Remember and Commit
Have you taken a daily pill or a couple of pills per day to “cure what ails you”? Imagine starting your day taking 16 pills, then another 13 medications at the end of the day, then finding out that your kidneys are failing, and you will need to go on dialysis. Christopher Costas knows all about this medical tsunami!
For 38 years, he took that many pills to manage his HIV positive status. The allocation was reduced when he was accepted to the kidney transplant list at the University of Pennsylvania—down to three pills to keep him “undetected,” six throughout the day, and another six at night.
He sometimes wonders if pharmaceutical companies have decided that more money can be made from maintenance programs. “If I have been able to maintain my undetectable status for so many years, there is no excuse for not being able to destroy the virus,” he says. “It’s time for all of us to demand a cure for HIV.” He continues to be an advocate for a cure to HIV and AIDS, particularly via a non-profit called World Survivor Day.
Christopher has lived with HIV from age 15 but started manifesting symptoms when he was 27, getting sick from multiple directions. After the original diagnosis, doctors predicted that he would probably die within six to eight months. The family didn’t accept that prognosis and gritted their teeth for a long but dedicated ride.
Looking back, Christopher focuses on his accomplishments. Initially, he went through a rebellion stage upon learning about his supposed fate—partying in New York City, dancing with the stars at Studio 54, frequenting gay nightclubs in the East Village—but ultimately attended the Philadelphia College of the Arts, and started an interior design company with a partner.
A 12-page feature story in a 1994 issue of Southern Accents showed his work on a restored 18th-century Virginia log house known as Squirrel Hill.
He eventually moved to Washington, DC, and started his own company—Christopher Costas Interiors. They designed the America’s Cup Ball in Georgetown Park, and he helped to raise funds to find a cure for HIV. He is still active in photography online.
Despite being HIV positive and having kidney failure, Costas and his beloved parents, Marilyn and Constantine, maintain a positive attitude and grateful hearts. Constantine attributes this to the family’s faith. They are true believers and the kind of people who welcome you into their home, expected or not, and then offer you a chocolate upon leaving. They have dedicated their lives to helping Christopher. “We don’t shoot our wounded,” says Marilyn. Both of his parents are ministers.
Costas’s advice about dealing with HIV is to stay positive. His saving grace has always been friends and family and especially his parents with whom he now lives in the Lewes Plantations community. Costas built the house 22 years ago. His parents sold their nearby home when Christopher was living for a time in South Beach Miami.
“Change is a constant issue with HIV,” Christopher says. “Over my lifetime, I have had to adjust to the plethora of medicines but, socially, it has often been a challenge to participate in life.” He maintains that many long-term survivors understand the roller coaster. “We have been loved; we have been feared,” he says. “We have tasted death and we have experienced resurrection. Those who have survived have lived the life of many.”
The HIV.gov website states that 1.2 million people are living with HIV in the US. That includes about 300,000 long-term survivors, defined as individuals who acquired HIV before 1996. Last year, there were 3,666 people in Delaware living with HIV, according to the Delaware HIV Planning Council.
December 1 was World AIDS Day, the annual event that reminds others about the global struggle to end HIV-related stigma, provides an opportunity to honor those we have lost, and raises a rallying cry to commit to working toward a day when HIV is no longer a public health threat. This year’s theme in the US was “World AIDS Day 35: Remember and Commit.” Christopher says, “all of us who are touched by HIV and AIDS have the responsibility to share our experiences.”
Grateful for another chance to share his story, Christopher appreciates that Camp Rehoboth has an opportunity “to reach the eyes and ears of so many.” ▼
Mary Jo Tarallo is a former journalist and public relations professional for various non-profits including a ski industry trade association. She won a Gold Award for a United Way TV program starring Oprah Winfrey.