This disease is stealthy and fools people into complacency. I just really wish there were ways to educate people before it's too late. Sigh!
Milliganus said
Aug 13, 2014
So sorry your friend wasn't able to receive treatment. I too have had friends who were never able to get treatment and were slayed by the dragon. My one friend didn't have insurance, so doctors just blew her off until it was too late. By the time they decided to give her treatment (before all these new drugs were coming out), it was to late.
So, I agree totally with you. Get treatment as soon as possible.
longld said
Aug 13, 2014
I am sorry for your friend and his liver disease - I also wish he had gotten treatment earlier. Hep C is the quiet killer because the symptoms are so mild at first - usually just tired. It is also quiet because many of us do not talk about it because of the stigma attached to it - it is now killing more people than HIV but which one is more in the news and has more research? I am now speaking up and warning people my age to get tested - I also am not addressing how I obtained HCV - it is behind all of us now and we need to focus on the treatment, not the bad or 'good' way we caught it. Discussing reasons just propagates the stigma....which delays treatment.....which kills people.
Likewise, treatment will also require many to make a lifestyle change that many will not undertake. I question statistics that show how much Sovaldi (or other pricey HCV drugs) will cost us if all Hep C patients take them - we all know that probably half will never get on treatment because of refusing to make lifestyle changes.
-- Edited by longld on Thursday 14th of August 2014 12:13:32 AM
pizzacake said
Aug 13, 2014
Today I feel extraordinarily lucky and sad. A very close friend will likely die, today or tomorrow, due to end-stage liver disease as a result of Hep C and drinking. He didn't do enough about the Hep C until it was too late. I have a shot at a second chance but he doesn't. Watching him go through this reminds me that, yes treatment can be rough, but it is a cake walk compared to end-stage liver disease.
Thanks Milliganus and Iongld.
This disease is stealthy and fools people into complacency. I just really wish there were ways to educate people before it's too late. Sigh!
So sorry your friend wasn't able to receive treatment. I too have had friends who were never able to get treatment and were slayed by the dragon. My one friend didn't have insurance, so doctors just blew her off until it was too late. By the time they decided to give her treatment (before all these new drugs were coming out), it was to late.
So, I agree totally with you. Get treatment as soon as possible.
I am sorry for your friend and his liver disease - I also wish he had gotten treatment earlier. Hep C is the quiet killer because the symptoms are so mild at first - usually just tired. It is also quiet because many of us do not talk about it because of the stigma attached to it - it is now killing more people than HIV but which one is more in the news and has more research? I am now speaking up and warning people my age to get tested - I also am not addressing how I obtained HCV - it is behind all of us now and we need to focus on the treatment, not the bad or 'good' way we caught it. Discussing reasons just propagates the stigma....which delays treatment.....which kills people.
Likewise, treatment will also require many to make a lifestyle change that many will not undertake. I question statistics that show how much Sovaldi (or other pricey HCV drugs) will cost us if all Hep C patients take them - we all know that probably half will never get on treatment because of refusing to make lifestyle changes.
-- Edited by longld on Thursday 14th of August 2014 12:13:32 AM
Today I feel extraordinarily lucky and sad. A very close friend will likely die, today or tomorrow, due to end-stage liver disease as a result of Hep C and drinking. He didn't do enough about the Hep C until it was too late. I have a shot at a second chance but he doesn't. Watching him go through this reminds me that, yes treatment can be rough, but it is a cake walk compared to end-stage liver disease.
Please consider treatment!