THE ORIGIN OF OUR STORY
STARTS WITH A VIRUS THAT HAS SPREAD
TERROR FOR ALMOST HALF A CENTURY ...
THE
HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS ( HIV )
0.016%
There was one disease that, since I learned about it, frightened me the most. I feared it the most because it is a disease that, if you are unlucky enough to catch it, changes your entire life from one day to the next. A deadly virus that has claimed the lives of millions of Men, women, and children. Approximately 76,000 Children died from HIV just in 2023. There are currently around 40 million people living with HIV around the world, and that's just an estimation. HIV has been researched since 1981, 800,000+ Researchers and 13,000 Clinical Studies without yielding a functional or sterilizing cure. It is estimated that the NIH devoted close to $3.2 Billion USD for HIV research in 2025 alone.
But there's more; this is not just an illness and burden on the body and mind, dramatically shortening the lifespan of many by decades, whether on treatment or not. HIV is Stigma, which makes it an incredibly lonely journey for many. Because, unlike most other diseases, HIV comes with a cast of cruel judgments: "She must have many partners", "Just use protection!" , "He's probably Gay". For many, it means another barrier in their career, for others, an end to their love life. Countless lost their job, faced rejection before they've even had the chance. Suddenly, people you thought close become distant, others treat you like a walking disease and less like a human. It's an illness that many think demands an explanation, as if you are automatically 'guilty'. And in some families or circles, you can't even mention it.
As a former Red Cross Health and Safety Instructor, I always reminded people of the dangers of STDs and particularly of HIV. I felt people didn't take it seriously enough. Whether it is not wearing protection while attending an emergency or sex, "it takes only one time. Be smart, be safe," that is how I would always end the chapter on transmissible infections. Unfortunately for some, none of this is enough; the 'one in a million' is still someone in a million cases. In February 2021, I contracted HIV through the most unlikely way. It wasn't unprotected sex; it wasn't a needle. It was that one in a million.
It all began on the 26th of February, 2021. I woke up feeling as if I had caught a cold. The following week I had the oddest symptomps: I would wake up with a slight fever every night, then wake up without one. A week in after the first symptoms appeared, things started to get worse, much worse, and quickly. I was withering, dying no less.: blood on the stool, infections in the mouth, mouth ulcers, and a severe lack of appetite. I started losing weight at an alarming rate, and the 'bathroom situation' got worse. I was referred to a Proctologist, who immediately diagnosed me with a very severe infection in the lower intestine that might need hospitalization. Indeed, 2 days later, I was in the Hospital. I was terrified.
(1st Image ) HIV's Results. 'Reactivo' meaning 'Positive' and 'No Reactivo' meaning 'Negative'. In this case, the results showed a positive for the famous p24 antigen and corresponding antibodies. ( 2nd Image ) PCR confirmation with 1,927,077 RNA Copies or Viral Particles per ml of blood. ( 3rd Image ) Prescription for the suspected lower intestine infection that later became a hospitalization ( 4th Image ) while in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas.
Almost three weeks from the onset of feeling ill, a new Proctologist, this time in Merida, Yucatan, told me: "I want to test you for STDs and HIV." I gave him an upset look and said, "STDs? HIV? What for? I never had unprotected sex, I don't inject drugs ... I haven't done anything that puts me at risk. I have an intestinal infection, that's what I have, and I need a treatment for that". He gave me a requisition for HIV testing with the other blood work. I reluctantly took it and thanked him for his time and left. I wasn't going to do the HIV test, there was no point I thought, I have done it before, but out of routine checks. When I got to the Lab I gave the clerk the requisition, told her there was no need for the STD and HIV tests, but before paying, I asked the clerk, "By the way, how much for an HIV test?" The clerk looked at me and said, "Well, it's your lucky day, we have them 50% off, it's around $120 Pesos ( $7 USD )" I said, "Okay sure ... I guess we can add it too".
Two days later, I received an email labeled 'Test Results'. I opened the email, downloaded the PDF, opened the PDF. I browsed my General blood work, so many items were off the regular parameters, specifically my white blood cell count, which was very low. But then I kept reading, and at the bottom, there it was (see the first image above). I was on the floor, paralyzed, and then I started crying uncontrollably. I never cried so much and for so long. I took an Uber straight to the ER. I didn't know what to do. All I did when I got there was cry, sob "I .. I .. I have .. HIV ... How? Why? ... No, no, this can't be true." I was breaking down, fainting. My phone rang, it was my nephew who heard me very distressed immediately said: "You're coming to Mexico City right now, I will send someone to pick you up, and I'm picking you up at the Airport".
