Mary S. Jones
HIV/AIDS is real and life changing. We have all had moments in our lives where situations or circumstance has caused us to think, how will I ever get over this? Remember as a child when your best friend didn’t want to be your friend any more, when you broke up with your first love, you didn’t get the grade you expected, or you got fired from your job. You probably felt as if the ground had moved from under your feet and the earth had just gobbled you up. But look at us know, we bounced back and now these are things we laugh about with friends and family. That is not the stories told by individuals in this book; the bounce back was not so easy and laughter with family and friends is not the least bit funny.
Lives and families were altered in some cases beyond repair but each person found the will and spirit to live beyond their wildest imagination. The lost of ground in their lives was replaced by a trampoline and they bounced back. They began to live again. As you read their stories try to remember that they are mothers, sisters, aunts, brother, uncle, children, friends and families of someone who care and cherish their simple but unique existence. I want you to think of your life and remember it is no longer business as usual: It’s Personal.
Mary S. Jones is an educator, Trainer and Motivational Speaker with over fifteen years experience. Mrs. Jones received a Bachelor of Education and Masters in Human Behavior and Management from the University of Memphis and a MBA from the University of Phoenix.
Mary's committment to education about HIV/AIDS is evident by her long term work in the fields. She has seen the face of HIV/AIDS change lives around the world. Believing that education is the key for change and personal responsibility for self can stop the spread of this deadly disease. In the absence of a cure and no sign of the disease slowing down; we must change or actions and begin to ask the important questions when it comes to relationships. For more information please visit her Web site at www.marysjones.com.
On November 13, I was awaken in the middle of the night with a toothache so painful that breathing was difficult and walking made it even worse. I applied oral-jel and came very close to over dosing on Tylenols. By 6am I was sitting in the emergency room of a local hospital. I sat there over eight hours waiting to see a doctor. I could not talk; my tongue and face were swollen. I communicated by writing. The nurse finally called me back and I was told that I needed to have two teeth removed.
I went into surgery on November 14th, and woke up one week (November 21st) later in ICU. My mother, sister, brother and the man who threw me out a month earlier were there. I could not talk because of the tubes in my neck and had lost the use of my arms and leg. I was moved to a regular room in the hospital. I never will forget that room, 3236 E. Wing. My family spent the evening trying to explain what had happen to me.
November 22, 2006, my doctor made his morning rounds. He walked in, introduced himself and began explaining that he was going to remove the tubes from my neck and that I would need physical therapy. The next words out of his mouth were that I had Pumoscystic Carini Puenoumia (PCP) and that I was HIV positive. Right there in front of everyone, I could not say a word, it felt like the ground had disappeared and I was being sucked into this endless black hole. I snapped back to the sound of my mother crying; it should be me! My daughter is too young to have this happen to her.
