He takes a drug called Combivir, which combines the AIDS drugs AZT and Lamivudine, as well as the anti-viral drug called Acyclovir. Like many AIDS patients, Pieters swallows the drug combo to help his body suppress the virus day after day. For many of those who are HIV-positive, the therapy means a renewed shot at a good life. Although he once had a case of shingles and a touch of walking pneumonia, he has never had a serious AIDS-related illness such as Kaposi's sarcoma or lymphoma. AIDS is still on my mind, but I'm not thinking about it every day.
Life is about living each moment.
Back then, AIDS was new. It was taboo. When I was diagnosed, I said, 'It can't be me. The fears of a slow, painful death, isolation and being ostracized by family and friends sent his spirits plummeting. He became suicidal.