I was diagnosed with hepatitis C in the early 1990's. In 1997 I started treatment. At that time, I injected with interfuron 3 times a week. After several months my viral count was still high and treatment was discontinued.
During those months I experienced fevers each day of injection and fatigue that was indescribable.
I asked my doctor what having hepatitis C meant in the big scheme of things...would I die....become sick? He told me that I should just live my life. That's what I wanted to believe ..and so I did.
Let me also point out that at that time I was an active alcoholic (though trying to get sober) so denial played a big role in how I lived my life. If I could stick my head in the sand and not deal with life...I would. Most times though I found myself in the bottom of a bottle.
By the grace of God...I took my last drink in April of 1999. I started feeling physically better. My physical emotional and spiritual health most definitely improved.
I really started to take care of myself, started going for yearly physicals and regular check ups. The hepatitis was obviously still present though I accepted that this was something I would just have to live with. I always felt tired, more so then I thought to be normal. But I was active...I worked full time had a busy life worked out and was in fairly decent shape for my age...but this constant fatigue always gnawed at me. I felt like I was constantly yawning.
In January of 2010 I started experiencing some fairly troublesome GI issues. After countless tests and procedures...no clear answer but the question posed to me by my new doctor was "What are we going to do about this Hepatitis"?
You see, my blood work was a mess! Several autoimmune indicators were abnormal. Holy crap! Do I have Lupus? There were so many indicators abnormal and as it turns out all due to chronic liver disease. I was 51 years old...traveling, workin, playing tennis and working out.......I didn't want to stop...and I did not want to be chronically ill.
Over the years had been reading and following the reatment changes for Hepatitis C. The statistics were impressive, even for someone like me with a 1A genotype and a history of failing treatment. I needed to make a decision it was difficult. When is a good time to take a year out of what you know your life to be?
My time began on July 2nd 2010........................
The next blog will begin as treatment begins...
