better later then not at all...

I know that World AIDS day has passed but I was in Sydney seeing a specialist neurologist about my peripheral neuropathy, which was caused by HIV. It seems that in some cases the longer someone has HIV the virus can sometimes damage certain cells and in my case it is the nerve receptors in my feet. I will never be able to fix or cure this problem as it currently stands and the doctor says that unfortunately it will only get worse. After 21 years of living with HIV I thought that I had gotten to a point where I was winning. I have had really bad times and times where I almost died but I fought back and took control. I made sure that HIV did not define my life and that it would be something that is merely part of my life, albeit a constant part of my life. In the end here I am after all of this time and I feel like HIV has kicked me in the head just to remind me that it is still with me and if I want to win I will have to keep fighting. I'm not going to lie, it's a big ask.

Anyway, as a small reminder from the official site for World AIDS Day Australia. I leave you with this:

By 31 December 2006 there were 26,267 diagnoses of HIV infection in Australia. There were 10,125 diagnoses of AIDS and 6,723 deaths following AIDS had occurred. The annual number of new HIV diagnoses in Australia rose from 763 cases in 2000 to 998 in 2006 an increase of 31%.

Something to think about considering that these numbers are from a westernised country and not somewhere in Africa. We are not immune. We are affected and we are responsible for making a difference. I'm just sayin'...

Playing possum...

While living in Sydney we occasionally saw a ringtail possum in Hyde Park. We currently have two that we know of that love to come into our back yard. I also think that they may the ones that our cat Molly may ne tussling with. I hope not because she will loose. So, one of them was in the backyard last night and in her attempt to climb up our Japanese Maple she knocked over the spot light we have to highlight the tree at night. I only knew she was out there because the light had moved. So we went out with a torch (flash light to the Americans) and sure enough she was at the very top of the tree munching away on the leaves. Now I'm not thrilled that she is eating the new foliage on the tree, but I understand the temptation, after all it is early spring and all of the new growth is young and tender. I don't think she will eat much or at least I hope not. The reason I know it's a she is because she had a baby she carried on her back last year and it's not the baby grown up because it is not as big as this one yet. Anyway, I just thought I'd share a picture with you it was hard to get a picture in the dark but hopefully you can just make her out. you can see her eyes shining in the upper right coner. Enjoy...

We're off...

...to Brisbane that is. We will be gone for a few days visiting and old friend that we have not seen for a while. She actually lives in Mooloolaba but Brisbane is a closer airport. This trip is one of several we will be taking over the next few months. I'm sure I mentioned the trips in an earlier post but if not here's a quick reminder:

September - Brisbane
October - Melbourne
November - Melbourne (x1) and Sydney (x2)

Now I know that these aren't huge getaway's but none the less it gets us out of the house. If we take any pictures I'll be sure to post them. Maybe we'll get lucky on our last night in Brisbane as we are staying at the Conrad Treasury Hotel and Casino. Until then I'll post something next week when we get back.

Happy Australia Day...

Australia Day is a national holiday here in the land of Oz. On this day Australians celebrate the arrival of the First Fleet, under Captain Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove and set up the Colony of New South Wales. I've celebrated many Australia Days but this was my first one as a true blue Ozzie. We didn't do anything special as James had to work but at least he got paid extra. The weekend is upon us starting tomorrow and we are/were planing on working in the garden but if the weather forecast holds true we're in for a wet few days and even though it's summer we are expecting temperatures as low as 7c (44F). Let's hope not. Anyway, have a good weekend....