A Holistic Approach to Treating HIV

The clinic also provides psychotherapy for patients and their families -- to help them through the initial adjustment, for example, and to facilitate conversation about advanced care planning: When does the patient want to discuss death and dying? What are the patient's wishes?

For Felicia, Joshua and Michael, these are issues they think about, things they'll need to plan for. But with love and support -- from friends, family and doctors at the Burgess Clinic -- they can go on living with HIV.

Says Felicia, "It's not as hard and it's not as bad as people make it out to be."

Says Michael: "HIV is not necessarily a death sentence. There are a lot of young people living happily with HIV."

How to Help

Children's Hospital is involved in all aspects of pediatric health in the Washington area, whether the patient is a baby born with HIV, a toddler battling a brain tumor or a teenager who takes a tumble off a skateboard.

And most important, no child is turned away because his or her parents can't afford to pay. To help ensure that will always be the case, The Washington Post mounts an annual fundraising campaign for Children's Hospital. Your tax-deductible gift will help pay the bills of kids who had the misfortune to be born poor.

Our fund drive goes through Friday. Please help us reach our goal of $500,000.

To donate, make a check or money order payable to "Children's Hospital" and mail it to Washington Post Campaign, P.O. Box 17390, Baltimore, Md. 21297-1390.

To donate online using a credit card, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/childrenshospital.

To contribute by phone using Visa or MasterCard, call 202-334-5100 and follow the instructions on the recording.