Wife has hep C: What can we do?
My wife gave blood got a letter saying she has hep C. No telling how long she has had it. She has had symptoms for several years. Bad stomach problems. After eating, she has diarrhea within 30 minutes. Been like this for several years. Tired all the time and she bruises very easy. Fatigue constantly. The letter said she needs to go see a doctor. Since the covid outbreak my work has been very slow, to the point that I’m in the middle of bankruptcy because can’t pay my bills. I can’t imagine how I’m going to afford treatment or doctor visits. Neither of us had insurance. What do I do?
, thank you for letting us know about your situation–please know we're here with you for support. My heart goes out to you both for the hardships you've experienced through the pandemic.
I understand your concerns with moving forward with further testing and treatment. Has your wife has a liver biopsy or other testing done to understand her stage of liver disease?
I'm sharing a few resources below that I hope can help. I want to share the contact information for Help-4-Hep, a free peer counseling network. The help is free and they’ve supported patients in navigating hep C care and treatment. They can be reached at (877) 435-7443 from 9am-9pm EST.
Our resources page lists both non-profit and pharmaceutical patient assistance programs that help connect patients with treatment. These two pages provide more information on assistance programs and how to use them:
https://hepatitisc.net/living-with-hep-c/hep-c-resources/
https://hepatitisc.net/clinical/financial-assistance-programs
Let us know what questions you have!
-Matt (Community Manager)
Hi Rpolley,
I'm so sorry to hear all that you and your wife are going through. I know the pandemic and work issues have made the Hep C diagnosis even harder. My heart and prayers go out to you. I've been there. Matt gave some excellent links to resources that can help. Your wife does need to be under a liver specialist's care like a hepatologist or gastroenterologist. Tests are needed in order to determine if she has liver damage and if so, what degree. To determine what type of treatment is best suited for her, the doctor will access her medical and liver condition, along with genotype (type of virus strain), and viral load. Once a treatment has been determined, she'll be able to apply for patient assistance to get help for treatment. Check out the resources Matt sent you. If you do not have a family doctor who can recommend a liver specialist, there are programs that can help a person receive basic medical care. From there, that physician maybe able to connect you to a specialist or prescribe the correct treatment, then apply for patient assistance.
Please keep us posted on how things are going and if you have questions. We're here for you.
Blessings my friend, Connie-Author/Moderator for Hepatitis C.net
