AIDS TREATMENT NEWS #132, August 9, 1991
When Tom, with co-author Ahmed Gonzalez-Nunez, published Living with AIDS: Reaching Out in 1987, he had had AIDS- related symptoms for seven years and been seriously ill in 1982 and 1983. For his own health, Tom began researching holistic and conventional treatments; he focused on nutritional approaches, partly because these were more accessible than other treatments. This research, systematically collected in well-organized files, became the basis of Living with AIDS. Although the book was published privately (Corwin Publications was named for the street where Tom lived), thousands of copies were sold. While most of the specific information has now been superceded, Living with AIDS provided a model of good judgment in how to go about making treatment decisions. Tom approached the task with few preconceptions, meticulously collected treatment information, and used it to make treatment decisions for himself.
Tom was one of the founders of Healing Alternatives Buyers' Club (now Healing Alternatives Foundation) in San Francisco. This group came together primarily to obtain generic AL-721, the "alternative" treatment of most interest at that time. It also began carrying standard vitamins, etc., often at prices 40 percent below those prevailing elsewhere at that time. The nonprofit structure, with a board made up primarily of persons with AIDS or HIV, gave the AIDS community a practical and trusted presence in the business world -- an alternative to other retail outlets which were seldom AIDS-knowledgeable and seldom in business for community service.
Despite worsening health, Tom traveled widely during the last several years, and gave public talks in many cities on AIDS treatment options.
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