2nd Year Anniversary

It was a lazy, cold Friday dawn when my alarms synchronously rang and I just kept on snoozing them. My mind was telling me to get up but my body was telling me otherwise. Thirty minutes later, the struggle of getting up finally ended. I took a quick shower, and ate a light breakfast. I don't want to be late for my 2nd year anniversary consultation.

It was a smooth sailing ride from Manila to Alabang. Traffic wasn't as jam-packed as I expected. It took me roughly an hour to get to the hub. Although, I was still a little stressed that I might not make it to the cut-off time.

Similarly, the whole process of my consultation in RITM-ARG was smooth sailing too. Numbers were called at a faster pace. Vital signs were recorded earlier. Blood samples were no longer extracted at the laboratory. They have their own medical technologists inside the clinic. It only took a long wait in the Radiology Department. I was able to eat my breakfast before I was called for my chest X-ray. I opted not to do the PPD test. For sure, I'll be getting a positive result anyway. Besides, I don't want to get that same ugly wound and scar form that unreliable test. :D

Few hours before lunch, I was able to finish all the necessary tests, and was able to get my 3 months worth of medications.

While waiting for my CD4 count, I noticed a few familiar faces. But I don't think they know me. If I'm not mistaken, one of the guys in the clinic was my professor in med school. I won't elaborate further on the details. I don't want to reveal our identities. He was wearing a mask the whole time that's why I could not confirm his identity. The other guy is someone from my WeChat friends list. We haven't got the chance to meet but I know it's him.

I could have approached them both to make the waiting game a little less dull but I was afraid. Besides, I'm not really that approachable. *winks*

Anyway, I got my results faster than the usual. It was a good news. My count rose from 311 last August 2014 to 360 today. Not bad at all.

As for my friend whom I was with the whole day in the clinic, his count dropped and has to shift his meds from Efavirenz to Lopinavir/Ritonavir. Don't lose hope! Just keep fighting!

I left Alabang at around 3 in the afternoon, and was back in Manila an hour later. I could have gone somewhere else to celebrate the good news but I decided to go home and slept for the rest of the night.

Aja!