General Entrance to the Hospital Angeles Interlomas in Mexico City, Mexico.
The next day, I went to the ER of Hospital Angeles Interlomas, a private hospital in Mexico City. The ER physician, seeing me in the condition I was, said right away, "You're going to get a confirmation test after I see you, but seeing you in this state, I am not waiting for you to take it; I'm starting you on Antiretroviral Therapy right away." I still held the hope that this was a false negative test. But then the next day, Saturday, early morning, 20th of March 2021, I took the first pill. An hour later, I was already feeling much better. I didn't need to wait for the confirmation; it was clear, I was HIV Positive.
Sorrow and darkness enveloped my waking hours. For days, I cried without any comfort from the thought that this horrible illness would accompany me until my last day. The physician who diagnosed me, in an attempt ot cheer me up, said, "It was 0.016% chance, like getting hit by a train ... but at least you didn't get hit by a train, and you are going to be fine". I knew very well that living with HIV, even on Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART), was going to be tough. The best scenario would be a life span of years, if not decades shorter, likely developing common comorbidities like diabetes, neurological disorders or cancer, by-product of the daily intake and constant circulation of HAART metabolites and HIV's deleterious effects on the body, even when suppressed and undetectable.
HAART quickly shifted from a life-saving medication to a daily torture. The side effects from HAART were unbearable. Severe insomnia, rashes, dizziness, nausea, severe constipation, and constant brain fog made life a daily struggle. "It's like death wrapped up in a pill, .. my body can't handle it" I pleaded with my treating physician. Different drug combinations were tried without much improvement on the side effects front. I was particularly susceptible to the effects of both Integrase and Protease Inhibitors, which are the backbone of the vast majority of HIV treatments that target vital enzymes key in the HIV life cycle. Different physicians, different takes, but all with the same message, "this is your life now, better get used to it".
When I would complain about how the severe side effects were wrecking his life, at worst, they were completely ignored, at best, they came with suggestions for new medications to add, "If you can't concentrate well, I can prescribe you Ritalin". I quickly realized that none of the physicians could do much for me. I had to be my own saviour; there was no one coming to help me. Something that, at this point in life, I had unfortunately learned very well, about the cruelty of some people, especially the ones you'd think would be there, friends and family that pretended nothing was wrong, not to mention a government safety net that never really existed or was there for me when I actually needed it ( Canada ). While the Mexican Universal Care System gave me the medications for free, in Quebec, I was charged $300 CAD a month at a time I couldn't afford it. In fact, the only thing that I had to rely on was an extensive credit line from RBC that I had built over the years in case of an emergency. Eventually, I had to sell my house, had to empty any savings or assets that I had taken me many years to save for.
Mexico City's Clinica Condesa Universal HIV Care program covers the medications and care of all HIV positive people residing in Mexico City, regardless of their legal status in the country. "No. Ced. de Gratuidad" translates to "Gratuity Card Number"
My dining table during 2021-22, as I attempted to find the right combinations to relieve the crippling side effects of HAART and began researching HIV further.
Hope
Long before HIV hit me, I knew the power of nature in healing. I understood for over a decade and experienced many times that with the right knowledge and application of different natural compounds, nutrients, lifestyle changes, and the correct delivery methods, one could treat many ailments, from influenza to even hair loss. Without intention, a methodology was being born, the Medicina Sooke Method.
One by one, I attempted to tackle HAART's side effects. Through research, trial and error, lab work, and testing. Within a few months, life finally started resembling a normal life. This was no perfect solution, and despite the improvements, HAART was a heavyweight that proved very difficult to manage; one slip, one supplement not taken at the right time, one workout missed, one meal with the wrong ingredients would trigger a comeback of side effects, not to mention the risks of these interacting or affecting the medications. Not something that should ever be attempted lightly, even when you have the proper formation and studies.
"Tackling the side effects felt like trying to hold water in your hands, if I pressed on one side to avoid the water from escaping, it would find a new way to get out ... when I would solve one side effect, a new one would creep its head up".
A mission to live
One morning, after yet another sleepless night triggered by HAART, with recurring chest pains and an exhaustion I can not describe in words, I decided no more; this was not going to be my new forever. And with that in mind, I embarked on a mission: I will get cured, whether it is the last thing I do.
