I'm old enough to have predated the HIV test. Lived several years with a strong belief I was HIV+, even did my first 6 months of 12 Steppers with that assumption.
And recently at 12 Steppers we had (another) individual find out his years of drinking and drugging have taken a much more serious toll on his body than any of us suspected. Despite several years of sobriety, 'T' has had some very bad news from his doctors and will probably not be around a year from now. Beating cirrhosis to get to live long enough to get metastatic liver cancer is a mixed blessing, so to speak.
That sort of thing can happen. Quitting bad habits can allow your system to seemingly recover, but if the damage is severe enough, it can still come back and wreak havoc. Not a common meeting topic, but we all are aware of what can happen.
We've had other conditions turn up, there are 2 I see from time to time with tardive dyskinesia. It's not fatal, but it can be a stigma.
And recently at 12 Steppers we had (another) individual find out his years of drinking and drugging have taken a much more serious toll on his body than any of us suspected. Despite several years of sobriety, 'T' has had some very bad news from his doctors and will probably not be around a year from now. Beating cirrhosis to get to live long enough to get metastatic liver cancer is a mixed blessing, so to speak.
That sort of thing can happen. Quitting bad habits can allow your system to seemingly recover, but if the damage is severe enough, it can still come back and wreak havoc. Not a common meeting topic, but we all are aware of what can happen.
We've had other conditions turn up, there are 2 I see from time to time with tardive dyskinesia. It's not fatal, but it can be a stigma.
