Rock Star

So, I've gotten my first taste at what it must be like to be a rock star. Here's a typical day at the Zoo:

- Get paged about 3/hour
- People calling your name out as you walk down the hall
- People waving forms in your face, asking for your autograph
- Being unable to take a pee break or a lunch break because you're so in demand

I'm going to start wearing big sunglasses and a floppy hat to see if it helps quell the masses. Something tells me they'll find me anyway.

I had a sad case of a kid (he's in his mid-20s) who we just diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and an infection in his colon. Given the degree of immunosuppression and kidney disease, I suspect he has had HIV for about 7-10 years. I think he was in a lot of denial about it all. He didn't understand how sick he really was. This weekend, he left the hospital against medical advice ("AMA"). I've been really concerned about him, because I don't think he'll come back to the clinic for follow-up. We need to start antiretrovirals on him. His CD4 count is in the toilet, and it's only a matter of time before he winds up with a very serious infection. He has a higher chance of being dead in a year than not. However, if he'd just come to clinic, we could get his CD4 count up, his viral load down, and he'd have a half-way decent chance of reaching 40. As it stands, I don't think he'll see 29.