Keisha Shakespeare-Blackmore, Staff Reporter
Financially stretched
Recap: Last week Gabrielle had to put up with a nurse who has been tactless in her approach towards her. (She is HIV-positive and pregnant with her second child.) Gabrielle feels as though the nurse was belittling her.
Last week Gabrielle* began feeling chest and abdominal pains. She went to a popular public hospital to have it checked out early last week. On arrival, there was only one doctor and three nurses on the ward. The doctor said he was only dealing with patients who were three centimetres dilated and those going into delivery.
Gabrielle did not see the doctor until the following day about 11 p.m.
It turned out she had a urinary tract infection because the baby was resting on her bladder. She was told to do a urine test, but to date she has not done so because of financial constraints.
"We are financially stretched right now and I don't know how much it is going to cost," she said. So, until she figure things out, she will have to battle the pain, which she says occurs mostly in the nights.
Gabrielle said lately she has been feeling like she is caught in the middle of a whirlwind and all she can do is watch everything being tossed to and fro. She said her boyfriend does the best he can, but she is worried about him because she feels helpless.
Friend died
Gabrielle notes that one of her friends died recently from AIDS and since he died, she has been tormented. She said that his relatives abandoned him once they found out he had the disease. She often wonders what is wrong with people, "How they can be so cruel and filled with hatred."
She added that sometimes even your own relatives don't want anything to do with you when they find out you are positive.
"The Government may believe that things are improving as it relates to discrimination (yes they may be a little better than a few years ago), but discrimination still is very much a part of our reality."
*Names changed.
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