Why, why, why??

[beeblessed]

Just something that's been on my mind and my family wants to know too:  
1.  Why treat if all tests are good and I have no symptoms and am not in pain?  
2.  Why treat at all when so much of the population walks around with Hepatitis and doesn't even know it?  
3.  For those of you who have had it long term, did something happen overnight to make you decide to treat?  A pain or some other symptom.  

I will be treating soon but in the midst of it, if I am having bad days, I want to be able to have a valid reason for doing what I am doing.  It's akin to skydiving in a way.  Someone once asked, why would you jump out of a perfectly good plane on purpose??  To some degree, the same could be asked of Hep C treatment.  I hope your answers help calm some fears of some other newbies here too.  Many thanks everyone.  I appreciate your opinions, feedback and experiences.

[evangelin]

My husband had very few recognizable symptoms until he had cirrhosis.  He was the one person in the family least likely to get a cold or flu or anything.  He had a cast iron stomach and not much of anything bothered him.  Then, out of the blue, I noticed his muscles were gradually disappearing in his shoulders, he started to sleep a lot more but never seemed rested.  He wasn't in the habit of going to Dr.'s and waited too long to go get checked out.  To our shock and amazement, he had HCV and cirrhosis.  He went down hill pretty much all at once.  Since he was a nonresponder to interferon and Riba, there probably wouldn't have been that much we could have done if we'd known sooner, but things are more promising for you because the weapons have improved so much.  Things are really looking good for the future.  I wish we could wait for a noninterferon offering but your choices diminish if you wait until you are really sick.
Best wishes in your decision making,
Ev

[lapis]

Question #2 is the tricky one, I think.  People don't understand why you might choose to take these drugs that may make you feel sick when you feel okay right now.  I did tx in my mid-50's and had some serious sides.  I did still work and travel during that 24 weeks of tx, even though it was hard.  It's been more than two years since I finished tx, and I am still considering what Hep C did to my life, since I waited more than a decade after diagnosis before I did tx.  I thought about my disease every day.  I worried that I would somehow infect other people.  People who don't have Hep C just don't understand how it feels to live under such a cloud.  I've seen people with advanced liver disease, as nygirl mentions, and the thought of facing that future really frightened me.  And then there is the stigma that still accompanies this dx, although many people are trying to change that, finally.  

"like one of those people who lives a full life and dies of something else"
My life may have looked "full" from the outside but my anxiety and fears were painful and pervasive.  I didn't want to wait for the tide to turn unexpectedly.  I had biopsies 7 years apart and my liver was getting worse, although I felt okay.

Having Hep C changed my life, and not in a good way.  It is a wonderful feeling not to have it anymore.  Maybe you could share some of the replies you've gotten with your family members.  Have them research advanced liver disease and maybe then they will understand why you don't want to take that chance, if that's what you decide.  

Good luck to you!  Lapis

[270217-1b]

Thank you for this thread!  I have posted questions after my biopsy results were in and the doc said I don't need to treat right now - I am soooo confused, and like you, for some reason, feel the need to justify treating this disease! I don't have any symptoms, but I am over 50 and would really like to not have this anymore, just to be done with it.  

No clue what I will do yet, still processing, but it's really nice to know that I am not the only one out there who doesn't "have" to treat right this minute, but wants to.  I am very afraid of volunteering to have the flu [at best] for the next 6 months to a year, and putting my family thru the sides if I get them - but to not have to tell every single health care provider you come into contact with that you have this ..... pretty priceless I am thinking.

Good luck with your decision!

[screaming48]

I have the same questions and thoughts as you do, I have thought this through and I am scared to death. I also mentioned to aj that if she had breast cancer, lymphoma, or any other disease she would prob treat it. I went through this two years ago, I have a marker in my left breast so the Drs can keep an eye on it. Now I have found out I have hep c, two ticking timebombs that I am now aware of... I don't want either of them to kill me, yes I could die of something else and die with hep c not of it,. I have a better chance at curing the hep c now than if I were to wait as I am fast approaching (sept) my 50th and if it is true that the disease can progress faster after that age, I believe although I am so very scared I would be foolish not to take care of it now while I am still healthy. So I guess now I have also convinced myself this needs to be done. There are alot of wonderful people on this forum who have been there, done that, or are in the process of doing it that will support anyone that needs it. I hope for me as well..Tempus Fugit (time flies) lets get it done...anne :)

[crossroadsec]

Since my symptoms hit overnight n landed me in the hospital g4/s4, there was no choice but to beg for the chance to treat. If only I had had the knowledge even 10 years ago, I feel it would have been much easier to endure tx.
I look at those grandchildren, my daughter, a roster of new literature students on my desk, and cry every day. I'm soo grateful to have a chance to live once I clear.
Then there's that book I've been working on forever, my passport isn't half full yet, I still can't write in French, I haven't seen Muse in concert, my list goes on.
Sry I'm such a bawl baby today. Make ur list sweetie. Post it somewhere you can look at it daily. Or on days like today... hourly. lol. Did I mention a hot boyfriend who is a gen mngr in the health food industry who is very holistic, and encouraged me?  He did the research n gave it thumbs up. That sent me running to start tx. ;) Karen

[streamline569]

I don't know your age or you situation but here are two very good reason.
#1 you don't want to pass this on to your child if you are indeed of child bearing age.

#2 You now know you have a preexisting condition. We don't know where health care is going and as you know not everyone has assess. So you have to think were am I going to be in the future.

I also think some the other factor that someone mentioned about other health issues coming up and causing problems for your liver as you age. We just do not know what the future holds for us. It's very easy when you are feeling well to say "I don't need treatment" I did that for two years after I found out, but once I started getting sick I knew it was alway going to be like this and worse to come. I was so scared. I do not wish that fear on anyone to feel a part of your body dying and knowing you may have waited to long and there is no turning back.

Good luck on you decision