Armed with a background in medicine and life sciences, I began dedicating every spare moment of mental clarity to research. I had completed over 1000 hours of research, sometimes at the pace of 50 hours per week. For months, my days mostly consisted of investigation and research. I read dozens of publications, clinical trials, cross-referenced data, turned every stone I stumbled upon from in-vitro and ex-vivo results of latent reservoir awakening to the mechanics of the virion fusion to CD4-exhibiting cells and the role of co-receptors and glycoproteins in this process. This was before AI. The year was 2021, the place: Mexico City.
The initial first weeks were spent solely on reading, reading, and more reading. Then came formulations based on my own physiology ( weight, blood pressure, etc. ). Formulations later became potential scenarios and projections. The whole research project was divided into 4 different 'general assays', which later became the foundation for a treatment. The treatment had a small chance of working on its own, so I gave it a try and went ahead with the plan. Any shot not taken is a shot lost, they say.
For months, I ordered different compounds, natural and pharmaceutical, under the pretense that I was doing a Thesis for biology and chemistry at a foreign university. I began experimenting, testing, and recording results. Further research and reading changed and tweaked the thesis as new insights and findings became available to me. I knew what and how the needle needed to move in parameters such as different Lymphocyte counts, ratios of lymphocytes, reactions between innate and adaptive immune responses, cytokines, hepatic enzymes, microbiome, stool testing results, and much more. This kept going in an intense format for months. By the end of this period, I had spent tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket. I was feeling the financial pinch. The debt started piling up. But I didn't care anymore. I knew the alternative was not something I could live with, even with all the improvements to my quality of life that I had made. Every time I would take that pill, I had to brace myself for the 'pain', which felt like a roulette of side effects every day.
Some examples. The only two things that were used from these images are 1) a-pinene, an amazing terpene isomer found in pine sap, rosemary oil, and others. 2) The physiologyweb calculators, whoever did this, god bless you, it was a crucial tool to get things right. Soon, I hope to give credit to the key tools and research I used.
"It's like a Cancer"
During these tests, I came off the drugs entirely a few times. The first two, for example, needed to be done for me to verify the virulence of my specific sub-strain of HIV ( HIV has a multitude of 'sub-strains' ) and develop an idea and graph of what to expect in terms of the rate of viral load increase per day without HAART. The last two, to give another example, came to test the effectiveness of parts of my thesis. Everything was carefully timed. The biggest danger was for HIV to gain resistance to HAART, something that can happen much more easily when a treatment is suspended, and that is something to be avoided at all costs, because then the treatment becomes even more burdensome. It entails adding more medications to the existing 'cocktail'.
One of my conclusions was that HIV, in practical terms, acted more like a Cancer than a Virus, and therefore needed to be treated like one. Here was a virus that could avoid immune detection and completely outmaneuver the immune system with total impunity, the same way cancer does. This wasn't any virus; this was HIV, and there was a very good reason why it escaped cure for over 4 decades of global research, mostly because it was tackled from the wrong approach. This needed a new and fresh perspective. These perspectives often come from the least expected people, often because they don't adhere to conventional wisdom and are approached from a completely different perspective. This required thinking 'outside the box' and, for better or worse, that was my specialty.
By late 2021, I had concluded what needed to be done and how it needed to be done. There were a few 'issues' though, I wasn't a physician or a researcher, I didn't have a lab, nor a team, nor an institution to come to. In the eyes of my physicians, I was just another patient. There is no brainstorming, there is no discussion. You are the patient, they are the Doctor, end of story. But again, you lose all the shots you don't take. So I went ahead and approached two oncologists in the Mexico City area. The first one flat-out rejected even meeting me. The second one showed much more interest and sat down with me. After I explained everything, he said: "Even if I believe you, Gabriel, and I believe you, I can't. I will get my licence suspended, I could lose my career". My heart sank into a very dark place, I became hopeless and depressed. I was out tens of thousands of dollars, had lost clients and income for almost a year, just to get to this dead end. I needed a type of cancer drug, and I could only get it through an oncologist, which I clearly wasn't going to get.
Ping!
So what to do? Who to approach? I tried a few more times, "Maybe I'll find some GP or someone". I didn't. I had realized that the only way to move forward was to find a clinical trial that would have a similar profile to what I was looking. For me, the aim was a sterilizing cure, not a so-called functional one where one 'lives' with the virus; I had concluded long ago that any functional cure would eventually fail. So I kept my attention exclusive to those with the potential for that.
