Latest CD4 Count, Studies

After a little more than half a year I was surprised to see the result of my CD4 count. From beyond

normal of 631 CD4 per ml. of blood, it has plummeted to 331. It is a bit less than 50%! This has never happened to me before and I have not seen my physician yet as of this writing. When I shared this to some of my friends, they too were surprised and asked what could possibly be the reason(s) of its drop. Well honestly, I can't think of any except of less hours of sleep than the expected 7-8 hours and probably stress but still that was a lot I guess if these two are the only causes. I have never been sick for a long time already. At first I was a bit scared and confused but I hope, and some of my fellow HIV+ friends affirmed, that this is still normal and eventually it will go up again next time. So dear friends, please kindly pray for me. Although I am really fine as of the moment and the next scheduled visit to my doctor is in October.

As for my studies, my second to the last semester (hoping and praying) has started and I have just begun writing my thesis proposal. I need prayers on this too as well as financial provisions for I am not sure if I can work and do all my studies at the same time. I am working on finding out the barriers in churches and Christians on addressing the issue of homosexuality or same-sex attraction because I want to know the reasons why we are not able to minister to brothers or sisters and people with SSA effectively or not able to minister at all despite the command of loving one another as Jesus loved and accepted us in order to help the readers and other Christians to understand better the depth of this issue and eventually respond in a Christ-like way. Please kindly pray that this will be approved and become successful and eventually will be very useful for the Christians and churches.

Thank you for visiting my blog and God is good all the time. Praises and honor be to Lord Jesus!

School, Health and HIV Ministry

Thank You Lord for being there in every step of the way. Truly, " Without good direction, people lose their way; the more wise counsel you follow, the better your chances" (Proverbs 11:14, MSG) and "Plans are established by seeking advice; so if you wage war, obtain guidance" (Proverbs 20:18, NIV). After weeks of seeking God's will and guidance for this semester through counseling and advice seeking from wise friends, finally I got enrolled with peace in my heart...no worries or doubts but excitement and a looking-forward attitude! I have only one subject and one semester remaining after this school year and I will graduate earlier than I have planned.

As for my health, four weeks ago I did all my regular medical laboratory check up such as FBS, cholesterol, creatinine, and other numbers that need monitoring including CD4 test or number of Commanding Officers white blood cells that is responsible in keeping our immune system healthy and well functioning. Virtually all the results are in normal range and the CD4 cells has increased to a whooping 631 from 457 last year praise God! Healthy lifestyle physically, mentally, emotionally but more importantly, spiritually is truly the way towards healthy living! Thank you Lord for this miracle, another proof that God still heals today!

Last week, for the first time in my five years of traveling, I have encountered challenges from check-in to immigration on my way to Bangkok to participate at the pre-conference of interfaith networks on AIDS in Asia at ICAAP 11 or International Conference on AIDS in Asia Pacific. As I was waiting for things to happen whether I can get through or not, I was reminded how I got in this situation from the start and asked God if I was really in the right place or if it is really His will to be here. But one thing I have noticed with myself was…I have never been that calm and at peace in a stressful situation like that, and believed that things will go well if this is God’s will. In fact I was able to finish several pages of the book that is a required reading at school, while waiting. Well, I told myself, “If this was the old me, I could have ranted and simply backed out and went home.” Thus, who says people cannot change? But moreover, and I believed this is the best thing I realized in the situation…I have simply trusted the Lord and let Him take over of the situation instead of yielding up to worrying and stressing myself out. Hmmm…Lord thank you so much for I think you have changed me and still changing me to become the man that you truly want me to become.

Aside from meeting and becoming friends with some few of the key people in the Interfaith Network of Religious Leaders Living with HIV&AIDS (INERELA) and Asia Interfaith Network on AIDS (AINA), very briefly I was tasked to present the plan for the Philippines as we engage in AINA. For now, I am still uncertain of the reason why the Lord has brought me in this conference. Perhaps it’s more of building my network, testing my faith and the truth I believe in, and reaffirming my true calling in Jesus as I met and talked with this very strong HIV+ woman Pastor and a couple of faith leaders in same-sex relationships for the first time. Nevertheless, I praise the Lord and thank Him for this short but still blessed trip.

God Still Heals Today

It was the middle of last week of August when I started to feel sick a bit. The slight fever I felt I thought was because of the day that I got wet with rain showers on my way to Bible school.

