Hep C: The Virus, and the fear, are gone | Hepatitis NSW
NSW HEPATITIS INFOLINE

Hep C: The virus, and the fear, are gone

HomeThe Hep-VineHep C: The virus, and the fear, are gone

The virus, and the fear, are gone

Image: Eyüp Belen | Pexels | bit.ly/3e9xIy6

Susan, one of our Community Peer Workers, has written a guest blog post about her experience of living with and being cured of, hepatitis C.

Living with hep C had given me a growing sense of dread; the fear of developing cirrhosis or liver cancer intruded more and more into my thoughts. Fortunately, just as things looked like they might be taking a turn for the worse, hope appeared in the form of an effective new treatment. This is my story.

How I was diagnosed with hep C

I had been a healthy teenager and young adult, full of energy. During the 1990s, my energy started to wane. I was in my thirties so, at first, I thought I was just getting older. But it got worse. The doctor was puzzled, said I might have “chronic fatigue” and sent me for a raft of tests. This is what led to my hep C diagnosis.

I adjusted to living with hep C, but my liver started to get worse

My life began to revolve around having hep C, the consciousness of it ever present in my mind. I adjusted to living with hep C by moving to a low-fat diet, with no alcohol and lots of rest. Overall, at the time, I was doing well. My liver function test (LFT) results showed only a slight elevation in level for a number of years. I clung to the hope that I would be one of the few people who lived with hep C and wouldn’t develop a serious illness.

Interferon was the only option for treatment in those days, and I decided against taking that. I was working and also caring for my young son. Other than the tiredness, I didn’t feel sick and I couldn’t afford to be laid low with the side-effects that were common with interferon. Plus, as I told myself, the interferon “probably wouldn’t work” as it hadn’t for many people.

At some point though, my liver test results started to get worse. My LFTs were climbing and the nausea every morning was increasing. I started reading more about hep C and began to worry about developing a serious illness. That dread became an ever-present fear that dominated my life.

How treatment turned my life around

Then, a few years ago, I read an article about new, easy to take hep C treatments that had a high cure rate. I talked to my doctor, who was encouraging and prescribed Epclusa. The pre-treatment screening tests however, had made me anxious. I worried they’d find I had cirrhosis or cancer. Fortunately, the fibroscan results showed I had nothing as bad as that, although I did have fatty liver disease.

I started the Epclusa treatment, still full of trepidation about side effects. My regular morning nausea waned after only six weeks of treatment, and I began to have more energy. After all that worry, there were no side-effects at all during the 12 short weeks of treatment.

The day the doctor told me my post-treatment result – “no virus detected” – was one of the best days of my life. Then the follow up result. Again, “no virus detected”. I started to live life differently. My everyday activities didn’t change but my energy levels did and so did my attitude. I no longer thought of myself as a person who might start to die soon. I made long-term financial plans. I stopped living one day at a time.

Curing my hep C was one of the best decisions I have ever made

Getting treatment for, and curing, my hep C was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Living with hep C, for me, had been a life full of fear and isolation. Living without hep C has given me a new life with hope for the future.

Life is better, now the fear is gone.

Published 23 June, 2020

Post a comment