Re: gotta be an alcoholic.

September 11, 2004

Try having both cp and liver disease - boy that just makes it a given that I

must like the booze a little too much! Never mind that I have AUTOIMMUNE liver

disease! AUTOIMMUNE - means my immune system is attacking my body - DUH!

However, I've had lots of NURSES ask me how I CAUGHT autoimmune hepatitis! Gee,

I guess I CAUGHT it from my mom or dad since I know I got a gene from each one

of them that can cause autoimmune diseases! I've also had both doctors and

nurses confuse autoimmune hepatitis with hepatitis C. The word hepatitis simply

means inflammation of the liver but most people think the word hepatitis means

that it's contagious. Not only is AIH not contagious, it's actually pretty

uncommon - about 1 in 150,000 have it, and thank goodness, it is typically not

inherited. You do inherit the gene (or in mine and my sister's lucky cases) the

genes that CAN cause autoimmune diseases, but thankfully, AIH rarely appears in

more than one family member. So, even though my daughter and my sis both have

multiple autoimmune diseases, I can be pretty confident that neither of them

will end up with autoimmune liver disease.

It used to really upset me for people to think I must have (or have had) a

drinking problem, or maybe I was an IV drug user, or whatever. However, now, I

just laugh inside at their ignorance! If they ask me, I'll tell them anything

they want to know about my illnesses. I have no secrets. I am a very open,

honest, and above board person. Thankfully, I never really cared much for

alcohol, so it hasn't been hard to totally give up my 3-5 drinks per year that I

had prior to cp and liver disease! Although, I must admit that my husband does

make a yummy kahlua milkshake that I wouldn't mind having! Oh, well, my stomach

doesn't do very well with much milk or ice cream anyway!

I hope all this talk about so many of us not being alcoholics has not offended

anyone who was an alcoholic. ly, it really does not matter how anyone

ended up with cp. We are all entitled to the best treatment, respect, kindness,

compassion, and relief of our physical pain. If doctors and nurses would simply

remember that we are human beings, sick and in terrible pain - yes we are often

there seeking drugs - however, as many doctors have told me - no, you are NOT

just there seeking drugs, you are there seeking pain relief which you are

absolutely entitled to by law!

It seems so simple. If someone saw a dog in pain, they would most likely do

something to help him, no questions asked. They would try to get him the most

humane treatment possible. Why is that so many times humans are treated much

worse than a dog on the street?

Okay - off my soapbox again!

Goodnight to all!

W

alabama

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