Dawn's Gift - AIDS Education

Dawn's Gift
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Disease progression

Dawn was infected with HIV in the summer of 1987 while on vacation.  She figured that birth control pills were all she needed with the handsome and charming New Yorker she met.

She didn't become aware of her infection until August, 1989 - this was by a blood test two weeks before her wedding in Paris.  She declined medical treatment (the drugs had terrible side-effects, and would only work for so long); instead adjusting her lifestyle to be as healthy as possible.

She contracted pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) in August, 1991 - which is a defining infection for full-blown AIDS.  She would be treated for this infection 7 times; almost every time in addition to the infection she had to deal with drugs that either caused severe allergic reactions, or were simply ineffective.  (In addition to the PCP and problems listed below, she endured 6 life-threatening asthma attacks, some related to PCP; CMV Pneumonitis; Aspergillis; and some unknown infections).

By August 1992, she realized she was unable to continue her Boeing job, and left on disability.

She was diagnosed with CMV Retinitis, a serious eye infection, in April 1994.  This gradually robbed her of her eyesight, despite aggressive treatment with experimental drugs (Dawn went to D.C. to lobby for quicker FDA approval).

A permanent catheter to deliver medications was installed in her chest in January, 1995.

In March 1997, both of Dawn's legs fractured (most likely they were brittle due to the many drugs she needed to take).  She obtained a wheelchair.

On July 4, 1997 Dawn was checked into a hospital because of confusion, pain, and shortness of breath.

Dawn passed away due to a fungal infection in her lungs on July 13, 1997.  Her liver and kidneys were no longer able to tolerate drugs that could have treated the infection.