The following day the fever went off but I was not feeling well. I felt a little weak and soft and then when the night came, the slight fever went back so I took paracetamol. It was like that until weekend that the fever was on and off, then Saturday came. I really felt weak that day that I cannot hardly move so I texted some friends to pray for me and that evening, my Pastor called me to check out on me and prayed for me over the phone.

Sunday came and I felt a little better so my mother took me to the hospital to do some lab test to see what was going on. The lab result came and it appeared that my platelet was only 24! Monday came, I was feeling a bit better again and got no fever since Sunday and it never came back though I was not feeling normal though. My mother asked me to take some "tawa tawa leaves" tea for it has been said that it can increase platelet so I did. 

On Wednesday I have decided to visit my physician and she was surprised, a bit shocked but not so worried upon seeing me when she saw the result of the lab test. She said it could have been dengue but cannot declare it really was because I was physically fine that day and the day before that. So she asked me to repeat the test and the result was close to normal and then to make sure and rule out everything, I repeat the test one last time and viola! Everything was very normal!

Being HIV positive, getting sick like this is bad for my immune system is compromised already so I need to be careful. I did not suspect it either as dengue because for me it's just a fever that was going on and off and that's it. I was not feeling anything except weakness so I just tried to rest with no medications and hospital. When I asked some of my friends to pray for me, I felt their prayers honestly! It was like a prayer brigade where the climax was when my Pastor prayed for me to be healed too. 

Strongly I believe in my heart it was God who healed me through that prayer brigade. Yes maybe I took some "tea" to increase my platelet but it has no proof and for some reason in my heart I was so convinced and truly felt that it was the Lord who healed me.

Actually I shared this miraculous healing to our church last Sunday. For some this may seem trivial or normal but for me it was not. Simply I believe God still heals today! So whatever you're going through whether you are sick or in a really not so good situation.....pray and pray incessantly!

Latest CD4 Count

The peak of my CD4 count since I started my ARV treatment back in June 2007 was 521 per ml of blood. After almost a year, it went down to 378 and then last November it plummeted to 294.


Honestly, I was a bit worried because it could be an indication that my drug regimen is not working anymore. But then I realized, I did not get sick for quite a long time and feel always healthy so probably my frequent travel and stress which are all work related might be the cause of this. I tried to get some good rest and my travel was lessened so I took the test again and I got the result last week.


Prayer really works and God has proven once again His faithfulness in me. My CD4 count has increased up to 457 which are very close to normal count of 500 and up! It's more than what I have expected. Also I took the other laboratory test I need to monitor regularly such as CBC, blood chemistry, FBS, uric acid, cholesterol, SGPT, SGOT, triglyceride and etc. and virtually all the result are within normal level!


It only means that I am now at the prime of my health praise the Lord and thank you God! Enough hours of sleep, good eating habits, regular work out and exercise, and nurturing spiritual needs while incessantly seeking God's presence truly works at its best!


Work-ministry-wise, not the answer I have expected from God but an opportunity to trust Him more! My contract will end this month and I was hoping and praying that it will be renewed after four or five months so I can study full time this semester. But last week, I was just informed that my contract is extended until September and another new contract will come after that. Not the way I planned it but it seems God has better plans for me than I do and all I can do is to trust Him even more. 


I can't help but be forever grateful and feel blessed to God Almighty!

Pityriasis Rosea

Two weeks before Christmas last year, I started to have a slight fever every afternoon and evening then I'll be normal on the following day. After all the laboratory tests and x-rays, nothing was found.

A week before Christmas, the low fever was gone but then I started to have small red spots on my skin, chest area first then it proliferated to arms, legs and neck and some parts on my face gradually. By the way, it's not me on this photo.

I was thinking of allergy at first or probably my CD4 has gone low that's why I have these rashes. After seeing the dermatologist last week, the diagnosis came out and it's PR or Pityriasis Rosea.

According to the doctor, it's a common rash that can occur to any young adults (majority occur to ages 10-35) and has nothing to do with my HIV status. It usually occurs more often in the colder months.

It resolves on its own but the doctor asked me to take erythromycin for 2 weeks, put clobetasol and aveeno on infected areas and get some UV rays for at least 10-20 minutes every day. The rashes will disappear six to eight weeks.

I just hope and pray to have my skin back to normal, good health as I take new challenges in my work and ministry and a victorious journey with the Lord this year 2011! I guess this is one of God's trick for keeping me from acting out my evil desires, I hope not.

A blessed year to everyone!