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Mainers for Medical Rights
44 Exchange Street
Suite 201
Portland, ME 04101
800.846.1039
207.780.0704
info@mainers.org

Sandy Katz
Living With AIDS
Bowdoinham

In his own words:

"I tested HIV positive more than a decade ago, when I was in my mid-twenties, living in New York City and working as a policy analyst for the city government. Very quickly I found that the disease was sapping my energy and that I could not keep up with the demands of my career or the fast pace of New York, so I decided to move to a more rural environment."

"I was diagnosed with full blown AIDS about three years ago. One of the major symptoms I have experienced as the disease has progressed is nausea and accompanying loss of appetite and weight loss. The anti-HIV prescription drugs I take also frequently make me feel nauseous. At times I have become emaciated, dropping to as low as 145 lbs. from my earlier healthy 190 lbs. Smoking marijuana is the most effective way I have found to overcome my nausea, stimulate my appetite and keep a positive outlook on life."

"The physical, emotional and financial strains of living with a chronic debilitating disease like AIDS are overwhelming. I wish I didn't have to fear the law for using this simple and effective medicine. Sometimes I imagine being stopped by police, arrested and being denied access to my HIV medications and dying in jail."

                                                                              - Sandy Katz
                                                                                Bowdoinham
                                                                                October 19, 1999