|
Article Excerpt
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
On a crisp and sunny October morning, a Cook County HIV and AIDS clinic that occupies the back half of a one-story brick building in south suburban Ford Heights hummed with activity.
In one of the offices, which doubles as a dental clinic, counselor Brian Taylor was talking with Jay, a man whose 53rd birthday was tinged with sadness--his wife had died of AIDS six weeks earlier. Models of rotted and healthy teeth stood on top of each other on one of the shelves in between the two men.
A sturdy man with large-frame glasses, an unblinking gaze and a mustache, Jay explained in a deep voice that he had not realized that the three bouts with double pneumonia she had during the last two years of her life were because of her weakened immune system from the virus.
His wife had tried to tell him that she might have the virus, he said, but he didn't take the idea seriously because he felt she was a hypochondriac prone to exaggeration.
"Maybe she was onto something," Jay said. "It was probably my fault that I didn't believe her.
"Once I came to grips that she had AIDS ... long prior to her passing, she declined any type of medication.... She was a very religious woman who didn't believe in any outside intervention," he said.
Taylor, 30, wore a t-shirt and blue jeans and had thin sideburns that ran like a river past the diamond earring that perched in each ear. His tone toward Jay combined deference and assurance, but his question was direct: "There is no way to know how [the news] will affect a per son who is positive. Is this something that you are really ready to handle?"
Jay, who wore a navy blue sweatshirt, said he had tried unsuccessfully to get tested at a local hospital. "The fact that I'm here--I'm here because I want to know my status," he said. "I want to get the test and find out exactly where I'm at right now."
Taylor drew blood from Jay's finger, letting the...
|
|
Looking for additional articles?
Search our database of over 3 million articles.
Looking for more in-depth information on this industry?
Search our complete database of Industry & Market reports by text, subject, publication
name or publication date.
About Goliath
Whether you're looking for sales prospects, competitive information, company
analysis or best practices in managing your organization,
Goliath can help you meet your business needs.
Our extensive business information databases empower business
professionals with both the breadth and depth of credible,
authoritative information they need to support their business
goals. Whether it be strategic planning, sales prospecting,
company research or defining management best practices -
Goliath is your leading source for accurate information.
|
|
