During our vacation in October, my husband’s brother Garth gave us some startling news. He has been diagnosed with Hepatitis C; Wow I thought to myself, I knew exactly what he was going through but I couldn’t give any support. I couldn’t bring myself to mention anything about what I was going through. I had decided to have a good vacation without mentioning anything to anyone about what our summer was like. I felt our girls should know this first so my lips were sealed. After seeing so many specialists all summer and I had not let our girls know what was going on with me. I had to hang on to my secret a while longer and would let Garth know about it right after our girls were informed.
When we got back home I had a few more specialists’ appointments. My family doctor recognized I had low blood platelets; a hematologist found I have an enlarged spleen; my liver specialist diagnosed grade 4 level 1 cirrhosis. He also explained in detail what the cirrhosis was about and why I need treatment. I was thankful to have my husband with me since my mind became blank at this point. The Hepatitis C has been a part of me since 1974 after blood transfusions. I had no idea this would remain with me all this time; until 1998 when I was first diagnosed with Hepatitis C.
My treatment will begin January 09 2006 for 48 weeks. Leaving the hospital that day, my mind was overloaded with information. I tried to keep a positive attitude that I will get through this and everything will be okay although it definitely was not easy. It was time to let our girls know what the summer was about with all the doctor appointments I had. There are three more appointments yet, beginning January 03 for endoscopy; January 04 my husband had a tooth pulled and January 05 bone density and were ready to begin treatment January 09 2006.
I will be back soon with my next article on the beginning of treatment.
see you soon and hope you are all having a good day!
Lucile