Yup, for some reason I have it. Nobody knows where the heck I got it, but I have it. It's a disease that you usually get from dirty needles. Most commonly it's from tattoos or blood transfusions, which means it's a blood borne disease.
At the end of July I started feeling some pains in my side and lower back. It wasn't too bad at first and it only lasted for a little bit and then went away for a while. Then it came back again. I went to the hospital two or three times for the pain over the last few months and then one night they discovered that I have high liver enzymes. They did blood test after blood test and discovered that I had Hepatitis C. Apparently I am a special mystery patient and some doctors think I am hiding something, but I have had it for a while and I am just starting to feel the effects of it.
The first week in October, I went in for a little surgery where they did a stomach biopsy. They sent a little camera in my belly and put some gases in my stomach to move things around and then looked around in there to make sure my gallbladder and everything else looked good. The main thing they needed was a sample of some liver tissue to see what stage my hepatitis was at and see the condition of my liver. I was out of it for a few days, but I think I recovered really good and I feel pretty good now.
The first week in October, I went in for a little surgery where they did a stomach biopsy. They sent a little camera in my belly and put some gases in my stomach to move things around and then looked around in there to make sure my gallbladder and everything else looked good. The main thing they needed was a sample of some liver tissue to see what stage my hepatitis was at and see the condition of my liver. I was out of it for a few days, but I think I recovered really good and I feel pretty good now.
The strand I have is Genotype 1B. It is treatable and my doctor has been consulting with some Hepatitis specialist doctors at St. Joseph's in Phoenix so after she has a class with them and talks to them, we will figure out what kind and when to start treatment. It's not going to be fun or easy and it could take as long as a year to get treated or maybe only 6 months. I will always have the Hepatitis, but the treatment is basically suppose to make it inactive. They say you are cured when you go through the treatment and then 6 months after you are done they will do a blood test and see if it shows up. If not, then you are cured.
It's all still really new to us and I will do a teleconference meeting with the doctors in a couple weeks and then probably start this triple medicine treatment that has shown some very good results. I am really nervous about all of it because there are some crazy side effects from each different medicine, so I guess only time will tell how I react to it. The big things we are grateful for is that we caught it early on so my liver isn't too damaged yet and also, Nate and the kids were tested and they don't have it either which is so great. I will keep updating as things progress over the next few weeks.
It's all still really new to us and I will do a teleconference meeting with the doctors in a couple weeks and then probably start this triple medicine treatment that has shown some very good results. I am really nervous about all of it because there are some crazy side effects from each different medicine, so I guess only time will tell how I react to it. The big things we are grateful for is that we caught it early on so my liver isn't too damaged yet and also, Nate and the kids were tested and they don't have it either which is so great. I will keep updating as things progress over the next few weeks.
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