Susie's Leaning Tower of Chocolate for 2011 June 1

Permalink [Comments] (3) Wed Jun 01 2011 03:11 AIDS Conspiracy:

Yesterday I was browsing free Kindle books, and I came across a book that claimed AZT causes AIDS and that the FDA and drug companies knew this and allowed it to happen because of greed. Really? Please enlighten me if you know more about this. I admit to youth and ignorance in the 80s, but was still surprised by this conspiracy theory (the book's reviews and a quick google search led me to more reasonable and researched explanations). I guess I shouldn't be surprised; after all, my mom had AIDS and the drug companies killed her.

The drugs and cocktails she took ate away at her stomach lining until she couldn't digest food properly. This led to frequent vomiting, constant nausea, and 3 years of intravenous total parenteral nutrition. When her body quit absorbing the TPN, it was removed and she died shortly after. So, yes, I suppose the drugs did kill her. Fourteen years after AIDS killed my dad.

Fourteen years during which she lived, worked, enjoyed her furballs and flowers, raised her kids, and touched hundreds of students, coworkers, friends, neighbors, church members, and relatives. I can't say I mind so much that the drugs killed her rather than AIDS.

At the same time I wrote this blog entry, several of my cousins were visiting my parents' grave. Was the earth disturbed? I have a feeling there's a run-on sentence in this post that has Mom turning.

Comments:

Posted by Mom at Wed Jun 01 2011 14:12

This is touching. Thanks for posting it.

Posted by Sumana at Thu Jun 02 2011 07:19

The AIDS denialists make me sick. Thank you for writing this.

Posted by John at Fri Jun 03 2011 19:30

Growing up and learning about AIDS in school, I never thought I would have any sort of direct association with AIDS, and certainly not the association I ended up having with it. It was a great learning experience, even though I miss Frances and regret not meeting Roy.

The good news is the cocktail has made life better for many. The sad news is your parents couldn't take advantage.

The side effects of drugs is a difficult discussion. We deal with it every time we leave the Deccan plateau in India and have to decide if those darned Malaria pills are worth it. Normally we force the kids to take theirs and we opt out of ours.

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