AEROSMITH - STEVEN TYLER'S SECRET HEPATITIS BATTLE

THIS IS SICK I was watching CBS last night with reporter Katie Couric. FINALLY maybe the HEP C STORY will get some attention. Hep C has been known about since 1989 early 1990. How MANY times are we going to see these SAME stories of people being EXPOSED in HOSPITAL settings. This time possibly 40,000 people were EXPOSED in Las Vegas from 2004 to the present time. WHO is watching out for the GENERAL public ? EVIDENTLY NO ONE! Read about it here & VOICE your OPINION on the CBS website. If YOU DON'T speak UP NOW while it's a HOT topic it will GO AWAY. THIS could be the VOICE we have AL been PRAYING for. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/25/eveningnews/main3875991.shtml http://www.southernnevadahealthdistrict.org/outbreaks/index.htm

I too had Hep C genotype 1a. I am 13 months post treatment with peg-intron and ribavirin. I am clear of the virus. I was clearly dying but still had the option of treatment. I took that option. I figured if I was going to die, I would die trying. It was the hardest year of my life. I was near death every day. My doctors didn't think I would make it and told me to discontinue treatment, but I had a three month supply of drugs, so I continued on. Once I did that, they allowed me to continue on. My advice is this--if you have to have treatment, then before you do, get on a good antidepressant, find a good psychiatrist that you can see at least once a week and more if neccessary.(I was up to 3 times per week at one point.) Get a good hat. You'll lose your hair, or if you don't, you won't feel like fixing it. Get a support system of friends and family who will check on you at least once EVERY SINGLE DAY. The suicide rate is unbelievable on this drug. It does cause a personality change while you're on it, so warn those around you. In other words, build a good, steady, reliable support network around yourself and USE it.Don't be a martyr. Inform the people around you of what they will be getting into and make sure they really want to get involved. Don't hold it against them if they can't handle it. You need those who can. You'll be exhausted, sick, dried up, and barely able to function at worst. That's how I was. I couldn't even walk from my bed to my fridge at one point to get a carton of yogurt. My husband used to come home on his breaks and run something up to me to eat. You may lose your ability to make decisions. I did. Try to keep your mind off yourself. I watched a lot of television which helped me pass the time and it was the only thing I had the energy to do. I could also order books from our public library online and they would send them free of charge and send someone to pick them up when I was done. I am a year out of treatment and feel terrible. Oh yeah, it affects your memory too. It's better than death, but it's a lot to deal with. I've developed fibromyalgia, pretty fair case of depression, and chronic fatigue syndrome. None of the standard drugs (or even obscure drugs) seem to work for me. I can't work anymore, because after two or three days of activity--meaning two or three hours of daily activity at most--I develop some type of sickness, be it an upper respiratory infection, flu, bronchitis, asthma,sinus infection, etc., it will be something that will knock me down for a few days. I think for quality of life issues I will probably go on pain meds. I do very well on opiates, so I'm thinking if I can have a life, I'll just have to deal with the drug addiction. Just to make you aware, so far with me, there are severe after effects, but if I had to do it all over again I would still do it just to live. All my labs are excellent and there is no medical reason that I feel so bad. I do feel better now than I did a year ago. I'm hoping that year by year I'll get better. I'm 51, so my age probably plays a big role in how severely the treatment has affected me. Good luck to those who try the treatment. I really mean that.