06/10/2026
June 5th was Long-Term Survivors Day for people living with HIV. It is a sad truth that being a long-term survivor of HIV is unique. According to the CDC, almost 500,000 people died from HIV/AIDS from 1981-2000. It's all too common for older members of the communities most affected by HIV to know at least one person who passed from the virus during this time. Fortunately, treatments today mean that those living with HIV can live long, healthy lives.
However, living with HIV doesn't mean living forever. It's our honor and privilege to be there with our patients as they grow old.
When we tell success stories in healthcare, we usually talk about people who are thriving—who have overcome challenges, healed, and are living their best lives. However, our nurse practitioner, John Stryker has an unexpected success story - because his patient, Leo, is currently dying.
Leo has been living with HIV since the early 1990s. The two met nearly a decade ago, when John was working at another HIV care provider in Chicago, Illinois.
John and Leo clicked so well that Leo followed him every time John took a job
at a new clinic, ultimately bringing both to Vivent Health + TPAN
In addition to living with HIV, Leo has Parkinson’s disease, and it’s complications from that, not HIV, that have led him to enter hospice care.
“We spent a couple of months talking about it,” says John. “What it would mean, what it would look like, and that he could change his mind at any time. But I could feel the shift for him when he was ready to make the decision. It wasn’t easy, but I think he’s much more comfortable now.”
This is a sad story. And it’s a success story. Because supporting people living with HIV doesn’t mean they’ll live forever, but it does mean we can help them live a life where HIV isn’t their main concern. Where they can remain virally suppressed. And where they can live long, rich lives filled with dignity.
John will mourn Leo when he’s gone. And he’ll celebrate the life Leo lived and the relationship they shared for so many years.
“It's amazing to have been a part of his life for so long,” John says. “And it’s a privilege to be here at the end.”
