I am a 41 year old heterosexual male with 4 children and a wife of 18 years. About the fall of 2003, I wasn't feeling myself I was losing weight I had no appetite so I went to the doctor and he ran the usual tests for diabetes, high blood pressure etc. Found nothing gave me a clean bill of health and told me I was fine.

6 months later I was still not myself I was tired all the time still losing weight so I went back to the doctor this time for even more tests for ulcers as well as cancer and even tumors again he gave me a clean bill of health and sent me home another 6 months pass and I am getting worse. I am having difficulty at work. I am sleeping 12 hours a day still losing weight so I go back to the doctor for more tests and 2 appointments with different specialists and all 3 of them said they couldn't find anything wrong. They suggested I take antidepressants and counseling so I took the antidepressants but they did nothing and I continued to get worse.

I had to stop working. I was sleeping 16 hours a day. I had lost a total of 70 pounds my hair was falling out in patches all over my body. I was drenched in sweat every night. Finally, I went back to one of the specialists with my mother. I got mad and told him if he didn't find out what was wrong I was going to sit in the ER till they did. My mother was in tears as she begged him to save her son (we all felt I was dying and had no idea why)so he ordered another batch of tests this time including a HIV test. I was mystified as to why he would ask for a HIV test because I am not homosexual, I have never done drugs and I have been faithful to my wife for our entire marriage.

Meanwhile my wife and I had booked a trip to Disneyland with our kids (sort of a last vacation before Dad died). The day before we left we got the results of the test and while it was a shock it was a relief to finally [to] know what was wrong and that there might be something we could do about it. The doctors wanted me at the HIV specialist right away but when we told them about the trip they told us to go and booked a appointment for the day we got home. I was so sick on our trip my 11 year old son had to push me through Disneyland in a wheelchair and I got lost 8 times due to dementia.

When we got home, I was told I was very sick. My cd4 was 33 and my vl was almost 1,000,000. I was put on antibiotics which made me quite ill. Two weeks later, [I] started meds for HIV. The next couple months were fairly rough due to side effects of both the antibiotics and HIV meds but slowly I started to get better. I started to drive again (I quit because I got lost in the small town I grew up in). I was diagnosed in November of 06 and by March 07, I was feeling pretty good this whole time. Even though I wasn't working, I still managed to coach Jr. Archery twice a week and compete myself in archery tournaments.

By May, my doctors said I was fit to return to work and that’s when the real battle began. Someone had found out I was positive and while they didn't say I couldn't come back they weren’t about to let me either so I continued to live my life raising my kids and doing all the things I always wanted to. I shot a black bear with my longbow. I shot with 2 of my heroes at an international archery shoot, coached the Zone 1 archery team for the Alberta winter games, and competed in 2 national tournaments ranking 5th and 8th in the country.

Kids I coach won a total of 5 medals at the Canadian Nationals and brought home 2 medals from the Alberta Winter games. All while fighting my employer and insurance companies to get back to work. Exactly one year from the time my doctors cleared me, I was allowed to return to work. All the employees had been told of my status but none of them had a problem. At first I was worried about people finding out but now I am very open about my illness and have volunteered to do several workshops telling my story to help educate people about HIV.

As to how I was infected they are not really sure. They think it was from a tattoo I received years earlier or a medical procedure I had done. Anyways, I guess I'll never really know but it doesn't matter. What matters is maybe my story can help save someone else from going through what I did and get tested earlier.

Delin Watmough

Lethbridge Alberta Canada