The Daily News

A Fargo native got candid with North Dakota State College of Science students and faculty Tuesday while relaying his daily life living and not suffering from HIV.

Roger Schobinger, 55, tested positive with the virus 17 years ago on June 30, 1992. Schobinger, a gay male who said he's never been sexually promiscuous, called himself North Dakota statistic No. 118. Today in North Dakota, 222 individuals are living with AIDS and 140 are living with HIV.

"At the time I tested positive I was on the board of the Dakota AIDS Project and every quarter they came out with statistics on new infections. June 30 is the end of the quarter, so number 118, here I am," Schobinger said. "As careful as I was, as educated as I was, the virus still got through."

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Schobinger, who has been involved in long-term relationships, found himself single in North Dakota in 1991 after moving to Fargo from Los Angeles. Schobinger became involved with a Minneapolis man in the spring of 1992 and suspects it was that man who passed on the virus to him sometime in May that same year.

"Since 1985 I've been tested every six months, my last negative test was November of 1991," Schobinger said.

Early in June 1992, Schobinger developed flu like symptoms — temperatures of 103 and the sweats, which would last for two to three days at a time. It took several doctor visits before one suggested Schobinger be tested for the HIV/AIDS virus.

Once positive results came his way, Schobinger made plans with a Meritcare doctor to perform a series of blood tests, learn the effects of the virus and when to begin anti-viral therapy. Schobinger also had to start telling his friends and family about his diagnosis. And while many of his friends already knew someone with the virus, he feared what his family would think.

"The stigma attached to HIV in '92 was tremendous," Schobinger said, adding that his family accepted the news and was immediately supportive. "I've got such a loving, caring family. I'm so grateful."

In 1993, Schobinger's CD4 cell count began to decrease, leaving his immune system weakened. At that time, doctors advised him to begin anti-viral therapy, which was not covered by his insurance company. So, Schobinger, a veteran, began treatment at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Fargo.

"They are absolutely the best," he said.

Since 1993, Schobinger has learned to move beyond the disease he's living with and live a full life. He retired, settled in Arizona as an amateur golfer for two years and then returned to Fargo.

"I was dying, I wasn't living and I wasn't getting on with my life," Schobinger said.

As a resident of his home town, Schobinger is actively involved in educating students, teachers and the general public about HIV and AIDS. He hosts seminars for high school instructors and speaking at universities around the region.

"There's a lot of things a person like me can help bring to light," he said.

For several years, Schobinger says his viral load, the amount of virus in his blood, has remained low and most times is undetectable by doctors — the best test result he could get. Schobinger takes four medications regularly and said he is 100 percent compliant with the regiment, because if he isn't the virus could easily mutate and become worse.

"This is such a smart virus," he said. "The virus I have is different than what anyone else has."

With proper medicinal structure, Schobinger is confident he will live another 17 years.

"You will die of something else," said Augusto Alonto, a Meritcare infectious disease physician also part of Tuesday's presentation, to Schobinger. "The medications we have now will let patients with HIV live a long time."

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