Carpe Diem

            Today for my project I got to do something a little different—I branched out of making phone calls to patients and was able to shadow the Women’s Health Practitioner that I’m working with.  In doing this, I was able to see what she does every day, but more importantly, I was able to see that many of these women who are living with HIV and AIDS are some of the most beautiful and strong women I have ever seen.  Every day they have to think about their health and the way they live their life, and so many of them live a good and full life in the midst of their circumstances.  And that is a success all in itself!  The past cannot be changed and the virus can never be cured (at least, not in this day and age, but I have hope for the future of medicine!), but there is such a huge difference between a woman who is tolerating the fact that she is living with HIV and a woman who is still really LIVING with HIV.

            All of this just makes me appreciate more what I have learned in nursing school about helping my patients to maintain a healthy, positive quality of life.  I’ve seen many patients in the hospitals who have lost so much joy in life because of an illness or an injury that has taken its toll.  And while these people do have incredibly difficult circumstances, as any illness or other medical ailment is hard on life, it is encouraging and refreshing as a student to know that it is still possible for chronically ill people to live a full and good life.  Seeing several women today who are actively doing that—living well, laughing much, and loving their families—gives me, as a student and future nurse, a desire to encourage and be a positive influence in the lives of all my patients.  I want to talk with them and help them to think less about how much an illness may have crippled them and more about how life can still hold little joys and pleasures even in the most difficult circumstances.

            So I desperately need to say thank you to all of the strong, beautiful, powerful women who are pushing through the hard times and continuing to really live life in the presence of HIV and AIDS.  In the future, I hope to be an encouragement to you, but today, you were an enormous encouragement to me.