The situation so far
4 years ago not only did I know diddly about drugs, I had never even heard of Hepatitis C, I think I had vaguely heard about Hepatitis and knew that it was a dirty disease that dirty people got from dirty places and so for the very reasons that ‘dirt’ was involved, it was definitely not something that I wanted to be in contact with, I am possibly borderline with OCD when it comes to cleanliness, in fact one boyfriend told me many years ago that I would ‘do one clean to many one day’! Whatever that meant, I am always mopping, dusting, hovering or washing, although to be fair to myself I have managed over the years to tone it down a little.ffice
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So I have the ‘dirty’ disease Hep C, hell, what a shock that was I can tell you and the way it was diagnosed was most bizarre.
For many years now I have suffered excruciating pain in my joints along with extreme fatigue, particularly in the winter months, in fact October through to March I could happily make like a tortoise and hibernate. About 18 months ago I hit a real bad patch with said aches and pains and fatigue and I was having a moan to my friendly local psychotherapist about it, as you do! He knew a little about my background, at least about my relationship with Tony and that he had been an IV drug user on and off for about 16 years or so and also that I too had dabbled a couple of times with him and going back 18 months ago, it really was just a few dabbles, nothing full blown or out of control – it was he who suggested that it might be an idea that I got myself tested for Hep C, I told him that I hadn’t shared equipment with anyone, not even my boyfriend and that to the best of my knowledge I wasn’t aware that he had it and he was tested when he left rehab and came back clear of any nasties. Still he persisted and said that it wouldn’t di any harm just to pop along for a blood test, he explained that a close family member of his (niece I think) had recently been diagnosed with it and she was in a similar situation to me and had presented similar symptoms – so off I went, couldn’t hurt could it…
And he was right, I got the results back a couple of weeks later I think and you could have knocked me down with a feather, I was gob smacked – how the hell had this happened to me? I still didn’t really know a great deal about Hep C, so i was given some information leaflets to take away, and a help line number to call if I had any further questions, what I read really shook me up, I hadn’t realised just how serious it could be and I hadn’t realised just how easily I had caught it, I know for a fact that I hadn’t shared any of my equipment at all with anyone, but I couldn’t account for him could I? And even though he still swears blind to this day that he never has, I know for a fact that he is lying, other people have told me that he has, but anyway, that’s irrelevant now, what’s done is done, what I hadn’t realised was, again in my naivity, that you don’t necessarily have to share needles to catch it, same as HIV, it can be present in the other equipment used when injecting drugs and also if you share a razor with someone that is Hep C positive there is a high risk of infection as it is a blood borne virus, toothbrushes are also high risk.
So what next? Well first port of call is obviously tackling your partner about it or anyone else that you may have been in contact with that either you may have also infected or may have infected you in an attempt to stop it spreading, I know that I caught mine from tony, it could not possibly have come from anywhere else and fortunately for me when I was diagnosed I had probably only contracted about 6 months previously which would have fitted in perfectly with the timescale of events that I had earmarked – to this day he still has not bothered to get himself officially tested for it and booked in for treatment, he assumes that because I have it he has it and that’s that, that’s his choice, but given the fact that he has hammered his body mercilessly for the best part of 16 years ignorance is not really bliss, his liver is bound to be in worse shape than mine – not my problem though, my only concern is for my own welfare now.
I first attempted to be treated for this late last year, it involved several very long, expensive trips to a hospital quite some distance away from where I live, as my local hospital does not have a liver specialist unit attached to it and it was due to the ridiculous logistics of said hospital and not being able to claim any travel expenses back, that I stopped going in the end, I got as far as the third appointment which was my booking in to have a biopsy done in order to fully establish the extent of the damage and so figure out the best treatment for me individually. I have since been urged to get back into the system for this treatment by the same chap that initially suggested that I get tested, my psychotherapist, he told me that I was sitting on a time bomb and that I was foolish to leave it to chance when there was treatment available for me, I am not currently being seen by this psychotherapist, I was discharged from his care about a year ago, he had made the effort to contact me off his own back to see how I was getting along with it – I found out a week later that his niece had recently died from Hep C, she had only been diagnosed 2 years previously, so I am once again ‘back in the system’ and very grateful to this chap taking the time to care about my welfare.
My first appointment was at the geographically challenged hospital yet again, a 3 hour round trip for a ten minute chat which cost me best part of £30 which I could not claim back due to the nature of the benefits that I receive – I know you cannot put a price on your health and when I consider the ridiculous amounts of money I have blown on class A drugs this past 12 months or so I should not be grumbling about it, but it is human nature to do so and feel hard done by at the injustice of not having everything you desire on your doorstep!, however just for once my grumbling did pay off and I have now managed to get my consultations transferred to my local hospital, I went for my second appointment on Monday 20th December and I now have roughly a 6 to 8 week wait for my biopsy appointment to come through, which is the best news ever and I am delighted, but and there is a big but, if cannot put the brakes on my current journey to the dark side, I won’t be treated, there is absolutely no point at all treating me if I continue to abuse my body, so if I get sick, or at least sicker than I already am, it is tough and I have only myself to blame and I can fully understand that, what is the point in using valuable NHS resources on someone that is just going to carry on screwing themselves into the ground, putting themselves at risk of contracting the same disease again that they are trying to get rid of and there are no guarantees with Hep C treatment, it might not work anyway, but if it does and you just go off out willy-nilly and get it again that is just downright selfish.
So what is ‘The Treatment’? Chronic Hepatitis C can be treated by a combination of interferon alfa injections and ribavirin capsules, about half of the patients will benefit from this type of treatment, approximately 20% of people clear Hep C naturally and the rest it stays with them, so even with treatment there are no guarantees of getting rid of it – great innit! I do however feel extremely fortunate to have only contracted Hep C, it could just have easily been HIV, that said though I am still going for a follow up HIV test next month just to be certain that my last test was accurate, I am not one for ‘ignorance is bliss’ I would much rather know and deal with it and also ensure that I keep other people around me safe.
And that’s a brief over view of the Hep C situation so far, I want to add some web site links to this page as well so I can refer to them from time to time and also keep a record of my treatment when it commences