I did, after all, have been a Web Developer and SEO Specialist for a decade and understood algorithms very well, as well as how to use the web. I then created an 'alert' that would notify me the moment anything with the words 'Cancer' and 'HIV' would show up. I waited, then forgot about it. I was tired, and darkness engulfed my days.
On a bright, cold afternoon in March of 2022, sitting at a co-working space in Gatineau, Quebec, I saw the notification - a clinical trial in the USA had opened its intake for a Cancer Treatment that was going to be adapted for HIV. I can't remember ever being so happy. A jolt of joy and excitement hit me like a lightning bolt. The treatment fit in with some of my conclusions and held much promise in my eyes. I was thrilled when I read about the cutting-edge technology of the treatment - CAR-T Cell Therapy. It was fascinating, and in many ways, it was a better pairing than the initial cancer drugs I was researching; a perfect fit, and so I signed up right away.
However, after reading all the literature sent to me by the Clinical Trial Team, I realized the treatment had flaws. For example, it did not consider all aspects of the viral kinetics of HIV or the role of the microbiome in the therapy, to give a few examples. In my view, the treatment had limited chances to work on its own, a sentiment echoed right from the beginning by the team and repeated throughout our exchanges and during intake. In fact, their 12 month post treatment follow up questionaire didn't even have the option of success ( see image ).
The 12 month follow up questionaire did not even have the possibility of success for the treatment. In fact, the protocol did not even have a structure or plan for success over a year's time. This was drafted at around the 15-month mark from the infusion date.
UC Davis and Caring Cross
Despite the lacklustre enthusiasm communicated to me about the chances of success and the many warnings the participation in this trial entailed, including the possibility of 'death' and/or 'cancer,' I fell in love with the treatment which harnessed one's own immune system to combat cancers, and this case HIV. I thought it held so much promise, it made complete sense to me, and it was just amazing to learn about this amazing technology. It was mind-blowing, everything about it and its enormous potential to do so much for cancer and beyond. After a few months of back and forth and getting all the questions and information answered by the amazing team at UC Davis I was convinced more than ever that this was the way to go. But there was one more thing I wanted to find out: who was behind this amazing project, and that is when I learned about Caring Cross. I fell in love with the organization, researched it thoroughly, all the projects they were involved in, the people behind it, and their organization's identity and mission. I thought, "finally a research institution with its heart in the right place and one that believes in the power of nature for healing." I signed all the final paperwork and was ready to go.
But Clinical Trials are anything but smooth; the dates kept moving due to FDA hurdles, teams that needed to be coordinated, providers, and more. The coordinator was in constant communication with me and was my point of contact throughout this waiting time. By the time I was due to come for the first time, I felt I was about to see a good, old friend who later became like family. Even though I was doing this all by myself, had no partner or family to rely on, I felt I had all the support I needed, and beyond, I knew I was in the best of hands, I knew I was amongst friends, and while I was hesitant about traveling to the US, there was no other place I wanted to be than Sacramento, California. Yes, I wanted to help myself, but more than that, I wanted to help them. I wanted them to succeed.
First draft of the consent form created by the UCSF and administered and delivered by the UC Davis in Sacramento, California. The form included details about the nature of the treatment itself. The form as well as all the interactions between the team and the acting physician, made it clear that the treatment was highly unlikely to result in any type of cure, functional or sterilizing and was intended to learn about the potential of the technology in treating immune diseases such as HIV. The risks of making everything worse took the vast majority of the 'outcome' section, including death by heart failure and cancer.
The Ultimate Risk
I knew what I had to do, I had one chance, and I wasn't going to back away. Going back to a living nightmare was not a choice I was willing to take. This treatment could not fail; it had to succeed. I knew my life depended on that. So I began adapting the whole treatment I developed to this Cancer Therapy. One by one, I tackled the different deficiencies that I found. To give one example of the many changes made to the protocol - I needed to adjust the dose of the chemotherapy agent that was used. I had concluded that the dosage and, specifically, the levels of the residual component of it needed to be adjusted. So I used Piperine, a natural alkaloid I researched before, found mainly in black pepper, that slows down a metabolic pathway the chemotherapy agent used - CYP3A4 and CYP2B6. In other words, taking Piperine prior to being dosed with chemotherapy would cause the desired effect of a prolonged dosage and an increase in a specific metabolite.
