hepcprimer

It occurs to me I haven’t said much about who I am, why I am putting this information out there and what you can expect to find.  Let’s start with the basics. My name is Bob.  I was about forty-two when I was first diagnosed with Hep C.  I knew next to nothing about this virus originally.  However, soon I was getting to know it very well.  You will find out how well as my story continues.  The value of this site is that it springs from a patient, not from a doctor.  I am the patient and that is where I put most of my focus.  No doubt the story about HCV from the doctor’s point of view is valuable but it has been told many times over.  How HCV can affect you personally both physically and mentally is just as valuable as the medical side.  To simply use such terms as encephalopathy, varices, edema-all of which and more we will examine-but the simple medical definitions are next to meaningless to anyone interested in learning about what to expect.  However, to know exactly the pain you might feel, how tired you can become and the dangers you face is very valuable to someone infected by the Hepatitis C virus.

Not that it matters much, but I am a graduate of UC Berkeley and have two years post graduate work at San Francisco State University.  Before that I spent two years in the Army from 1970-1972, only a few years before we pulled out of Vietnam.  Most of my military time was spent in Germany, keeping a low profile, not causing any waves.  I like to think the Brass thought they could best use my services protecting American interests in Europe at the height of the Cold War.  I spent most of my time at Ramstein Air Force Base, protecting the area from low altitude air raids from the Eastern Block.  After all this time has passed I guess it’s OK to tell you I had a successful tour of duty over there-not one of our jets was ever attacked while I was walking the line.

It is evident many people, even today, know very little about Hepatitis C.  There are estimates that more than 4,000,000 people in the US carry this virus around.  There are thousands of people on a National liver transplant list, many of whom will die waiting for a transplant.  The exact number who die each year are hard to come by, but there are estimates that upwards of six-seven thousand people will die in the US every year and HCV is a big factor in their deaths.  If you pick someone at random and ask what he or she knows about the virus, chances are most of the responses you get will suggest they know next to nothing about Hepatitis C.  Not only is this true for those not infected by the virus, but also for a good percentage of those who are infected.  The value of this site is dependent on others sharing their stories of  hope and despair, of their successes and failures, the lessons learned.  Absent the contributions of others you will be stuck with mine.  As the days pass you will get to know what Hepatitis C is like, how it can be dealt with, how the US government has become involved and why.  You will also be able to see that infection by HCV is not necessarily a death sentence.  You will conclude, as I have, that you can reclaim your future and see the value of life.

Sometime in 1994 I was getting tired of being tired all the time.  I was falling asleep during working hours in my little office behind the closed door.  I was going out to my car at lunchtime, where it was usually quiet.  I was beginning to have lunch in my car almost every day.  I would listen to the radio, relax, but mostly so I could catch a nap.  I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was not operating on all cylinders, sometimes forgetting to return phone calls, missing appointments, day dreaming, not working as efficiently as I normally would.  When I would awaken in the morning it seemed like I had a hang over from the night before.  It did not seem to matter whether I had a beer or two the night before or not, I would wake up in a fog, usually with a headache.  Sometimes this foggy feeling lasted hours.  I was getting my job done; I was bringing in the numbers the company wanted.  It’s just that  I was kind of out of body and tired all the time.  It just wasn’t me, and I probably should have made an appointment with my doctor.

Another year went by and I learned I needed back surgery for a ruptured disk.  It would be this event that changed the trajectory of my life.  It seems during surgery, my blood wasn’t clotting properly.  Labs showed I had a virus – Hepatitis C.  Hmm.. what was that, I wondered?  Where did I get it?  How long had I had it?  It was news to me. I was referred to a hepatologist for further diagnosis.

I’d always been in pretty good physical shape, so wasn’t too concerned.  I ran three miles several times a week, usually in the evening, when it was cool and dark.  For a few years I ran in a couple of annual 10K races, the Bay to Breakers Run in San Francisco and another called the Angel Island run.  Not a serious competitive runner, just running to stay in shape.  The fact that I smoked during that time period also prompted me to run, in an effort to negate the carcinogens I was putting into my body.  Foolish, maybe, but that’s how I looked at it.

The hepatologist had reviewed the labs and suggested the possibility of liver damage, due to Hep C.  I knew nothing about this virus, though I think I had heard the name before.  A liver biopsy would need to be done.   That didn’t phase me, since I barely knew what the hell a biopsy was, or how it was performed.  I said sure, and an appointment was set two weeks out for the biopsy.  The fun was just beginning.