Social media influencer Gena Tew has disputed being called an ‘AIDS advocate’, claiming she was only sharing her own experience of the illness.
Tennessee-based Tew, 27, has been documenting her health journey with a series of social media posts since announcing her diagnosis in March.
In one of the TikTok clips that was shared on June 11th and has over 14 million views, the model showed herself struggling to get out of bed. She revealed that her legs were weak due to the atrophy of her legs.
Gena Tew/Instagram/TikTok
Her health has improved in recent months and she has gained over 100 pounds, but Tew continues to deal with other issues.
As she continued to document her journey, Tew also received messages from detractors. That included replying to a video she posted on her New Year’s Eve, in which she said she was not a “sexually motivated person.”
The person in question told Tew, “All you portray is half-naked sex all the time,” calling her an “AIDS advocate” and signing out the message.
“Look, here’s a comment like this. I just want to address a few things,” Tew replied to the comment in a TikTok video on Wednesday.
“I want people to understand that I’m not an AIDS advocate, as this person said this year,” she continued. I mean, it’s my diary, and I’m going to keep doing it this year.
“But don’t tell me what I need to do, who I need to teach, what my career path as an advocate should be, because I haven’t chosen it. if i help people i will help people i dont i live my life i dont want to be treated as an aids girl thats my life no i I’m going to beat this. Get over it.”
Gena Tew/TikTok
In November, Tew told his more than 840,000 TikTok followers that his CD4 count in his blood had increased as his health continued to improve. is a measure of the number of CD4 cells that are
In a video clip, she said: “I just had a blood test recently and you know… my CD4 count was 112. So now I’m 159. Over 200 in 4 months.” I am thrilled.”
She continued: When her CD4 count goes above her 200, she explained, she’s classified as living with HIV, not AIDS, which is usually left untreated, according to the Mayo Clinic. Then in about 8-10 years she will turn into AIDS.
Tew is still unable to walk on his own, but in September he shared an update with his TikTok followers, showing that he can easily stand up with the help of a walker.
As her health improved, Tew said in October that the viral load in her blood meant she could not transmit HIV to others.
“I’m undetectable, folks. That means I can’t send,” she said in a TikTok video. I don’t have to marry an AIDS patient, they don’t have to have AIDS, which means I can’t pass AIDS on to others.
Tew further said her potential partner could take precautions, such as taking a medication called pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), which reduces the chances of catching HIV during sexual intercourse or injecting drugs. I was.
“I can live a normal life. Let’s get rid of that stigma,” she said in the video. “AIDS is not a death sentence. I survived. I am a survivor.”
Thanks to antiretroviral therapy, people with HIV/AIDS can suppress the replication of the virus in their bodies and block its transmission to others. Her HIV levels in the patient’s blood are then so low that they are undetectable by conventional analysis.
