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Question about Nutrition and telling people I have Hepc

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Posted 12/5/2007 3:02 AM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone,

First... WOW. I am soo glad I found this site. I have been reading now for hours and am already gaining a lot of knowledge and feeling such strong support. I was dignosed about 2 years ago with Hep C and calculate i got it in either 1982 (period of needle use), or sometime after 1999. reason i say that is that I was once tested for life insurance and it did not come up then. They said it would have. So a bit confused about how long I may have had this. Due to the feedback from many useres, I have decided to stop waiting and beging treatment. I will make appt with GI tomorrow and discuss my options. But i do have a couple questions i hope you can all help with:

1. How big of a factor does eating well have on negating or delaying effects of HEP C?

2. How sever is the impact of having just 2-4 beers a month. I have been told that a couple drinks now and then is ok, and others have said NO alcohol ever is a top priority.

3. Finally - I am very nervous about telling family mebers and coworkers about this. I feel I owe it to at least my immediate family but am scared to tell my 15 year old son. i do not want to sacre him. He is the apple of my eye and we are extremely close. But from what I have learned, I need to becaus he will find out anyway when I beging the treatment if I have side effetcs. Any advice on how to approach my family with this? My wife knows but my 2 sons and extended family do not.

Thank you in advance for any advice, and I am SO grateful to Pink grandma and the others who already gave me some advice on other questions.

Thanks

Oldtackle

Posted 12/5/2007 3:51 AM (GMT 0)
Hello Old Tackle, I am so glad that you decided to get treatment. I know it was a hard decision to make.
My answers to your questions.

1. Eating healthy and taking care of yourself has a lot to do with delaying the progression of Hep C. It's your first line of defense.

2. Drinking alcohol even in small quantities is like throwing gasoline on a fire! There's no such thing as a little alcohol won't hurt after you have Hep C. You need to protect your liver as much as possible now.

3. At some point you should tell your sons. They should hear it from you and your wife and not from one else. But it is up to you two to decide when is the best time to tell them. After they know then you could tell any close family member that you feel should know. I wouldn't even consider telling anyone at work it's really not their business. And your employer doesn't need to know nor can they legally ask you about it.
Old tackle my answers are my opinion and the way I would had things. You and your wife need to talk it over and make decisions that you think are best.
Take Care.....And good luck. Thoughts and prayers.
Posted 12/5/2007 4:02 AM (GMT 0)
Old Tackle,
There are so many well informed people here with first hand experience that will answer your questions. I would like to just add my 2 cents worth on the question you posed about informing your family. My personal opinion (for what it's worth) is to have time set aside for your breaking the news to your children first. Since you are not sure where and when you contracted hep it may be best to say just that as far as getting it. You can share with them how people contract it and when and how you found out you had it. The truth is usually the best policy but the fine details may not have to be shared unless you feel it is necessary. It seems like your children are in their teens so they are old enough to understand what you tell them. I think that they will be a strong support system for you in the long run and will appreciate you telling them what's going on. I realize that this an extremely personal decision you are making and I do not want to intrude on that. I respect you for making these decisions you are facing. The other posters have far more experience in this than I do but the one thing Ido feel confident about is human nature. Knowledge will help eliminate the fear the kids will be faced with. I wish you the best and I will pray for you.
Shelly
Posted 12/5/2007 12:37 PM (GMT 0)

Pink Grandma ans Shelley -

Thank you for words of advice. i agree with you both that I do not need to rtell anyone at work and will not. i will take time and talk this over with my wife and come to a decision together as far as how and when to tell my sons.

Also - Starting last night, I am going to do eveything I can to eat right. Got an iced tea instead of a beer, and ordred a big chicken salad instead of my usual salty and greasy foods. I am never going to put a drop of alcohol to my lips again. Never.

Thanks

Oldtackle

Posted 12/5/2007 5:45 PM (GMT 0)
Hello Oldtackle,

Welcome to the forum, I have been reading your post as I do everyone elses.I have found that everyone here is very supportive and you will get alot of info and advice as well as incouragement! I know when we first found out about my son's condition was 5 yrs. ago! My now husband, X-husband and his wife decided to all sit down together and have a family talk with all 4 of my children. Arron was 18, Will 16 (the sick one)Kim 12 and Marilea 1. What I did was print info so that the kids could understand www.hepc.org/advicecarriers.html .Will contracted Hep B threw a biochemical sideaffect from AML Leakemia 1987 we didn't find out until 2002. Anyway, it does not matter how you got it, just how you can get treatment and knowledge to get yourself better! Also, let your children know that they themselves need to be tested and vaccinated. We all were tested and were clean of the virus. I agree with all on the forum about informing your family, coworkers and whomever your close to. One thing we did find out was some people are ignorant and tend to freak out at the mention of Hepititus all anyone really needs to know is that you have a liver disease. Get your info first so as when all the questions come about you got the answers. Good luck to you and know your in our thoughts and prayers!

