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ABOUT REAL BRUINS Every other Thursday, the Daily Bruin takes a look at members of the UCLA community. In this continuing series, we highlight the many different activities Bruins are involved in.

By William D. Braxdale

Daily Bruin Contributor

Lisa Croydon, patient advocate at the UCLA Center for Clinical AIDS Research and Education, considers herself a Bruin through and through, having been born and attended college at UCLA.

Now working on campus, Croydon, herself an HIV patient, wants people to realize that HIV/AIDS can happen to anyone – and that it is a health, not a moral issue.

“The right wing at the very beginning made this a moral issue, which has put us behind in treatment and education,” she said.

Photos by PATIL ARMENIAN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Lisa Croydon, a patient advocate at the UCLA Center for Clinical AIDS Research and Education, discusses her experience as an HIV patient. After graduating from UCLA in 1986, Croydon began a successful career in corporate sales and was making more money than she thought possible for someone who was so young.

She got married after working a few years and was in the process of building the home of her dreams, that would eventually include the patter of little feet.

Everything in her life was going according to a plan she made as to where she wanted to be at that particular point in her life.

“I was on schedule,” Croydon said. “Everything was happening the way I planned it.”

But all that changed when her doctor recommended that all of his new patients take an HIV test, because of an increase in new cases within the heterosexual community. Her results came out positive.

At the time, people rarely talked about the need for women to take precautions against AIDS, because the illness was considered a “gay” or “IV drug user” disease.

“That was just a huge shock,” Croydon said. “No one was talking about women and HIV.”

Like many people who have the virus, Croydon contracted HIV by having unprotected sex with her then-boyfriend.

Having HIV meant repercussions; losing the things she had worked so hard to achieve because of sickness resulting from the virus.

In 1996, Croydon became gravely ill. She said she was fortunate that she did not take the advice of her doctor by starting mono-therapy treatment of AZT, even though her T-cells were within normal levels.

  Croydon and social worker Danny Phillips often collaborate on cases, discussing the best ways to help patients at the Center.

According to Croydon, she probably would have built up resistance to the drug and it would not have been as effective when she began triple-therapy.

In addition to the physical illness and difficulties, Croydon had to deal with hostility from some members of the community, who failed to understand what having HIV means.

In certain instances, the health care workers have been insensitive to her HIV status, Croydon said.

“A phlebotomist had the nerve to ask me how I got infected,” Croydon said.

She added that she has had to tell people literally that it was none of their business when they asked her questions.

When Croydon was sick and using a disabled placard, some people would approach her and say, “What’s the matter with you? You don’t look handicapped.”

Despite the drawbacks the virus has caused, Croydon has kept a positive attitude and this has helped her in her job as a patient advocate.

In her work as a patient advocate, Croydon said her own experience helps her serve as a role model for those infected with HIV, often giving them support.

“With patients newly diagnosed there’s always the huge and understandable fear that ‘Oh my god I’m going to die,’” Croydon said.

She wants people to understand that with today’s treatments they can continue to live healthy, productive lives.

Strong support from family and friends helped Croydon to get through the worst times. She is especially grateful to Shana Doronn, a former social worker at the CARE center, who encouraged Croydon to become involved in a peer support group.

Doronn said the fact that Croydon talks about her experience living with HIV has inspired others who have the virus to cope.

“She’s true to her word,” Doronn said. “She’s one of the most inspirational persons I know.”

The other part of her job involves being informed on all the clinical trials being offered at UCLA. She must know the purpose of each trial and what drugs are involved in order to help patients choose whether they want to participate.

Despite advances made in HIV/AIDS therapy, Croydon warned that people should avoid becoming complacent about the situation, because a cure for the illness does not exist.

Additionally, the existing treatments cause extreme side effects and may not work for everyone, Croydon said. For four years straight, she threw up every morning because of her medication routine.

Currently, Croydon takes four types of medication with food, none of which cause her to throw up in the morning.

Living with HIV means being vigilant against becoming sick, she said.

“I could never relax about my health care,” Croydon said. “I could never take for granted that I’ll be fine.”

Staying free of illness means avoiding anyone who has a cold, which has prevented her from visiting her sister’s children.

Additionally, she makes it a point to go to the gym twice a week, and knows when to put her health ahead of life’s demands.

Though she enjoys her work, one of the ways she maintains balance in her life is by not bringing her job home with her. Croydon said she has taught herself to be a self-advocate, which she tries to pass on to the patients she sees.

Despite the widespread advertisements on HIV/AIDS prevention, Croydon said some people still remain ignorant of the various modes of transmission and characteristics of the illnesses.

“People do not know that you can’t get it from sharing an ice cream cone or the same utensils,” she said.

Other harmful publicity on HIV/AIDS topics comes from researchers themselves, Croydon said. People like Dr. Peter Duesberg, professor of molecular and cell biology at UC Berkeley, has advocated that the virus does not cause AIDS – a claim Croydon finds very damaging because the facts upon which it is based are very shaky.

“I really disagree with his position, from a personal and scientific standpoint,” Croydon said.

When involved in caring for HIV patients, she said everyone has a role to fulfill.

“I really believe that each and every one of us has a responsibility to each other,” she said.

Jeff Fricke, program director for education and outreach at the CARE center, admires her not only for the work she performs, but also for her perseverance. Recently, Croydon entered the corporate world again for the first time since her diagnosis.

“Lisa has overcome many obstacles,” he said. “She is not just a survivor, but someone who has overcome medical, personal, vocational problems.”