In need of advice

[Catiebelle]

Both my mother and father have been diagnosed with hepatitis c. My mother almost passed from it about 10 years ago but has been in remission and seems to be ok after treatment(she is an alcoholic sober now)About a year ago my father was told his was no longer in remission and that he also had stage 3 serosis of the liver(recovering heroin addict for about 15 years)He went through a few months of treatment ( not sure of the exact combo) but he was told he is apart of the percentile that doesn't respond and there wasnt anything else they can do for him. This has all been a little hard to cope with .....I was a very young when my mom was sick so I didn't really understand . But watching my dad slowly deteriorate is a little heart breaking . Another factor that makes this all difficult is I have realized I have my own addiction issues and it is like looking into a crystal ball to see my future ....it's a little scary. On top of all  my bf is an alcoholic worse off then myself. He drinks pretty much every day , in excess in my opinion. I know I don't have a right to judge or try to change someone ....I guess I just need to vent and not feel so alone. And looking at all these posts make me even more afraid of the future for my father. This is reality.

[Catiebelle]

Thanks for all the great advice. I have a tendency to feel like I am overdramatic but it is really nice to have support. The addition forums sound like a positive next step for me. Thank you :)

[ActingBrandNew]

Hi...Im a recovering heroin addict who has been clean for 4+ years. I caught Hep C in 2007 from sharing needles. I treated it 2012-2013. Advocate gave great advice so I will not elaborate on the HCV or liver issues. I just wanted to offer my support on the addiction end of it. It sounds like there are 2 issues here and thats your addiction and the addicts in your life. Having said all that...Id like to invite you to come over to the addiction forum. There are actually a few addiction forums here on med help and I will post the links to the 2 I feel relevant to you. One is the basic substance abuse forum and the other is the Living with and addict forum. You can connect with other people whose parents/boyfriends are in active addiction and see how they cope and handle it.

Id say the main thing is you need to take care of yourself and your addiction before anything else so I hope to see you over there.

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Addiction-Substance-Abuse/show/77

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Addiction-Living-with-an-Addict/show/1176

[HectorSF]

I agree as well. Advocate is giving wise advice.
Please learn from other's mistakes. Make your life a better one.
You can stop alcohol and drug abuse with yourself. You can live a healthy and happy life.
You can do this.

I hope your boyfriend can stop. Don't let his addiction ruin your life.
No one is worth giving up a healthy and happy life for.

Hector

[nan535]

Great post, Advocate!

Catiebelle - Advocate has given you some very good insight and advice.
I hope you and your parents  follow it.

I wish you all the best.
Nan

[Advocate1955]

Re: your mom.  People don't really pass due to hepatits C, they pass due to Cirrhosis caused by hepatitis C.  If your mom has Hepatitis C and was an alcoholic and has Cirrhosis, the most important thing right now, if she is sober and has been sober for awhile, is for her to treat her Hepatitis C.  There are several new treatments that have come out over the past 10 years that she probably could have tried.  If she didn't, then she is considered to be treatment naive, and there is a new treatment available that she can try.  So she should get in to see a Hepatologist who is familiar with Cirrhosis and Hep C to see if she can treat her Hep C.
Re: your dad.  There isn't really any such thing as "remission" from Hep C.  People either have the Hep C virus in their bloodstream or they don't.  Since your dad has Hep C virus in his bloodstream, it has been quietly damaging his liver all of these years.  Since he tried treatment and it didn't work for him, he is considered to be a non-responder, but as I mentioned above, there have been several new treatments that have come out over the past decade that he may or may not have tried.  He may be able to try an off label combo of two new drugs, since he is an Interferon non responder, so he too should make an appointment with a Hepatologist who is experienced with hepatitis c and Cirrhosis.
So, my advice is for both of your parents to go see a hepatologist, usually found in a research based hospital medical center, to see if they can treat their Hep C to prevent further damage to their livers.  If so, then the hepatologist will treat them and also treat the symptoms of their Cirrhosis to hopefully prevent any life threatening complications.
Re: your bf.  You don't need another alcoholic in your life.  If he isn't willing to seek treatment for his alcoholism, or any other addiction issues, you should move on and focus on you.
Re:  you.  Very insightful for you to look at your parents, their choices, and the result on their livers and their health.  Address your addiction issues right away.  Get clean and sober.  Get tested for Hep C, get vaccinated against Hep A and Hep B.  Get tested for HIV.  Stay clean and sober.  Take care of your liver and any health issues you encounter right away.  Learn from your parents' experience and don't wait 10+ years only to find out that your liver is damaged and/or failing.  I believe there is a good addiction forum here on medhelp.  There is a member named ActingBrandNew who has Hep C and has mentioned this forum before.  Perhaps you could look for that forum and/or search for ActingBrandNew and try to connect with him for support.
We are here for you, and we will answer any questions you have about Hep C, about Cirrhosis, and about End Stage Liver Disease.  The bottom line is, there is still time for your mom and dad to get the right kind of treatment and care from a hepatologist, and there is still time for you to address your addiction issues, screen for Hep C and/or other viruses that may be hurting your liver without your knowledge, and there is time for you to change your behavioral choices so that down the road you are not facing what your parents are now facing.
Advocate1955