infected women has HIV in the vagina and cervix. C-section reduces the exposure time of the baby throughout the vaginal tract in contact with his or her mother's fluids, which reduces the possibilities of infection (CAFRA news, 2001).
Mother's can reduce their baby's risk from 25% to 8% by using by AZT, antiviral therapy, during the last 6 months of pregnancy (CAFRA news, 2001).
The transmission of HIV to babies is very low in CUBA, where there is a service completely dedicated to women carriers who choose to have their babies.
The direct transmission is 0.34% of all the cases of HIV/AIDS in the entire country. This indicates that CUBA is among the lowest reported internationally (CAFRA news, 2001).
The Caribbean is the second most infected region in the planet by HIV/AIDS (Mas, 2006).
CUBA posseses a prevalence of 0,007; this prevalence is the lowest of the region and one of the lowest in the world (Mas, 2006).
In CUBA, HIV/AIDS patients get free mandatory educational treatment for everyone, free medical attention, free treatment for any STD's, free retroviral medications. As a result, the quality of life is much higher than sick people in another part of the world (Mas, 2006).

Work cited

Web: retrieved february 20,2010 from CAFRA news. Hernandez Y.,Vila L.,Naya Z.,Lopez Y. Women and HIV/AIDS. 2001. http://www.cafra.org/spip.php?article183

Web: retrived february 20, 2010 from CAFRA news. Mas S. 2006. http://www.cafra.org/spip.php?article 680

video: retrieved on February 20,2010 from www.utube.com/watch?v=aWzCFPfYrg

Web: retrived February 20, 2010 from Mas S. 2004. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2688320/

My Weekly Blog

It has been a challenging week for me. I have been helping my oldest daughter with her labor pains and her problems not dilating anymore than two inches at 37 weeks of pregnancy. We spent hours at the hospital, at her Doctor’s office, and at the park trying to get her to walk. We also research foods and other activities that would help her dilate faster.
I recently had to make an executive decision as far as keeping my chemistry I class or drop it. I have not taken this course since 1992, 18 years in May. I hated that I had to drop it for the sake of my GPA and my understanding of the material is vital in my career. So now I will be graduating even later than planned.

And to top it with a cherry, I called my mom daily to tell her how everything is going, including in my classes, and she loves me telling her especially about our HIV class. She announced me how for more than twenty years one of my 8 uncles has been HIV positive for that long, and to her surprise asymptomatic for that many years. I went mute, could not believe what I was hearing. I knew about my cousin on my dad’s side being HIV positive for like 10 years but to me it was ok because he told me personally since we were raised very close, but my uncle on my mom’s side who I played and sang and eat and joked around for all these years since I was little and now just find out about it like “they” kept from me on purpose, it is just a disappointment to me greatly. I could have been there more or share other stuff with him or even learn from him, I just feel sad of how things come at the last moment like a family dark secret in a soap opera. Maybe He wanted like this, maybe he requested her to not tell anybody, I don’t know but I will find out more about it when I go visit PR on March and I keep you guys posted.

DID YOU KNOW:

President Jacob Zuma from South Africa made a fool of himself by saying, “a shower could prevent AIDS”.

Then on Jan. 12, 2009, on World AIDS Day, he was applauded for announcing that “A policy change will take place on April 2009 that will include treatment for all under 1 year old, regardless of their level of CD4 cells. A change that could save hundreds of thousands of lives in the nation hardest hit by the HIV virus that causes AIDS”.

U.S. responded that “it was giving South Africa 120 millions over the next 2 years for AIDS treatment drugs. That is in addition to 560 millions the U.S. has already pledged to give South Africa in 2010 for fighting AIDS.

So
South Africa treat all HIV-Positive Babies
President announces on World AIDS Day!!

The Canadian Press- Copy right
Associated Press writer Celean Jacobson in Johannesburg contributed along with Donna Bryson and Andy Wong

Retrieved from web: http://healthandfitness.sympatico.ca/News:ContentPosting?newssitemid=302945025&feedname=CP-Health&Show

My Weekly Blog
I had a very interesting week; I saw two of the required movies, Silverlake and Common Threads and loved how down to Earth they made them.
I made my 16 year old daughter watch them with me and we cried together and it gave me a chance to discuss the disease more in depth with her.
I got a bunch brochure from the Osceola County Health Department about HIV/AIDS and others STDs and I took some time aside to go over them with my 9, 16 and 17 year old kids at home.
It felt good knowing what to say and having all these resources in hands did work the magic. I am very thankful to this class; it has made a difference even in my kid’s life.


Weekly Topic
Venezuela has one of the largest HIV/AIDS epidemics in the Latin American region and the disease is continuing to spread (mostly through unsafe sex) (UNAIDS).
Local Non Government Organization profile: “Acción Solidaria” (www.acsol.org)
Acción Solidaria is a Venezuelan non-government organization that offers one of the only comprehensive service centers for people infected with HIV/AIDS. They offer medical and psychiatric support, as well as education and prevention programs to Venezuelan communities. Through these programs, the organization attempts to create awareness about the disease, as well as bring an end to the stereotypes and stigmas that surround it. An explanation of the organization and its president can be found in English at this website.
Accion Solitaria was awarded the 2006 Red Ribbon Award. The Red Ribbon Award is given to community groups for outstanding leadership in responding to AIDS in one or more of the following categories:
• Ensure that that people living with HIV receive treatment
• Support HIV prevention, treatment and care programs for people who use drugs
• Remove punitive policies and laws, stigma and discrimination that block effective AIDS responses and marginalize key populations (men who have sex with men, transgender people, sex workers and prisoners)
• Stop violence against women and girls and promote gender equality
• Enhance social support for those affected by HIV, including orphans and vulnerable children
Feliciano Reyna Ganteaume, created the Ashoka network of AIDS Community Service Centers in Venezuela; a country severely lacking in effective prevention and care. He asked support from the most influential sectors of society (Ashoka, 2002).

DID YOU KNOW…
HIV positive newborns get many blood tests done at various stages after birth up to or past six months of age to determine his or her HIV status (Univ. of Virginia, 2007).
HIV positive babies get all their routine vaccination against diseases and they are safe for them (Univ. of Virginia, 2007).
Doctors recommend a “6 weeks course of oral AZT in combination with other anti-HIV medication” as soon as they are born just to be on the safe side (AIDS INFO, 2009).
When it is official that the newborn does have HIV, then he or she will still get treat it for P. Carinii/Jiroveci Pneumonia (PCP) as a form of prevention and the newborn will also get treat it for HIV/AIDS indefinitely just like an adult would (Pregnancy-info, 2009).

Works Cited
Web: Ashoka. (2002).Retrieved February 3, 2010. From http://www.ashoka.org/fellows/viewprofile3.cfm?reid=97611
Web: AIDS INFO. (May 2009). Retrieved February 3, 2010. From http://www.aidsinfo.nih.gov/ContentFiles/HIVPositivewomenand TheirBabies_FS_en.pdf
Web: Red Ribbon Award.(2010). Retrieved February 3, 2010. From http://www.redribbonaward.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=119&Itemid=92&lang=en
Web: Venezuela. (2009). Retrieved February 3, 2010. From http://www.unaids.org
Web: University of Virginia Health System. (January 22, 2007). Retrieved February 3, 2010. From http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/UVaHealth/peds_infectious/aidshiv.cfm