Hepatitis C Support Group
Hepatitis C is a blood-borne viral disease which can cause liver inflammation, fibrosis, cirrhosis and liver cancer. The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is spread by blood-to-blood contact with an infected person's blood. Many people with HCV infection have no symptoms and are unaware of the need to seek treatment. Hepatitis C infects an estimated 150-200 million people worldwide.
First let me Introduce myself. I am Sister... 5 years senior of my kid brother J.D.. We have been each others rocks since our mom died when I was 16 & he was 11. We had to fend for ourselves since then. I am now 52 & he is 47 years old.
He has been infected with Hep C for approx 3 plus years but didn't know it.
We live in a state in the US which doesn't like to care for people who are very low income and so he was denied any health care until his symptoms became very bad.
He has some health care now, although-be-it lousy. He is working on getting his disability, but they are waiting on more medical info.
There is an appointment in a couple of weeks with a doc who will evaluate whether he is well enough to do the liver biopsy.
I am of course completely ignorant of the disease, and frightened of what is to come, but ready to do whatever he needs me to do.
I figured since I use D.S. for my own support for the many illnesses I deal with daily for my own self, that I would come to you for support with what I may be going to experiencing with his illness.
I am looking forward to your stories, your experiences, and most of all your support in any way you can. Information, what to do & what to not do & fears, etc., I do not want to be ignorant about what he is experiencing.
He shares some of it with me, but also wants to shelter his sis from much of the hard to deal with stuff.
I am so grateful you are here. Looking forward to getting to know you all.
Please do not candy-coat anything with me. I need to know the real deal.
Any help/info is appreciated. Also any web sites with accurate info would be helpful.
We have already had family members become phobic about how the disease is passed from one to another. I need the truth whatever it may be.
In Love Light Truth & Service
"Stubborn" TerrieAnn/ralop
Loving Sis to JD
He has been infected with Hep C for approx 3 plus years but didn't know it.
We live in a state in the US which doesn't like to care for people who are very low income and so he was denied any health care until his symptoms became very bad.
He has some health care now, although-be-it lousy. He is working on getting his disability, but they are waiting on more medical info.
There is an appointment in a couple of weeks with a doc who will evaluate whether he is well enough to do the liver biopsy.
I am of course completely ignorant of the disease, and frightened of what is to come, but ready to do whatever he needs me to do.
I figured since I use D.S. for my own support for the many illnesses I deal with daily for my own self, that I would come to you for support with what I may be going to experiencing with his illness.
I am looking forward to your stories, your experiences, and most of all your support in any way you can. Information, what to do & what to not do & fears, etc., I do not want to be ignorant about what he is experiencing.
He shares some of it with me, but also wants to shelter his sis from much of the hard to deal with stuff.
I am so grateful you are here. Looking forward to getting to know you all.
Please do not candy-coat anything with me. I need to know the real deal.
Any help/info is appreciated. Also any web sites with accurate info would be helpful.
We have already had family members become phobic about how the disease is passed from one to another. I need the truth whatever it may be.
In Love Light Truth & Service
"Stubborn" TerrieAnn/ralop
Loving Sis to JD
http://www.dailystrength.org/groups/newbie-corner
Dalis is right- most everyone does their pegintron shots on Friday night so they have the weekend to recover. I just finished my treatment- last Ribavirin pills Thursday night. Please feel free to scroll through previous messages, and if you have any questions- please, just ask away!
HCV is certainly not a trivial disease, and needs to be managed and not ignored. However, having HCV is not a death sentence
I've had it since 1969, and I'm still here to post on blogs and work full time. Many of the folks here have had it a long time, many have only recently found out about it, but may also have had it a long time
Some have pretty serious liver issues, some have none.
The disease is not passed thru casual contact, or from a sneeze or a handshake or sharing a drinking straw. It's blood that is the carrier. But we're not necessarily talking about a lot of blood, and this is really important. Sharing a toothbrush that has a smidge of blood , or sharing a razor, will have enough blood so that when the next person uses that razor, and gets a little nick, they'll get infected. Hugs and kisses won't infect you
If they can't do a biopsy there are other testing procedures, such as abdominal MRI, that can provide a wealth of information.
There are drug company subsidies for some of the treatment drugs
The key is having the evaluation done, and having facts. With hcv knowledge is power. The folks on DS aren't medical doctors, but in one way or another we've all gone through, or contemplated, treatment programs. Cumulative we probably have more real life experience and awareness of the treatment options than any doctors.
Get the evaluation, come back to this forum, and we'll help you understand what the doc's say and what your options are
And visit the Newbie Corner that answers a lot of questions about what to expect during treatment
joe