Diagnosis and the Dread

I don’t know about all of you who were diagnosed with hep C, but I felt fear and dread about my diagnosis years ago.

There was no joy in knowing what was making me sick, as being one who did have symptoms for years, with no answers as to why.

My infection was hindering my quality of life

I had several symptoms that were affecting my health and general wellness and quality of life. Quality of life is, to me and most of us, the most important thing.

It is hard to do so many of the things we may take for granted when well, and this includes, in the worst cases, our ability to work or play and the things that bring us joy.

Libido is seriously affected for some, which can cause difficulties in ways that impact our relationship with partners, spouses, or others we may have shared intimacy with or desired to do.

Being diagnosed made me afraid

Was your diagnosis scary? Were you relieved or fearful?

It was frightening for me, and as I have shared openly, it caused me to experience situational depression for a couple of months as I processed the implications and the road ahead.

I say could because I did have the understanding, after spending endless hours reading as much as I could find to educate myself, that my case could develop and lead to a lot of different outcomes.

Initially, I knew almost nothing, so my perception of the future looked grim and led to an awful end, with no treatment that worked and there was no cure. I was wrong, very wrong, thankfully.

Learning more about my diagnosis

It indeed was because I informed myself that I was able to get healthier in my mind and overcome the funk I had felt in the initial stages after diagnosis.

Knowledge and understanding have the power to help us in healing from the dread and improve mental health and wellness, which are fundamental in supporting a better quality of life for all of us.

How I dealt with the initial fear and dread is not a guide or, as some say, a “toolkit” for how to best deal with the news of having hep C. We all deal with these kinds of life-changing events in different ways, but if there is anything that you glean from my stories that can be useful to you, that is great.

My main message is to try not to be devastated, and now we have excellent treatments that can cure you. With a cure, you can see vast improvements in your health and that all-important quality of life.

I have been cured for 12 years, and it was life-changing to be cured. In the most positive of ways, I was able to do all sorts of things that were stolen away by living with the virus, possibly for 30 or more years.

If you are diagnosed and are yet to be cured, I hope that you know that this can change, and you can be cured.

If you have been cured, I hope you are doing well and have the wellness and improved health you deserve. We all deserve to be free from dread and fear!