I Wish I Knew Then What I Know Now

Thinking back to my early diagnosis days when I was told I had hepatitis C, I considered what I could pass along to a newly diagnosed patient, especially knowing now what I know and remembering the scared, frightened woman walking to her car with tears in her eyes.

That moment people learn they have hepatitis C is not something we celebrate. Our minds begin to wander, and fear sets in. There is no stopping the normal reaction to any diagnosis unknown to a person.

Back to my advice to a newly diagnosed patient. 

Living life to the fullest

I would say take time to gather thoughts, get a pad of paper or journal, and sit and take time to write how you are feeling. Write what you are thinking and, most importantly, what questions you have.

The most common questions posed to my foundation when someone reaches out for help are: “Am I going to die?” “How much time do I have?” “Can I give it to my significant other?”

Let me start by saying that I am no medical doctor. I am answering these questions from the perspective of a hepatitis C survivor. I have lived with end-stage liver disease since 2010. I have faced the harsh regime of Interferon and Ribavirin and failed that treatment. I went on to cure my hepatitis C on a clinical trial in 2014.

Today, I am living my life to the fullest. I am remarried, and my two kids are all grown up now, and I couldn’t be more blessed.

My life, however, was not always this bright. Nine months after being diagnosed with hepatitis C, I lost my mom to the very disease that is also destroying my liver. 

I was raising two small children and running my company, all while I feared my own mortality.

Get treated and get cured

If I had known then what I know now, I would not have wasted so much time crying, being depressed, and living in fear. You see, hepatitis C now has a cure. Yes, you read that correctly. There are many options out there now with very high cure rates. 

Those, my friends, are a far greater number of odds than I was given during the harsh treatment I underwent shortly after my mother's death. The odds then were only a 50/50 shot.

The likelihood of passing away from hepatitis C nowadays is so much less.  The newer regimes are nothing compared to the older ones. The side effects are so much less hard and the cure rate time frame is only 8 to 12 weeks.  Can I get a big amen here?

Living for today

Before getting cured, people can still pass this virus on to others through blood since hepatitis C is a blood-to-blood contracted disease. Say you have a cut that bleeds and drips on a countertop. Along comes a family member with an open cut who makes contact with the blood through that break in the skin. You could potentially infect that person. The best way to prevent this is to immediately clean the blood up with a bleach product whenever an incident involving your blood occurs.

The best advice I can give you today, knowing what I do, is this: Don’t fret about tomorrow, and know that hepatitis C does have a cure. Do not return to any habits or expose yourself to risk factors that potentially led to the infection as you can get hepatitis C again. Educate yourself about hepatitis C.

Early detection is key here. The earlier you are diagnosed and the earlier you get treatment, the less the potentional for liver damage.

Learn and live for today, knowing you have the most advanced treatments available to cure your hepatitis C.