Trevor 

“It has been 30 years since my HIV diagnosis. I was 25, so I’ve lived most of my adult life with HIV. I have only been tested once for HIV and that was in 1990. It was a scary time, I felt very alone, and I knew it would be a positive result. Something inside of me knew.

​I thought I would be dead within 2 years. And yet I found my inner strength. It was the counseling that brought me through it all; it was the community supports, my family and my friends. The Indigenous community stood by me and I continue to benefit from my community involvement.

Aging well with HIV is a lot easier with the support of friends, family and community. To me, living well with HIV is very similar to living well without HIV. Good food, clean water, a clean environment, exercise, good sleep, keeping warm and dry, healthy stress management and a surrounding myself with caring people; these are the building blocks of healthy aging.

It’s hard not to be sad about all of the friends that I have lost during my journey living with HIV. Before there was effective treatment for HIV, it was a death sentence. I am thankful for my life and for the many HIV tools that we now have as a result of investments in research and development over the years.”