PVCC Puma Press: April 2006

Tom Smith began his junior year at Arizona State University in 1998. His sophomore year was a little disappointing academically, so he was excited for the fresh start a new school year brings. He turned in every assignment, did well on his tests and was looking forward to a straight-A semester. Consequently, it came as a shock that Oct. 15 was his last day of attendance.On October 10, Smith had taken a test for sexually transmitted diseases. When he arrived home from school on Oct. 15, there was a message waiting for him.

“Tom, we need you to come into the clinic today to discuss the results of your test,” said the answering machine.

Tom’s heart sank. He had taken at least five STD tests by this point, and the doctors never needed him to come into the office. What was different this time?

Smith arrived at the clinic an hour after receiving the message. He was sent into a back room where a doctor, a nurse and a counselor were waiting for him.

“You tested positive for HIV,” said the doctor.

While college students tend to feel they are invincible, according to the National Institute of Health, there have been 28,665 cases of AIDS reported in the United States in people aged 20–24. A recent study done by the NIH discovered that one in 500 college students has AIDS or HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Shock, disbelief, and sadness overwhelmed Smith when he learned of his condition as he tried to understand why this was happening to him. He locked himself in his room for days while he tried to figure it out. Finally, he emerged, ready to accept his fate.

“I quit school and I quit life. I gave away all my valuable things. I made my final wishes clear, and then I waited,” says Smith. “I waited for death. But eight years later, I’m still here.”

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	'One in 500 college students has AIDS or HIV'
	—National Institute of Health
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In 1994, nurse Deborah Benson worked at a hospice that was exclusively for patients in the advanced stages of HIV. “The average age of patients was 23,” says Benson. “It was one of the best and worst experiences of my life.”

Benson describes the hospice as being “touchy feely.” The patients on her unit seemed desperately to want to be touched. She used lots of hugs and hand holding as a way to comfort her patients. Benson also recalls patients avoiding sleep.

“The majority of the patients on the unit were still kids,” says Benson. “They were scared to sleep; they thought that death would steal them if they closed their eyes.”

When a person is infected with HIV, it takes several months to 10 years to show the first symptoms of the virus. These symptoms can include lack of energy, weight loss, frequent fevers, rashes and short-term memory loss. It is impossible to determine when a person moves to the most advanced stages of HIV, known as AIDS.

The definition of AIDS, according to the National Institutes of Health, is having “fewer than 200 CD4 T-cells.” A healthy adult has about 1,000 T-cells.

Symptoms common in people with AIDS include coughing, seizures, painful swallowing, forgetfulness, severe and persistent diarrhea, fever, vision loss, nausea, weight loss and extreme fatigue.

Recently a PVCC faculty member saw the devastating effects that AIDS has on a college student in her own classroom. The student was missing a lot of classes and was at risk for being dropped, so he confided in his teacher that the side effects from AIDS were preventing him from coming to class.

“He approached me and said that if I dropped him, he would lose his health insurance because he would not be considered a full-time student,” says the faculty member. “Without health insurance he couldn’t afford the medication that kept him alive.”

Eventually the PVCC student did what Tom Smith did. He stopped coming to class all together.

“I regret not finishing school,” says Smith. “It’s been eight years, and I still don’t have full-blown AIDS. But you just never know when it will happen.”

Smith holds a part-time job and is able to schedule his own hours for the week. “Since my immune system is so weak, I’ve used a lot of sick days,” says Smith. “When I get something as simple as a cold, I won’t leave the house. I will just rest a lot and carry a can of Lysol with me around the house. It’s really easy for a cold to turn into pneumonia for me.”

Smith is currently looking forward to the birth of his niece and an upcoming vacation he has planned. “I really do enjoy my life,” says Smith. “I appreciate everything I have, and I don’t take anything for granted. I think my family actually gets annoyed by me saying ‘I love you’ 20 times a day.”

Smith offers advice to college students, advice that he wishes he had followed in his youth. “You’re not invincible; don’t let one heat-of-the-moment decision alter your life forever.”