RITM visit and an awkward encounter

As I mentioned last week, I went to RITM-ARG this morning to get my fresh supply of antiretrovirals (ARVs). I am taking efavirenz and lamivudine-zidovudine.

I left my place around 8:30 a.m. and expected to be at RITM at 10 a.m. and by then, I expected that there won't be many patients at the ARG by that time since CD4 and other laboratory tests were scheduled from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. only. I was wrong and I will get to that later.

It was quite a quick trip to Alabang except for traffic in certain areas of the South Luzon Expressway and I arrived in Alabang at 9:30. I took the FX to RITM and got in the facility almost 10 a.m. When I entered the clinic, there were about 10 other PLHIVs there, one of whom was an old friend of mine and it was only that moment I learned that he was a PLHIV also.  He was filling up Philhealth papers.  I learned that he was diagnosed in 2007 and into ARVs too.  Frankly, it was an awkward meeting and we just exchanged pleasantries for a short while.  Awkward because of the discovery that we were both PLHIVs and we didn't know what to tell each other or how to start telling our sob story.

My friend resumed filling up Philhealth papers while I sat nearby and preoccupied myself with my phones.  Within a 20-minute waiting period, 10 more guys entered the RITM-ARG and I told myself: Whoa, there are really many PLHIVs already. The ARG was getting too crowded so it was a good thing that my name was called and after getting the papers I needed, I went to the pharmacy to get my ARV supply.

I stayed in RITM for less than an hour.  After getting my ARVs, I proceeded to Festival Mall to have snacks and then went home to Makati. During the bus ride home from Alabang to Makati, I felt sad because of the reality that the HIV situation in the country has gone from bad to worse as evidenced by the many PLHIVs we now have.  I recalled way back in 2010 that the ARG won't get too crowded with many patients unlike now.

With the number of PLHIVs growing by leaps and bounds, the sense of privacy in government-run treatment hubs (THs) is now non-existent.  I should seriously consider moving to another TH soon where there's more privacy for PLHIVs like me.