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Your stories: How AIDS has affected you
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YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS(CNN) -- AIDS has killed more than 25 million people across the globe since 1981, when the disease was first recognized. Last year alone, nearly 3 million people died of AIDS. "CNN Presents" and the Clinton Global Initiative teamed up to bring together some of the world's leading AIDS experts and activists to explore how to defeat this catastrophic disease. As part of this special airing this weekend, CNN.com asked readers for their comments on how AIDS has affected their lives. Here is a sampling of responses, some of which have been edited: My uncle died from AIDS. He was the glue that held our family together. I remember being 13 and my mom coming into my room and collapsing on the floor when she got the call. No one is the same. Most of us went on anti-depressants or alcohol. Living with the death of such an exquisite human being killed us all inside. He was an actor, a real estate agent, and a fantastic brother and uncle. He wanted children of his own but knew it wasn't possible. He died way too young. And that's my AIDS story. My son was diagnosed several years ago as HIV positive. We come from an upper middle class background. I look at the way AIDS has become a disease that affects all. Just as we have an obligation to support countries that are victims of genocide, so should we support the hungry and those suffering from AIDS. I am one of the fortunate ones -- a long-term survivor, benefiting from "the cocktail." It has been a blessing, but not without its challenges. People dealing with AIDS deal with significant stigma attached to the disease. It's not like having another chronic condition like diabetes. It has affected my career, family and social life. There needs to be a cure, not just a treatment! My family has been touched several ways. My partner lost his uncle, a cousin and an employee at his dad's company to AIDS. A good family friend to my mother is HIV-positive and all these people were and are white males in various age groups, economic backgrounds and sexual orientation. No matter what anyone thinks, it touches everyone everywhere, rich or poor, white or black, male or female, young or old. We should all be looking for a cure. My story is fairly short but, unfortunately, all too common. My best friend's boyfriend was diagnosed with hepatitis C, and after a week my friend stopped by his doctor's office on his way to the airport to leave for vacation on Wednesday. The following Tuesday, I got his call on my cell phone. Knowing it was time for him to return, I answered with a cheery, "Welcome home!" All I could hear on the other end were heartbreaking sobs. I knew who it was but I didn't know why. He finally choked out the words, "I got it." "Got what?" I asked, patiently, but the cold knot of fear was already solidifying. "Hep C?" "No, I got IT!" he wailed, and my own life changed with the icy splinters of HIV in the middle of a gorgeous day in May, just one year ago. To this day, I still recall the coldness, gut-wrenching helplessness, fear, sadness, guilt and distance I felt, knowing my friend of more than 10 years may likely not see the end of another decade. However, there have been some good results. He's one of the lucky ones -- he has a good job with full benefits and can afford the quarterly testing and monthly prescriptions and weekly counseling sessions. He also found out very early, within months. Unlike others, he will have a chance to fight back. Still, it was a needless thing. It only took once. Meanwhile, his former partner was lucky to have only caught hepatitis C. It's been a wrenching experience for him and for me over the last year, but it has had some benefit. My friend will graduate college this summer. He's finally getting help for the depression that's chased him for years. For me, the biggest change has been the realization that time is precious and there isn't enough. I'm going to grad school now, taking an active role in my career and trying to enjoy life more. So, it was the worst of times, but we've both made the best of it. I truly believe we will find a cure or other way to end HIV and AIDS. I can only hope it comes in time, so I won't need to attend my best friend's funeral. Mr. Clinton, thank you for your help by raising awareness of this critical issue. I've lost both family and friends. I've done what I could to help stop the spread of HIV by educating myself and those around me to the safer side of sex. I also joined the first double-blind study for a vaccine for HIV in which we were injected over a 3-year period. How many lives would have been changed had the product been effective! I believe that a growing problem with HIV-AIDS is denial, and fear of getting tested along with anonymity. We need to take a different approach. I believe people should have the right to know if someone is HIV positive. Knowing is the first key to prevention. The public also has a responsibility to treat others with this disease with dignity. AIDS has changed my life in the most positive way. It has caused me to see that people are strong and that giving up is not an option. I am a nurse at an HIV outpatient clinic and am fortunate to interact with individuals infected with HIV/AIDS. The majority of these individuals, particularly women I have dealt with, often feel a diagnosis of HIV is "the end of life." That is the very first stage. However, after these individuals start to accept this diagnosis as well as talk to others who have HIV/AIDS, they often start to realize this is not going to be their end. Some have made it their learning point to use to keep them going to improve their health. ... Medical technology has increased the amount of time individuals can live with this disease, as well as live a healthy, fairly "normal" life. However, for those that I am thinking of, it is not the technology that is the saving grace, but their strong will and acceptance of