~My Hep-C Life~

I've always liked a pretty picture.
Weather it be flowers or fantasy,
animals or mysterious art,
it is something that I can get lost in....
I hope you enjoy my story and the images within it..
they made my life somewhat easier...

humorous,

informative

and caring.

I have added a link to a Hepatitis Forum and also a link called Hepatititis A-Z on this page which,
I hope you take the time to check both of them out.

There are alot of us out there with this virus and by writing about it and talking about it
we can win this fight against this disease.

~Thanks for reading my story so far~

In The Beginning...

~Because hepatitis C infection may take years to severely damage the liver, the younger one is when the infection is acquired, the higher the likelihood that progression to cirrhosis may occur during that person's lifetime~

Hi

My name is Christine. I am 44 years old.

I was diagnosed with Hepatitis-C in November of '98. I was feeling tired for no reason and decided to visit my Doctor.

When I first learned of the diagnosis I was very angry and confused. I wasn't even sure who I could talk to about it. I mean afterall,who could I talk to? This was a disease ( at least to me) that had a stigma all over it. It was a drug users disease. I was sure I would be discriminated against.

I read a homepage this lady had wrote and found it so true. She said the first thing the Doctor asked her was "Do you use drugs"? It made her mad she said, because it should not matter how you got the disease but only where do I go to from here?

I too was asked, but not by my Doctor. I have a wonderful Doctor. I was asked by a Nurse in the recovery room after my Biopsy. In my opinion this is in very poor taste.

As I stated there are many ways to get this. This virus is not just for drug users. It can happen to anyone at anytime.

I am now in my 7th month of treatment with 5 more to go. I take ( 5 ) 200mg. capsules daily and ( 3 ) 3million IU injections 3 times a week. I am on the combination therapy program.

I am making this homepage with the hope of educating people who don't understand Hep-C. Maybe you know someone or maybe you are just curious.

I hope that by reading my story you will be able to understand more and learn with me as I travel into the world of Hepatitis-C. (Also called HCV)

I will update this page often with as much information as I can. I will also let you know how I am doing along the way with the final prognosis in 5 months.

Hepatitis does not discriminate.

Just because you never used drugs or you never were a nurse does not mean you can't get this disease. It could be something simple like sharing a razor or a toothbrush.

You can't get Hep-C from hugging a person or even from having dinner with them. It doesn't hurt to take some precautions, only don't let that stop you from caring about someone.

This virus has no symptoms to warn you. It is called the "Silent Killer". It destroys the liver without you even knowing it. In a way, it tricks the liver. The liver handles many different functions for the body, and Hep-C is a virus that lives in the blood stream which of course goes through the liver..So it does not realize it is being attacked by this virus.

Right now there are many drugs out there that are doing a great job to get control of this disease.

Check out my other pages..

just click on the links below