+Re: Rod - TX and face masks

[Guest guest]

Thanks Steve, for clearing that up!  Now it is really perplexing how/where I also got HVC!  I appreciate your support.  I have a lot to learn!Rod    

[Guest guest]

Hey Rod,We can pretty much put money on the fact that most of us will never know how in fact we contracted this virus.  Yes, there are the ways of shared needles but also consider the following:  Dentist visits in the years before the mid 90's, tattoo's and piercings, childhood inoculations, blood transfusions, the " Blood Brothers game " from our childhood..  remember that one?, accidental needle sticks by health care professionals, traumatic car accidents with more than one victim bleeding.  The possibilities are endless. 

I was convinced I knew how I got this virus.  When I was diagnosed and the biopsy confirmed 24 years worth of damage to my liver, the doctor asked me what had happened 24 years prior.  Previous to the biopsy it was assumed I got this while working in the Health Care profession.  Then the timing was off.  24 years prior I had my son by cesarean section and they hung 5 units of untested blood.  HOWEVER, during that same time period, I had my teeth cleaned every 3 months and got my ears pierced at a mall...  hmm.. now I have no clue.  BUT it doesn't matter how we got this..  just that we have it and what we do about it.  

There is an unnecessary stigma attached to Hep C.  That of IV drug abusers.  It is assumed that if you ever used IV drugs, that is how you were infected.  It is SO far from the truth.  I have a friend who has beat herself up for years because she had Hep C and at one time used IV drugs.  She was sure she brought it on herself.  However, the damage to her liver doesn't coincide with the time frame.  There is a good 20 years difference in the timeline.  Now and only now does she forgive herself.  The stigma HAS to go away.  

I get pretty adamant about this subject can ya tell?  I do some Hep C Advocacy work and I would love to eliminate this stigma. Hugs,TeriOn Tue, Jan 11, 2011 at 11:12 PM, Rodney Gisick <rodgis44@...> wrote:

 

Thanks Steve, for clearing that up!  Now it is really perplexing how/where I also got HVC!  I appreciate your support.  I have a lot to learn!Rod