
DATE: Saturday, September 27, 1997          TAG: 9709270438

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  108 lines

HIV EVENT BUILDS UPON HOPE FOR A CURE, THE NEED FOR HELP

Alex Cory had four teeth pulled Friday to prepare his mouth for braces.

The 11-year-old has full-blown AIDS, but his mother, Cathie Cory, says the metallic smile Alex soon will sport is proof positive that she and his father, Richard, are certain their son will live to grow up.

``If we knew he was going to die, we wouldn't bother,'' she said. ``We believe he will live. The braces are a symbol.''

Alex and his father will join Sunday's Hampton Roads AIDS Walk for Life that begins at Norfolk's Taiwanese Pagoda in Friendship Park at 1:45 p.m. and loops for five kilometers through downtown and surrounding neighborhoods. Runners get under way at 1:30. Money raised through pledges will go to 11 local groups that help AIDS patients with medical bills, counseling and daily needs.

Alex, who's been in and out of the hospital half a dozen times in the past year, takes the latest drugs that prolong life for AIDS patients. Ironically, it's side effects from the medications that have most often landed Alex in the hospital - from pancreatic problems late last year to diabetes this summer.

The Pilot has followed Alex's case since 1994.

Cathie Cory contracted HIV through a blood transfusion after Alex's birth. She apparently passed it to Alex through breast milk. Cathie has not developed AIDS.

Because more people with AIDS are living longer since the advent of the new medications about two years ago, the need for community support has grown, say advocates. Yet, donations have fallen off.

Mike Prodan, vice president of the Hampton Roads AIDS Walk Foundation, said money raised in the annual walk-athon plunged from $93,000 in 1995 to $46,000 last year. Simultaneously, donations to the organizations the foundation supports have dropped off dramatically, said Prodan.

``Things sound really good, but they are not,'' he said. ``Just as many AIDS victims can't take the new drugs as can. There's so much good news out there, and it's fantastic. There are a lot of victories, but many out there still need help.''

Many AIDS patients who once believed they hadn't long to live now find themselves alive, and this strains resources, said Prodan. Survivors, for example, need case management, job placement, housing, clothing, food and help with medical expenses.

In Virginia's Eastern Region, which includes the seven greater Hampton Roads cities, the number of AIDS cases between 1985 and June 30 of this year stood at 2,880, said Mary Ann Moore, director of the AIDS Resource Center at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk.

Until recently, about 60 percent of those with full-blown AIDS died.

The Eastern Region's HIV rates, the highest in the state, are a cumulative 3,878.

Statewide, 9,674 have been infected with HIV and 9,572 with AIDS since 1985, Moore said.

Nationwide, of the 581,429 people who have contracted AIDS since 1985, 362,004 have died, according to Moore.

She stressed the importance of early diagnosis. Getting the right medications during the early stages of the disease can help forestall the infections that can kill, she said.

Young African-American and Hispanic women are being diagnosed with HIV and AIDS at a higher-than-average rate, said Prodan.

More than 500 low-income people in Virginia's Eastern Region infected with HIV and AIDS are receiving treatment as stipulated by an act of Congress, said Moore.

Alex Cory's family has insurance. And while they have incurred plenty of extra expense, they have not had to rely heavily on their community for help.

Alex needs more sleep than most youngsters his age, and he's a bit more dependent, says his mother. Otherwise, he's just like any other sixth-grader.

Just now, Alex is into computers and has dreams of becoming an aerospace engineer. He recently took up playing the saxophone and joined the Boy Scouts. ILLUSTRATION: Photos

MARK MITCHELL/The Virginian-Pilot

Alex Cory, 11, has full-blown AIDS, but his mother and father remain

optimistic about his future, despite several stays in the hospital.

He and his father will participate in Sunday's fund-raising AIDS

walk-athon in Norfolk. His dog's name is Midnight.

Color photo

Alex Cory

Graphic

Money raised from the annual

walk-athon plunged from $93,000

in 1995 to $46,000 last year.

In Virginia's Eastern Region, which