Monika, NP
@monikamaclean.bsky.social
So many interests, so little time.🏳️🌈⚧️
Adult Geriatric Primary Care NP and AAHIVS doing HIV Prevention and Care, Gender Affirming Care, LGBTQI Primary Care, Sexual Health. Views my own. Proudly They/Them #IDSky #HIVSky #MedSky #BLM
Adult Geriatric Primary Care NP and AAHIVS doing HIV Prevention and Care, Gender Affirming Care, LGBTQI Primary Care, Sexual Health. Views my own. Proudly They/Them #IDSky #HIVSky #MedSky #BLM
27/ This thread was composed using blueskythreads.xyz
December 1, 2025 at 11:44 PM
27/ This thread was composed using blueskythreads.xyz
26/ We must honor those who have lost their lives.
December 1, 2025 at 11:44 PM
26/ We must honor those who have lost their lives.
25/ On this International AIDS day, we must remember and recommit to caring for each other and carrying on this fight. We must continue to advocate for the folks living with HIV. We must continue to expand access to HIV prevention.
December 1, 2025 at 11:44 PM
25/ On this International AIDS day, we must remember and recommit to caring for each other and carrying on this fight. We must continue to advocate for the folks living with HIV. We must continue to expand access to HIV prevention.
24/ At the same time unspeakably cruel actions threaten all the progress we have made. We cannot go back.
December 1, 2025 at 11:44 PM
24/ At the same time unspeakably cruel actions threaten all the progress we have made. We cannot go back.
23/ We have the real means to prevent HIV infections if we fight to make it accessible to everyone who needs it. We have good treatments and better ones on the horizon. We understand HIV better than we ever have.
December 1, 2025 at 11:44 PM
23/ We have the real means to prevent HIV infections if we fight to make it accessible to everyone who needs it. We have good treatments and better ones on the horizon. We understand HIV better than we ever have.
22/ Today I am privileged to be an HIV specialist providing care to many of Jerry’s peers who made it. I’m sad he isn’t here with them but so grateful I can help in some small way. There is so much to be optimistic about in HIV care and prevention these days.
December 1, 2025 at 11:44 PM
22/ Today I am privileged to be an HIV specialist providing care to many of Jerry’s peers who made it. I’m sad he isn’t here with them but so grateful I can help in some small way. There is so much to be optimistic about in HIV care and prevention these days.
21/ I went on and did a lot of kinds of nursing over the years, including hospice, wound care. Another decade later I went back to school to become a nurse practitioner. Worked in a community health center and soon found myself working with both HIV treatment and prevention.
December 1, 2025 at 11:44 PM
21/ I went on and did a lot of kinds of nursing over the years, including hospice, wound care. Another decade later I went back to school to become a nurse practitioner. Worked in a community health center and soon found myself working with both HIV treatment and prevention.
20/ Jerry died on January 31st, 2000.
I miss him every day. And yet, he has guided me since, just the way he did when he was alive. Four years later I switched careers from IT and went back to school to become a nurse.
I miss him every day. And yet, he has guided me since, just the way he did when he was alive. Four years later I switched careers from IT and went back to school to become a nurse.
December 1, 2025 at 11:44 PM
20/ Jerry died on January 31st, 2000.
I miss him every day. And yet, he has guided me since, just the way he did when he was alive. Four years later I switched careers from IT and went back to school to become a nurse.
I miss him every day. And yet, he has guided me since, just the way he did when he was alive. Four years later I switched careers from IT and went back to school to become a nurse.
19/ We got hospice and due to Jerry’s foresight getting long term care insurance hired a night shift to supplement. I went down to stay. He always said he wanted to make it to 2000 and he did.
December 1, 2025 at 11:44 PM
19/ We got hospice and due to Jerry’s foresight getting long term care insurance hired a night shift to supplement. I went down to stay. He always said he wanted to make it to 2000 and he did.
18/ Ray died a week later on November 6th, 1999. It was Jerry’s birthday. Very shortly after, Jerry started having more trouble doing things for himself. He fell. He needed help with showers.
December 1, 2025 at 11:44 PM
18/ Ray died a week later on November 6th, 1999. It was Jerry’s birthday. Very shortly after, Jerry started having more trouble doing things for himself. He fell. He needed help with showers.
17/ There was a hotel there which had a clothing optional pool with music that Jerry liked. We spent Halloween weekend. It felt like he was almost his old self. We hung out in the sun around the pool and had some nice meals.
December 1, 2025 at 11:44 PM
17/ There was a hotel there which had a clothing optional pool with music that Jerry liked. We spent Halloween weekend. It felt like he was almost his old self. We hung out in the sun around the pool and had some nice meals.
16/ Ray was HIV + too and his liver was failing. I would come down whenever I could. Physically, Jerry was still able to go to the gym and do things. On one of my trips, Jerry was doing pretty well and we decided to go to the Keys for “Fantasy Fest”.
