Social media influencer Gena Tew has hit back at a TikTok user who mocked her bowel issues as she documents living with AIDS.
The 27-year-old model has been documenting her health journey in a series of social media posts since going public with her AIDS diagnosis in March. Since then, she has discussed her various health issues stemming from her diagnosis.
Back in August, she answered one of her TikTok followers' questions about why she was wearing incontinence briefs in her videos, explaining: "When I was first going to the hospital in the beginning I had extreme bowel problems.
"With these problems it involved procedures. It involved, going in with full hands from male and female, and it kind of messed up the strength in my tail if you know what I'm saying?"
She continued: "I just have to rebuild the strength to hold myself. Until then, Pampers, Depends, whatever you want to call them. That's what I have to use."
The issue was raised again this past weekend, when a TikTok user opted to mock Tew in the comments section of one of her more recent posts as she celebrates improvements in her health.
"Don't forget to let 'em know 'bout the Pamper," read the comment, which was followed by a series of laughing emojis.
"I graduated from them," Tew captioned a video in response to the comment.
The model shared a clip of herself sporting a skimpy bikini as she lifted herself from her wheelchair. With rapper Lola Brooke's track "Don't Play With It" serving as the soundtrack, she then moved to her walking frame. She briefly wiggled while standing up to show that she wasn't wearing any incontinence briefs.
According to Healthline.com, a common problem seen by sufferers of AIDS is diarrhea, which can be severe or mild. It can also cause a loosening of the stool. The National Library of Medicine also states that "fecal incontinence occurs frequently" amongst those with HIV.
In recent months, Tew has shared a slew of videos on her health journey, including visits to doctors and posts from her home where she revealed that she had lost sight in one eye and that her weight had dipped to a low of 65 pounds.
Tew has since revealed that her weight has increased to 95 pounds.
In one video clip, which was shared on June 11 and has been viewed more than 12 million times, the social media star showed herself struggling to get up from her bed as her weight plummeted and muscle atrophy weakened her legs.
While Tew remains unable to walk, she shared an update with her TikTok followers in September, showing herself briefly standing up with the aid of a walker.
As her health continues to improve, Tew shared in October that the viral load in her blood means that she cannot transmit HIV to another person.
"I am undetectable, you guys. That means untransmittable," she said in a TikTok video. "With that being said, people are asking me, 'Are you going to marry or have a baby with someone with AIDS?' I don't need to marry somebody with AIDS. They don't have to have AIDS. That means I cannot transmit it to the other person."
Tew went on to say that her potential partner could take precautions, such as going on the medicine pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), which reduces the chances of contracting HIV through sexual intercourse or while injecting drugs.
Noting that there can sometimes be side effects associated with taking PrEP, Tew advised that her partner could also "just be smart and use a condom."
"I can have a normal life. Let's get rid of that stigma," she said as the video drew to a close. "AIDS isn't a death sentence. I survived—I'm a survivor."
Thanks to antiretroviral therapy, HIV/AIDS patients can suppress the viral replication within the body and block transmission to others. The patient will subsequently have such a low level of HIV in the blood that it becomes undetectable in a conventional analysis.
Dr. Laura Guay, vice president of research at the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, told Newsweek: "There are currently more than 24 effective anti-HIV drugs that are commonly used in two-four drug combinations to reduce the amount of virus in the body (viral load) to extremely low levels that cannot be measured with our VL tests- called 'undetectable VL.'
"Having undetectable VL is critical to preventing the progression of HIV infection to symptomatic infection or AIDS and preventing transmission of the virus to partners. It is important to seek medical care from an experienced HIV provider if you are HIV-positive.
"Your health care provider will determine which combination of drugs will work best for you to bring your virus levels to undetectable. Sexual partners should also be tested and get on treatment if positive.
"If your partner is HIV-negative, there are steps that you both can take to decrease the chance of passing on the virus, especially while you have detectable VL. The most important thing that you can do is to take your anti-HIV drugs as directed consistently and track your VL results to get to 'undetectable.'
"Until you have reached undetectable VL, you should use condoms consistently and your partner can also take anti-HIV drugs to prevent infection (called pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP)."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Ryan Smith is a Newsweek Senior Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
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