Toni 

Posted 12/5/2007 5:57 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Old,

Diet & hydration is the best thing you can do for your body - get the Liver Cleanse Diet by Dr. Sandra Cabot - it will teach you everything you need to know about liver & diet. I became a vegetarian through my treatment. Boring I know - but give yourself EVERY chance to clear. & the inportance of overhydrtion can not be too emphasised. Lots of water & green tea. & Don't get suck into a bunch of herbal crap - I did & you can run up the credit cards quickly - I did take an organic supplement called Hep Helper I would recommend.

No alcohol ever - after you've been clear a year - buy your self a bottle of Crystal. My liver is actually so good now - its 10 years younger than I am!

As far as telling people - its your infomation & yours only. Share it only if & when you are fully prepared & ready. You need to take care of yourself 1st now & not others. I idiotically told almost everyone & got some very negative hurtfull feedback. Perhaps see a counselor about this issue - take your time!

For insurance tests they only test LFTs (I passed one too) not for the actual virus - so you probably had it then - I contracted it through needles too. NO shame there - just process all this before you go off telling anyone - especially your son who will need you to live! & never tell your employer!
Posted 12/5/2007 11:21 PM (GMT 0)
OldTackle, I'm really relieved that you have decided to go ahead with treatment.  I agree with what everyone else has said regarding alcohol, diet, and who to tell and when.  When you tell people at work or those not immediate family and friends, they want to know how you got it and all the details.  They also are afraid they can catch it from you just by breathing the same air!  I went through this at my workplace (left in '95.)  I also wouldn't tell a dentist.  They use gloves, masks, and eye protection, so there is no way they can contract it from you.  Hopefully, your dentist also autoclaves instruments, so it can not be passed from you to other patients, either.  There is still a huge stigma attached to hepatitis of any kind.  Of course, you will be open about your hep C with your doctors and other medical personnel involved in your care.

A diseased liver does not filter toxins efficiently.  Therefore, it is not the occasional 2 beers, but the accumulation of damage over time that can kill you or lead to a liver transplant.  If you think it's going to be too difficult for you to quit entirely, seek support at AA.  These days, there are many tasty drink alternatives available (vitamin water, flavored water, etc.)   With Christmas coming this month, I like to mix cranberry juice cocktail with gingerale or club soda.  There are also nonalcoholic drinks like Cold Duck and Champagne, which are really just sparkling grape juice but taste like the real thing.  I like to ring in the New Year with these--and there's no hangover!   yeah

We are all here for you!

Connie

Post Edited (hep93) : 12/6/2007 11:24:30 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 12/5/2007 11:40 PM (GMT 0)
Oldtackle, I am really glad that you have decided to start treatment. I don't think you will regret it. I agree with the others opinions on alcohol and nutrition. I just wanted to say that it is important that you talk to your son about this. I was afraid to talk to my daughter about my husband's cirrhosis, and she found out on her own. She discovered my name on this site and read all my posts. Needless to say she was very confused and afraid. We have since discussed things and she handled things very well. I think kids tend to be more optimistic than adults at times.

I will pray that the treatment will be easy on you. I have read posts (can't remember if it was on this site) of people that had minimal side effects on the treatment.
Posted 12/6/2007 12:33 AM (GMT 0)
All - Going to change my handle tonight. Just realized that although the chances are slim, someone else in my town might know me by that name. Wiil be back on a couple of days under new handle. Very sorry for having to do this!!

Butterfly three's response above made me realize that others of course may browse this forum. I treausre the support and friendship of all of you already. Will be back on in day or two.

Pink Grandma -is ther anyway you could either delete my posts to date or delete my user nmae that appears. I need to chnage it to one that no one in my town would know.

Thanks!!
Posted 12/6/2007 12:40 AM (GMT 0)

Pink grandma -

Please disregard above request. i was able to change my name that appears on my own. No need to delete my posts.

God Bless

Posted 12/6/2007 3:23 AM (GMT 0)
All right! Friend in Need, You didn't need me after all. I am sure glad cause I may have just deleted the whole site. LOL Not really but it would have took me a while to figure it out though. I also like your new name. Take care....
Posted 12/7/2007 5:24 AM (GMT 0)
Hi--
Not much to add to the others but to also concur that I would not tell work or even really anyone else that doesn't need to know, because people change when they find out this info sometimes. Also, in discussing with a teenage son, I'm not so sure I would go into detail about the way you contracted the virus specifically, just because teenagers are strange and can imitate even bad behavior andthe stakes are so much higher now. I would talk more in general about the ways in which you can contract it. This is just my opinion, but you never know with teenagers how they will react. I wanted my son to be a little scared, not of me but of blood contact with me, because my son was only four. I was scared to death he would somehow try to help me if I fell or something and get blood to blood contact or find the sharps container. I just warned him about going through the trash as there may be old bloody bandaids and stuff in there, not using my toothbrudh or razor (which I hid and kept close to me) and put the sharps container out of reach. I am so sorry that you have this awful disease and am glad that you are being responsible in seeing a doctor for it and considering treatment, though tx may not be for everyone, if its right for you then I wish you the best. I have been pcr neg for 15 years. I am happy i don't have to worry so much about spreading it to my family members. This is the blessing of treatment for me. take care and I wish you the best.
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