December 1, 2025 at 11:44 PM
16/ Ray was HIV + too and his liver was failing. I would come down whenever I could. Physically, Jerry was still able to go to the gym and do things. On one of my trips, Jerry was doing pretty well and we decided to go to the Keys for “Fantasy Fest”.
15/ Jerry never really went back to “normal” after this. He wasn’t safe to drive or be unsupervised anymore. A dear friend of his, Rick came and stayed with him. He was such an incredible friend. Also, his roommate Ray helped as much as he could.
December 1, 2025 at 11:44 PM
15/ Jerry never really went back to “normal” after this. He wasn’t safe to drive or be unsupervised anymore. A dear friend of his, Rick came and stayed with him. He was such an incredible friend. Also, his roommate Ray helped as much as he could.
14/ Soon Jerry was able to come home and get radiation for the tumor. What I did not understand or anticipate at the time was that while the radiation could slow the progression of the tumor, it was also neurotoxic, which meant it caused scarring that affected Jerry’s cognition.
December 1, 2025 at 11:44 PM
14/ Soon Jerry was able to come home and get radiation for the tumor. What I did not understand or anticipate at the time was that while the radiation could slow the progression of the tumor, it was also neurotoxic, which meant it caused scarring that affected Jerry’s cognition.
13/ At some point everyone would bring out a little tackle box of pills. Almost every friend he had was also HIV positive. They were a funny, kind, loving, community of men that cared deeply for each other. They made me feel welcome and supported. Jerry always had visitors.
December 1, 2025 at 11:44 PM
13/ At some point everyone would bring out a little tackle box of pills. Almost every friend he had was also HIV positive. They were a funny, kind, loving, community of men that cared deeply for each other. They made me feel welcome and supported. Jerry always had visitors.
12/ It was in/near the thalamus. Jerry had amazing friends. He stayed in the hospital for a few more days. I would meet them at a diner early mornings before heading to the hospital. Ed was kind of the ringleader. There would be anywhere between three and six guys at breakfast.
December 1, 2025 at 11:44 PM
12/ It was in/near the thalamus. Jerry had amazing friends. He stayed in the hospital for a few more days. I would meet them at a diner early mornings before heading to the hospital. Ed was kind of the ringleader. There would be anywhere between three and six guys at breakfast.
11/ Something was wrong with Jerry and would I please come down. He had not been himself and his friends had convinced him to let them bring him to the hospital. I flew to Ft Lauderdale, where he lived. As it turned out, he had a brain tumor, primary CNS lymphoma.
December 1, 2025 at 11:44 PM
11/ Something was wrong with Jerry and would I please come down. He had not been himself and his friends had convinced him to let them bring him to the hospital. I flew to Ft Lauderdale, where he lived. As it turned out, he had a brain tumor, primary CNS lymphoma.
10/ I allowed myself to hope he was one of those people that wouldn’t die. Life kept lifeing. Fast forward to January 1999. I’m engaged. Victor had died. Jerry was splitting his time between Florida and NY. I got a call from a friend of his in Florida who I did not know yet, Ed.
December 1, 2025 at 11:44 PM
10/ I allowed myself to hope he was one of those people that wouldn’t die. Life kept lifeing. Fast forward to January 1999. I’m engaged. Victor had died. Jerry was splitting his time between Florida and NY. I got a call from a friend of his in Florida who I did not know yet, Ed.
9/ Jerry showed up, came to my MBA graduation, stayed on the couch at my little Long Island apartment. He seemed like the picture of health, he wasn’t sure when he was infected but sometime in the mid eighties was the guess.
December 1, 2025 at 11:44 PM
9/ Jerry showed up, came to my MBA graduation, stayed on the couch at my little Long Island apartment. He seemed like the picture of health, he wasn’t sure when he was infected but sometime in the mid eighties was the guess.
8/ When Victor got dementia and threatened to tell my grandmother about the diagnosis, Jerry told us he had AIDS. We were devastated; my grandmother most of all, which was why he had not wanted to tell her. By that time, I had divorced husband one and was dating husband two.
December 1, 2025 at 11:44 PM
8/ When Victor got dementia and threatened to tell my grandmother about the diagnosis, Jerry told us he had AIDS. We were devastated; my grandmother most of all, which was why he had not wanted to tell her. By that time, I had divorced husband one and was dating husband two.
7/ Three years later, we would find out it had been AIDS and that Jerry also had it. Jerry and Victor had a place in Florida and Victor got better for a while. I would see them at holidays and various times.
December 1, 2025 at 11:44 PM
7/ Three years later, we would find out it had been AIDS and that Jerry also had it. Jerry and Victor had a place in Florida and Victor got better for a while. I would see them at holidays and various times.
6/ He took me to one of our favorite swimming holes. In 1990, when I married my first husband, he somehow was there but his partner Victor could not make it. He was in the hospital with a “blood disease” and they weren’t sure what it was.
December 1, 2025 at 11:44 PM
6/ He took me to one of our favorite swimming holes. In 1990, when I married my first husband, he somehow was there but his partner Victor could not make it. He was in the hospital with a “blood disease” and they weren’t sure what it was.