After two years of waiting, my turn came. The participants before me had all relapsed and were back on HAART. The oncologist in charge of the protocol, with a tired and serious face, had told me a few days earlier, in the face of my excitement, to keep "reality in check" while wishing me the best. I understood he wanted to protect me from disappointment, and I appreciated that. On a Monday morning, July 15, 2024, came the time for the infusion of the Treatment. Even though I was beaten by the chemotherapy infusion given days earlier, I had never felt so happy in a very long time. I can't describe that moment; it was sheer happiness. The amazing nursing team that had been there across many visits was all there. Dara, one of the teammates, asked me what I was thinking moments before the infusion. I looked at her, and I said," ... this thing (HIV) picked the wrong host, and it is about to find that out. Its days of terror are numbered, I promise you that much ...". She smiled, gave me the biggest hug and the infusion began with all the amazing team at UC Davis standing by my bed; it was a very moving moment full of some of the best people I have ever met. People whom I am grateful to this day.
As the infusion trickled in, I was utterly terrified. From all of this, I might sound to you like a confident man, but I wasn't. I was full of doubts and fears. I knew I had 'tampered' with the protocol, and the real moment of truth was coming. The word 'death' kept flashing in my thoughts. The treatment itself had already too many unknowns; the consent form was very explicit - this treatment could result in a fatality. Compounding all the adaptations made, what if I had miscalculated something? I closed my eyes and started to recite King David's litany against fear, plasmed in his 23rd Psalm " ... Though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no harm, for You are with me ... "
The UC Davis Health Campus in Sacramento, California felt like holy ground for me. On every visit, every follow-up that I would come back would feel like homecoming, in a country I never thought I would feel that way.
Weeks, Months, Years
The first week was full of suspense. I was in the hospital under strict monitoring for almost a week. Towards the end of the stay, the team was surprised that the viral load had barely rebounded, and markers were surprisingly good. But of course, they didn't know what I was doing. I had already started covertly applying changes and modified the protocol long ago, and during the treatment. I felt there was no turning back, and kept moving with all the elements of the adjuvant treatment I had designed ahead. I could not risk this failing. I wasn't thinking about developing a methodology or anything of the sort, and much less going public with any of this. I had one goal in mind - to eradicate HIV from my body, that's all, I didn't care about anything else.
I was very nervous; I feared I had missed something, and during my stay in the hospital, I reviewed and reviewed everything day and night. At the end of the week, I was released and had to come daily for checkups. Then it became every couple of days, then twice a week, and so on. Three months went by, and the results kept getting better. At that point, I had been consistently undetectable for 3 weeks. It was a big milestone.
Days turned into weeks, and while others in my cohort and the following cohort had already relapsed or had some level of viral suppression, to the surprise of the physicians, I didn't relapse and had consistent non-detectable results with a few blips. It was then that it started to hit me that this was a success; it was working. As I kept getting results from the labs, I kept adjusting elements of the adjuvant therapy and research that I had done. Those first three months were a marathon of lab work, research, and appointments, all the while keeping my old job. When it became clear after a few months what was happening, that while the team had expected for me to relapse and I hadn't, it all hit me at once - it worked. It hit me that I had created something here, something I knew I had done many times before for alopecia, ADHD, insomnia, and more, but had never given a name or form.
3 months passed, then 6 months - undetectable. I had a hard time believing this myself. But as the months kept passing by, others relapsed or showed undesirable results, it hit me - this was real. I wasn't too sure what to do, and during those initial months, I started spiraling; what now? The team kept testing me for all the different reasons that I could have been an anomaly. But I knew there was no genetic or environmental anomaly. But what to say? How to approach the team? I felt frozen, paralyzed. Paradoxically, I became depressed, and darkness engulfed my days. I felt a huge burden; I kept thinking of all the patients that I saw at the clinics I had been to; the burden of the disease, their suffering, anguish, and the stigma they carried. How could I just 'keep this to myself'? Here was something that would bring hope to so many; here was a different method to tackling illnesses, to enhance treatments, and more.
Many ideas for different adjuvants or even treatments for other chronic illnesses started to connect with the research; there were many areas where this could be applied to ...
TO CONTINUE SOON
My hotel room at the UC Davis Health Campus in Sacramento, California. While on treatment, it became a little lab with the entire adjuvant therapy mapped out on paper, pill dispensers, graphics, and printed blood test results measuring key markers along adjustments, progress and modifications according to the results.
