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“Judge Edwin Cameron tells of his journey battling social stigma and illness associated with HIV ”

Was I ready to be a judge with HIV?

Towards the end of September 1997, nearly 11 years after my doctor had called to tell me I had HIV, and three years after our country became a democracy, I fell ill with Aids. The illness hit me hard. Both my lungs were debilitated by pneumocystis pneumonia. Its cause is a fungus that is in the lungs of many people with a weakened immune system, the fungus opportunistically seizes control. It inflicts severe respiratory problems, and unless treated with strong antibiotics can be fatal.

This fungus was stifling by breath. I lat awake at night, trying to inhale. My lungs felt inefficient, distended, like balloons full of water. But what felt worse was another opportunistic ailment, gastrointestinal thrush. This thickly coated my mouth, tongue, throat and stomach. I lost my energy and my appetite. And, when I did manage to take in food, my stomach couldn't digest it. I was losing my weight as fast as my strength, and beginning to get the gaunt "Aids look". I could not help thinking that fungus grows on decaying bodies. My body was dying.

I had hoped never to reach this pitch of decline and fear. A tiny fraction of people with HIV - less than one-fifth of one percent - manage to elude Aids. Medical scientists don't fully understand why. But if you have HIV it is on this group you pin your hopes. You yearn to be among the lucky who will never fall ill. My closest family and friends ardently shared these hopes. After three years of utter solitude, remaining silent while feelings of shame and fear churned inside, in 1990 I had managed to start speaking with my closest relatives, friends and colleagues about my HIV...read the full article