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NOV|DEC
2013
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Couple Christian Stanley and PatrickBuzzell PHOTOJoel Benjamin
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Local celeb couple preaches
the virtues of an HIV-poz
and -neg relationship
Christian Stanley and Patrick Buzzell
have a lot to be thankful for this year.
With the fall of DOMA, Patrick can now
sponsor his Venezuelan-born husband
Christian for U.S. citizenship. The Boston
couple, with their beloved pet ferret
Sophia, have settled into a comfortably
stylish South End apartment within
walking distance of jobs they love. Calling
himself something of a jack of all trades,
Christian is a photographer, a personal
trainer and the store manager for the new
G-Star Raw clothing store on NewburyStreet. Patrick is a private health coach
with a certificate from the Institute of
Integrated Nutrition and a registered
respiratory therapist working at Boston
Medical Center and Spaulding Rehabilita-
tion Hospital.
Over the past several years, the two
have worked hard on themselves, their
relationship and their sobriety. Christian
is four years in recovery from crystal meth
addiction, Patrick six years from alcohol.
Together, both men have reached a place
in their lives where theyre eager to talkabout their personal battles and triumphs,
especially if their stories can help others
avoid or overcome similar obstacles.
The two are also a magnetic couple.
Christian is HIV positive and Patrick is
HIV negative.
Christian tested positive seven years
ago. He told Patrick on their first date.
The couple met at the Boston Pride block
party in 2009 when both were single and
neither looking for a partner. They had fun
at the party and then it was time to get to
know each other a little better. It sounds
so clich, Patrick says, but when youre
not looking you find him. When you meet
the right one, you just know it.
I needed to set the foundation, Chris-
tian says. I needed to know that if I was
going to be with someone he needed toknow who I was. Some people say Im
not my disease but I dont agree with that
completely. Im not my disease but my
disease is a huge part of my life. To say Im
not HIV, well, I am the face of HIV.
Patrick says he was as prepared for the
news as anyone can be. Ive dated so
many losers thats not even going to be a
blip on my radar of why I dont date some-
one, he says. When he told me, I was
okay. Yes, hes the face of HIV, but I am too
now, because it affects me personally.
For the past year, Patrick has been
participating in a PrEP (pre-exposure
prophylaxis) compliance study through
Bostons Fenway Institute.
In the study, Patrick takes a daily dose of
the anti-retroviral medication Truvada,
one pill every night. He documents his
compliance to the regiment using a spe-
cial mobile phone app developed by the
studys research team, Dr. Kenneth Mayer,
medical research director and co-chair
of the Institute, affiliated investigatorsand Steve Safren and Matthew Mimiaga.
Patrick also meets regularly with counsel-
ors who further document his day-to-day
life. Gradually, the results are showing
how well this recent breakthrough in the
fight against AIDS is working for Patrick,
Christian and potentially countless oth-
ers, partnered or single, gay or straight.
Back in 2007-10, Fenway was one of two
sites in the United States that took part
in an international study conducted by
the National Institutes of Health to test
the efficacy of this new method of HIVprevention. At the end of that study, only
44 percent of the studys participants
remained negative, says Dr. Mayer.
But a closer look at the blood work,
Mayer quickly adds, revealed something
more promising. Most of the men who
seroconverted in that early study had
not taken their meds regularly and the
researchers had the blood work to prove
it. They also had the blood samples of
those who took their meds regularly.
According to a 2012 report from U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Preven-tion, Among [those] with detectible levels
of the medication in their blood, the risk
of HIV acquisition was reduced by more
than 90 percent.
The study had two messages, says Dr.
Mayer: Overall the pills work and when
taken regularly the pills work extremely
well.
This good news resulted in the U.S.
Food and Drug Administrations approval
of Truvada for daily use by uninfected
FEATURECouplesSTORY Rob Phelps
Pre-ExposureProphylaxis and the
Magnetic Couple
It soundsso clich, but
when youre notlooking you findhim. When youmeet the rightone, you just
know it.
Patrick Buzzell
[CONTINUES80]
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adults to help prevent the sexual acqui-
sition of HIV, marking the first time
any med has been approval for HIV
prevention.
The PrEP studies resumed at Fenway
and thats when Patrick and Christian
came on the scene.When we were first told about PrEP,
Christian says, we were a little hesitant.
Why would you want to think about hav-
ing sex and putting someone you love, or
anyone, at risk?
This was all my decision, Patrick says.
Christian was hesitant of my getting
on it but Fenway does an amazing job of
educating people about it and how to take
it correctly.
The couple prefers the term smart sex
over safe versus unsafe sex. Christians
viral load is undetectable, which, likePrEP, they consider another tool in their
safety kit. Theyve also educated them-
selves on safer sexual practices and keep
up-to-date on new ones. Whether or not
they choose to use a condom is based on
separate checklists both have developed
together and quickly run through before
that special moment comes along.
If he says hes not feeling this right now,
thats okay, Christian says.
Honesty is a key part of their commit-
ment and if their checklists dont match
up on any given occasion, they turn toPlan B, which might be the condom, or
Plan C, which might be another kind of
safe, intimate activity, or Plan C, which
could mean holding each other all night or
just watching a movie on TV with Prin-
cess Sophia.
One year into the study, Patrick is still
HIV negative and plans to stay that way.
We decided to make our status as a
magnetic couple public for the purpose of
advocacy work, mainly because we want
to start a conversation about HIV, Patrick
says.The couple has been speaking at educa-
tional forums at AIDS Action Committee,
JRI Health, and elsewhere, in an attempt
to de-stigmatize HIV for partners and
potential partners, wether HIV-positive
or negative.
Were not therapists, Christian
stresses. Were not here to modify how
people chose to live their lives or tell
people what safe sex practices they should
do.
But when it comes to positive-negative
couples, both acknowledge a lot ofconfusion out there. People are scared,
Patrick says. Were cautious not to call it
ignorance or lack of education. We have
come in contact with stigma and bigotry
from people who are gay, open-minded
and educated, even people in the medical
field. So we want to start this conversa-
tion. We want to say this is what works for
us. This is who we are and how we choose
to live our lives.
HIV will mutate and evolve so we need
to change and evolve with it, Christian
says. If we dont, were a sad group ofpeople.
No one who chats with Christian or
Patrick is likely to come away sad. This
magnetic couple is one of the most posi-
tive youll ever meetand positive in the
very best sense of the word.[x]
[MAGNETIC COUPLE FROM41]
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