Have you known of a choice that could affect your life?

I would say my father might have thought the same thing many years ago. His choice of living in the 1980s in his military life and before his next deployment. He found out from his blood test that he had to have done before deployment. That he was HIV positive. That would at a point turn into AIDS.

The biggest part of this news is how it would affect his wife and two kids. The wife, being my mom, and the kids being my sister and I. When this news came out, I was starting school and my sister was a toddler. In this time, medical ways to help things weren't available and people where still finding ways to help it. This choice now is my father looking at is the things he is going to miss. Seeing his daughter go through school and graduate.Get married and having kids. The most important things in life. So from there was making the most of his life before it got bad and end up it the hospital before he past. He also made sure my mom,my sister and I where taken care of as well. Which my grandfather made sure of when my father passed away in October of 1994. If anything, what I'm trying to say is: that choices you make in life can affect you. I can say the biggest thing that came out of what happen with my father. Is that I knew I didn't want to have the same thing happen to me. Often times you live in the moment with the guy your with or dating. Here's how things are now with AIDS:

Common

More than 200,000 US cases per year

Spreads by sexual contact

Can't be cured, but treatment may help

Chronic: can last for years or be lifelong

Requires a medical diagnosis

Lab tests or imaging always required

The virus can be transmitted through contact with infected blood, semen, or vaginal fluids.

Within a few weeks of HIV infection, flu-like symptoms such as fever, sore throat, and fatigue can occur. Then the disease is usually asymptomatic until it progresses to AIDS. AIDS symptoms include weight loss, fever or night sweats, fatigue, and recurrent infections.

No cure exists for AIDS, but strict adherence to anti-retroviral regimens (ARVs) can dramatically slow the disease's progress as well as prevent secondary infections and complications.

Ages affected:

How it spreads

By blood products (unclean needles or unscreened blood).

By mother to baby by pregnancy, labor, or nursing.

By having unprotected vaginal, anal, or oral sex.

With sharing this info show you how it still is in this time now. And how important safe sex is. If sharing this story helps anyone make a better choice in life.And how a choice affected a family life.Also it doesn't hurt to ask those important question to the person your with.