Lagena lookabill greene biography

By LaGena Lookabill Greene

I grew up in a close-knit family in Charlotte, North Carolina. I was a cheerleader, competed in gymnastics, and attended UNC–Chapel Hill on an academic scholarship.

I was on a successful career path when I was devastated to learn that I had been infected with HIV at age 25. 

I’ve been on the edge of death countless times from deadly pneumonias, cancer, encephalitis.

Daily infusions of toxic medicine through IVs and PICC-Lines, swallowing handfuls of pills and vomiting were how I spent my days for years. For a four-year stretch I lived with virtually no immune system (CD4 count of 0) and no new AIDS treatments available.

Lagena lookabill greene biography wikipedia

At one point I was hospitalized and given only a few months to live because my body had wasted to 89 pounds. Now at 49, I have survived the ravages of AIDS for 24 years. My body battles side effects of many medications, one which injured my pancreas, causing me to become an insulin-dependent diabeti