Coping and support.
A HIV diagnosis is devastating to say the least. The social, emotional and financial life-long implications can make coping very difficult. To help you, most HIV/AIDS clinics have social workers and counselors together with the nurses to assist with housing and teen care, support during financial emergencies and arrange transport to and from your appointments.
As a teen living with HIV, you need to know about when you were exposed to HIV (at birth or unsafe sexual practices), what your symptoms are, what medications or supplements do you take and what risk factors, if any, might you have participating in unprotected sex (abstain or use a condom) or using illicit injections drugs (use a fresh, clean needle and do not share needles with others).
The doctor may want to review you bu asking questions and also performing a physical examination where they will look out for swollen lymph nodes, look out for lesions on your skin on in your mouth, look for problems in your nervous system, listen for abnormal sounds in your lungs and feel for swollen organs in your abdomen.