love that has turned them into the powerful beings capable of showing others that they know how to live in spite of hardships that have come their way. This disease is in them, but this disease is not them. They teach me nearly every day that life is what you make it. You can decide things are too bad to go on or you can turn the fear into knowledge and step forward. These individuals I know are some of the strongest people alive. They teach all of us to take the small stuff and turn it around to do something positive and to live, with happiness. I was 20 years old when I learned I had HIV on January 17, 1996. The volunteer at the clinic where I had been tested told me I had 5-7 years to live, but anything after five years would not be quality life. In 2003, I started celebrating January 17 each year, as I am lucky enough to still have never had a serious AIDS-related threat to my health. Today, I am intensely aware how short life is (25,000 days for those of us who are lucky enough to live an average life span) and I don't waste a single minute. I embrace my HIV for giving me a chance to appreciate life in a way I don't think I would have otherwise. The meds often make me sick, but I have learned to live with that and don't miss a blessing when I count them every day. AIDS has been around about 20 years and still no cure. My older brother is in his 30s and has AIDS. I'm not sure how well I'll handle his funeral when it comes time. He's too young to die from this. I just keep hoping there will be a cure found. Otherwise, I'll have to say goodbye to the one person I have always looked up to. I am a straight 46-year-old man living with AIDS. I want to begin by telling you that my story is actually positive and negative. To give you an idea of how long I've been living with AIDS, in December 1995 I had 40 T-cells remaining. The new medications hit the market in 1996. So the positive comment for everyone to remember is that if you take the medications, you can live a "normal" life as far as your physical health is concerned. And I advise everyone to take the medications. And my hope is that one day soon the medications will be available to everyone in the world who needs them and who wants them. And therein lies the negative aspect for me. ... I haven't had a girlfriend in "umpteen" years. My social life ended with AIDS. AIDS changed my life tremendously. I was the type that would never make an effort to celebrate anything. My friends would say come on with us and set yourself free from the normal day to day and have some fun. They all died of AIDS, and I celebrate life for them every chance I get. I am so happy with where we are with AIDS today. A lot of wonderful people can live a pretty normal life, but I worry about the many who cannot afford the drugs and desperately need to be educated. We can only rely on the kind people of the world to show their love in their hearts for the many. My mother died at the age of 47, 14 years ago. Her illness symptoms started at a time when HIV/AIDS was vastly viewed as a gay male disease. To that end, I believe that her diagnosis was late -- the shame all too great. She kept this secret until the last year of her life. I am a married mother of three small children and my mom's absence (the reasons for her absence) still cause confusion. Why a woman so young? Why a woman so beautiful? Why my mom? My father was infected with AIDS in the 1980s. He was given blood during surgery. Unknowingly, he infected my mother. My father died from complications of AIDS in 1995. My mother lives with me now and is in her 50s. She takes a lot of medicines and is in pain most of the time due to the side effects of the medicines. It seems like there are so many people with HIV, and so many who don't even know they have it. What is going to happen when my three young children start to date? How can anyone now have a normal relationship with the AIDS concern always there? The spread of AIDS is so high now in young people and seniors. I don't think the world truly realizes how big this problem is, and how we haven't seen anything yet. AIDS has affected me by entering my life and robbing me of my best years. Unfortunately, I am affected by AIDS personally because recently I have been diagnosed with it. I am 30 years old, and I found out that I was HIV-positive at 29 years old. I have no kids, and now I have no life. That is how I am affected by AIDS. I'm currently preparing to graduate from West Virginia University School of Medicine and move on to my residency, but this last month I have spent working in South Africa to gain knowledge on this amazing country and its devastating illness of HIV/AIDS. The country has 5.3 million more cases of HIV than any other country, with a relatively stable government and decent economy. How can this be possible? I am a young physician working in Africa on HIV care and research. I love what I do, and American taxpayers make it possible. Americans should know how successfully their tax dollars are being spent saving lives and bringing hope all over the world through PEPFAR (the President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief). In a time of much bad news about America's role in the world, coverage of the good that America is doing in the global AIDS fight should be a priority. How has AIDS affected my life? Well, my niece has had AIDS since 1991. She and her late husband, who were both medical professionals, were infected by a patient. One of them gave it to the other. At the time, I lived in Southern Cal, and so did my niece. She chose to tell me and not her parents, so I had to keep my mouth shut and help both of them without letting anyone else in the family know for more than a year. It was a mess as it affected both their lives and their marriage. Her husband is since deceased, in 2005, but she is getting along fine with the help of medical services in San Francisco. But it sure has been an education all the way. It's an ugly disease in more ways than one, especially socially. 
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