When reaching out to a cousin about my life-threatening illness, I was met with her text response, “Bigger problems. I have HIV”. I responded in a kindly manner offering moral support and received no further response. It's more than a week later. I know she is probably scared. So am I. However, I was quite annoyed with the one-up-manship; especially, because I know she is misinformed. Dying has never been a competition, as far as I know. Let's look at the most current scientific facts:

With the right treatment and care, people with HIV can live a normal lifespan.

Life expectancy for people living with HIV

VS

Analyzing prognostic factors in 84 hematologic patients with invasive fusariosis, the 90-day probability of survival was 0% if patients had persistent neutropenia

Invasive Fusariosis in Patients with Hematologic Diseases

When someone reaches out to you about their life-threatening disease, get your facts straight before being unkind, even if you have your own life-threatening disease. Dying is NOT a pissing match.

#lifethreateningdisease #lifeexpectancystatistics #compassion #DeathOfFamilyScapegoat