Gena Tew Reveals She Weighs Over 100 Pounds Amid AIDS Battle: 'Goal Weight'

Social media influencer Gena Tew has revealed her weight has now gone up to 106 pounds, months after complications following her AIDS diagnosis caused her weight to plummet to 65 pounds. The 27-year-old model, who has more than 820,000 followers on TikTok, has been documenting her health journey in a series of social media posts since going public with her diagnosis in March. In one TikTok clip, shared on June 11 and viewed over 14 million times, the social media star showed herself struggling to get up from her bed as her weight plummeted and muscle atrophy had weakened her legs. A video shared in August showed a comparison between her strength in attempting to stand up at her lowest weight to doing the same at 95 pounds. That clip has been viewed more than 22 million times.

In a new post shared on the platform on Tuesday, Tew revealed that she is now up more than 10 pounds as she continues to regain her strength. "So last y'all heard I was 98 pounds, right?" Tew said in the video. "Well, I am now 105 pounds, baby! I freaking made it! [The doctor] said it was actually 106 [pounds], but I'm like no because I'm taking off one for my clothes, you know, and my shoes. Even if it is 106, y'all I made it—that was my goal weight." However, Tew said that while she's at a weight she's happy to stay at, it was recommended during her appointment that she gains more. Recalling her conversation with her doctor, Tew quoted her as saying: "'Well, you're actually underweight, because I looked at your BMI and you're like 18 and you need to be up here at 20.' And I'm like, 'So then how much am I supposed to weigh?' And then she's like, 'You know, 110, 115.'" Tew said she joked to the doctor that when it comes to gaining more weight she's "done. I like it here." "And then she goes on to tell me I need to eat less," Tew continued. "I need to eat food every couple hours the size of my palm. But I need to gain weight. But I can only eat this [small] amount of food. I can't eat that little bit! I like to eat."

While Tew remains unable to walk unaided, she shared an update with her TikTok followers in September, showing herself briefly standing up with the aid of a walker. As her health improves, Tew shared in October that the viral load in her blood means that she cannot transmit HIV to another person. "I am undetectable, you guys. That means untransmittable," she said in a TikTok video. "With that being said, people are asking me, 'Are you going to marry or have a baby with someone with AIDS?' I don't need to marry somebody with AIDS. They don't have to have AIDS. That means I cannot transmit it to the other person." Tew went on to say that her potential partner could take precautions, such as going on the medicine pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), which reduces the chances of contracting HIV through sexual intercourse or while injecting drugs. Noting that there can sometimes be side effects associated with taking PrEP, Tew advised that her partner could also "just be smart and use a condom." "I can have a normal life. Let's get rid of that stigma," she said as the video drew to a close. "AIDS isn't a death sentence. I survived—I'm a survivor."

Thanks to antiretroviral therapy, HIV/AIDS patients can suppress the viral replication within the body and block transmission to others. The patient will subsequently have such a low level of HIV in the blood that it becomes undetectable in conventional analysis. Dr. Laura Guay, vice president of research at the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, told Newsweek: "There are currently more than 24 effective anti-HIV drugs that are commonly used in two to four drug combinations to reduce the amount of virus in the body (viral load) to extremely low levels that cannot be measured with our VL tests- called 'undetectable VL.' "Having undetectable VL is critical to preventing the progression of HIV infection to symptomatic infection or AIDS and preventing transmission of the virus to partners. It is important to seek medical care from an experienced HIV provider if you are HIV-positive."

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• Gena Tew "untransmittable" after AIDS diagnosis—It "isn't a death sentence"
• Gena Tew reveals whether she's able to have children after AIDS diagnosis

Guay added: "Your health care provider will determine which combination of drugs will work best for you to bring your virus levels to undetectable. Sexual partners should also be tested and get on treatment if positive. "If your partner is HIV-negative, there are steps that you both can take to decrease the chance of passing on the virus, especially while you have detectable VL. The most important thing that you can do is to take your anti-HIV drugs as directed consistently and track your VL results to get to 'undetectable.' "Until you have reached undetectable VL, you should use condoms consistently and your partner can also take anti-HIV drugs to prevent infection (PrEP)."