Peace To all men,W.W.W.D.aidsInternationalConf.inToronto
Thursday, December 28, 2006

Norm-A Fallen warrior,and sadly missed by many....
It was alot of walking ,but it was the best event i have ever went to,learned alot,seen abit,slept in luxury,lived like a pauper at a palace really.But it was all good.exceot that i am still waiting to be reimbursed for my travel and food costs.oh well yet again eh fiolks!When I saw his obituary in the newspaper recently, I assumed he died of AIDS, but I was wrong. In an effort to raise awareness, he had shared with me his experiences living as a gay man infected with what, at the time, was thought to be a killer virus. His openness and courage about discussing his life and HIV-positive status, as well as his fears about it turning into full-blown AIDS, impressed me. Keep in mind, HIV and AIDS weren’t as “acceptable” 10 years ago, even though the stigma surrounding the disease and the perception that it only affects gay men and needle junkies persists today. Norm was committed to putting a “healthy face” on the disease and even back then, he worked closely with Access, The AIDS Committee of Sudbury, doing presentations at local high schools. He continued this work until his death. Norm never developed full-blown AIDS; in fact, his mother says he thought maybe a “miracle” had happened since he’d been HIV positive for more than 20 years. His death was caused by complications relating to Hepatitis B, more specifically an accidental acetaminophen overdose. When not taken as prescribed, acetaminophen, found in many common over-the-counter pain medications, can lead to serious liver damage and death, even in a perfectly healthy person. Like her son, Beatrice put her grief aside for a moment in order to share what happened in the days leading up to Norm’s death. She thought it was important people know the danger of over-the-counter painkillers. Norm hadn’t been feeling well for a few weeks. Beatrice says he had flu-like symptoms, he was tired, felt sick to his stomach and had a fever. But he was a busy man, in his third year of the massage therapy program at Collège Boréal, involved with organizations such as Access and Maison La Paix, and he didn’t have time to be ill. He “self medicated” with Tylenol to keep the symptoms he was feeling at bay so he could get on with life, but unfortunately, this ultimately resulted in the end of his. Norm spent Dec. 2 to 13 in a comma at the hospital as doctors worked to flush the high levels of acetaminophen out of his system, but there was too much liver damage already. On Dec. 12, he showed signs of improving, and his family was told there might still be some hope he would recover. But a day later, his parents were given the tragic news that Norm was now brain dead. The effects of the drug in his system had caused his brain to swell so much, it was on the verge of exploding. “We had to make the decision that day,” Beatrice says, her voice shaking with emotion. “At 4 pm, he gently passed back into arms of the Lord.” The health risks associated with acetaminophen made news across North America earlier this week after federal health officials in the United States proposed issuing stronger warnings labels about the potential danger and side-effects of this medication. In death, as in life, Norm continues to share his life story in order to raise awareness about important health issues. He showed us someone can live a fulfilling and rewarding life even after being diagnosed with HIV, it’s not an automatic death sentence. He showed us the importance of getting tested for the disease because the earlier it’s caught, the better the chance of it becoming a chronic manageable disease. He showed us that it’s important to talk to our kids about safe sex practices and other risky behaviours associated with AIDS. He showed us the importance of giving back to the community, regardless of one’s own circumstances. And lastly, he showed us the importance of being diligent about the medications we put into our bodies, even those perceived to be relatively harmless over-the-counter ones. Normand