Hi Bryan,
I'm so glad to hear that there's good indication that your father's recovery is likely to be full and complete. You must be so relieved. I'm undergoing intensive physical and occupational therapy for a double hip replacement surgery I had on Monday which was related to long term use of antiretroviral therapy (perhaps the protease inhibitors specifically). .It's hard work, but with each instance of demonstrated progress comes the motivation to move forward.
The e-mail that I have access to from my hospital bed doesn't have the capacity to "reply all", so this reply is being directed to you alone. If you think it would be beneficial to share with the group at large, I welcome you to forward it.
Your mention of Lipitor to control cholesterol and triglycerides, thus controlling plack build up in the arteries, triggered my need to share a personal experience with another side effect from antiretroviral meds - liver toxicity. Liver toxicity is something else PWAs have to be aware of. While some drugs cause less liver toxicity than others, liver toxicity can also be caused by Hepatitis, Lipitor, and Tylenol products. Once your liver is damaged by ddi scarring or Tipranavir toxicity, excessive alcohol consumption, Lipitor, Tylenol or other toxicities, it is not thought to be reversible. liver replacement is a very dangerous and not very reliable solution, and believe me, you do not want to have permanent liver damage that causes belly bloating if you can avoid it.
The POZ e-mail alert I received just the other day referenced that one in two HIV+ people are or will be affected by some form of lipid abnormaility. Most effective is preventing liver toxicity in the first place, which for some of us, may mean making a bona fide attempt to control lipids through healthy diet and aerobic exercise - no red meats, fried foods, whole dairy, coconut, avacado, nuts, etc., or limitations of those foods. Even with healthy diet, exercise, light drinking, no Lipitor, it is still possible to damage the liver. A 24-year dormant Hep. B, long term use of ddi, and short term use of the very toxic Tipranavir, can cause significant damage, as has been my case.
I urge everyone whose lipids have been affected by HIV and/or its medications to consider non-prescription alternatives to Lipitor in order to avoid undue toxicity to the liver. And I hope that everyone reading this is healthy and happy to their fullest potential.
With concern and respect for all our differences,
Mikee D, Bucks County
SIN-Philadelphia member
springboardiver@... 
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