TOPIC:

If you have treated with generics you are, in my opinion, a hero. You have shown others the path.....

m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11541772

In the face of enormous peril what would you do? It's a favourite pub conversation, but thankfully not something many of us have to face.

Scientists have long puzzled over what drives some people to become selfless rescuers while others freeze.

We are raised to think twice before we act, especially when faced with a potentially life-threatening situation.

Friends and loved ones tell us "not to be a hero" and police usually advise us not to confront dangerous people. Yet some are compelled to act.

A study in the United States into why some individuals take extreme risks to save others reveals these types of rescuers tend to disregard all that advice.

If you stop to think whether to act when the danger confronts you, you probably won't, the report - by Yale University scholar David Rand and Zev G. Epstein of Pomona College, California - suggests.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Rand describes this "danger of deliberation".

He says it is the biggest deterrent to what he calls "extreme altruism".

"The people who act are the people who have a sort of co-operative impulse and are people who don't overthink things," Rand says.

"It is the kind of thing that if you stop and think about it you start coming up with reasons you shouldn't act."

I am not 100% convinced whether in the case of HCV, getting treated with generics or spreading the news about generic drugs may be called heroism. I believe a different word should be used, but I do not know which one would be the right one.

What I felt before having decided to proceed with the generic drugs, was that the "system" (the healthcare system, legal system, Big Pharma, etc) was taking away my FREEDOM to be free of HCV. And that I could not accept.

Today I see those who are talking about HCV generic drugs are like the men from the book of Viktor Frankl - see the paragraph from below.

“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.”
― Viktor E. Frankl, "Man's Search for Meaning"

In the context of HCV people have the FREEDOM TO CHOSE THEIR OWN WAY. They just need to be aware of this freedom.
Such thoughts make me think that TOMORROW things will be different. And better!

Cheers,
RHF

James, we all owe you a great debt you put yourself and your reputation on the line ensuring
myself and thousands of others are now Hep C free I don't know we'd all be here without you.

You said it Sirch, that's the truth that

I'm not a hero
I'm just a person and a parent who got a shit illness somehow

Grateful yes hero no
thats way too fancy a tag or badge for me a hero
Truly just thankful that's all
At least it wasn't that other stuff again
Survival of that was possibly a miracle if these labels are to be applied


Take care all and thanks to the real hero: that's the Doc who set this up and released me and you and all from the illness
A

Hi Ariel,

Considering your dreadful past experience with PEG/Riba going back for seconds takes some guts.

It might be all are right . It depends from the perspective we look at these words.

(Wikipedia says) Moral courage is the ability to act rightly in the face of popular opposition, shame, scandal, discouragement, or personal loss.
(Wikipedia says) A hero .... is a person or main character of a literary work who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through impressive feats of ingenuity, bravery or strength, often sacrificing his or her own personal concerns for some greater good.

To me, whenever I think at those who helped me get treated with generics (Dr. F,, Greg, my RO doctor, you guys from here who took the risk to freely talk about hep C and generic drugs) I see them as heroes, my heroes. When I think at me however, I do not see myself with this "hero" label, rather I see myself as a person who (finally) had some courage and decided to took life into own hands and get treated despite the opposition or my perceived of opposition related generic drugs.

Trying to think from a doctor's perspective ( I am not, but for this exercise I will pretend I am ), seeing a patient getting through the IFN+RIB treatment or deciding to take control on the own life and be a signal for the others patients, might be seen also as an heroic behavior.

No matter if we regard this as heroism or courage, IT DOES SAVE LIVES AND BRINGS THE SO MUCH NEEDED HEALTH !

Hats off !!!!

Thank you Doctor J for sharing those sentiments at the outset of this post, but I think most of us feel you have it a bit backwards as to who the heroes are here, You, your father, Mr. Jeffries, and the team at monkmed and I'm sure countless others we'll never know, working behind the scenes, are the ones who fit that bill. IMHO.
Words can never quite convey all that's in our hearts .... But thank you never the less, my hero,

Matt

Totally agree with what people are saying here. If anyone's a hero it's the good doctor

Ty Doc for the props
Yep that was a bungee jump into the abyss that old tx you are correct in my personal case
BUT
I'M WITH THE VIBE HERE
THANKS TO THE FHC TEAM
We are free!!

This ones for you and I sing this old fave with a new outlook now THANKYOU

Hero hmm now you put it like that

I dunno Doc I think were just sick of being sick

cheers

All of the above

My sentiments lie with everyone else who has answered your comment Doc!!! You are so unique and what you have undertaken to do has allowed us all to help ourselves get well through one combination or another. For many, feeling ill from this virus for years and often decades was all too obviously devastating and for some we did not even realize just how bad we felt until we started to feel oh so much better. Looking back I cannot believe how I simply accepted what was happening and waited and waited! This is what happens all too often in all kinds of situations. People end up so apathetic to what is going on, feeling helpless to do anything. You have shown us all that if you really believe in something and have the ability to change things then you find a way. Without you and as someone else has said, those who work with and alongside you none of this would be a reality! My thanks and admiration are added to everyone elses on here!
You are our hero!!
all my lovexxxxxx
Nadia
by the way how do you add songs to these posts I am so bloody useless when it comes to working things out takes me ages of messing about and wasting so much time I give up pathetic I know!!!!

Hello Nadia,

great thoughts, thank you.

It made me think on some maths:
- I was one of the patients being sick more than 13 years (perhaps 20 or 30, but I am not sure).
- currently, in my country, only 1.5% of the HCV patients have the tiny chance to get treated next year (about 10 000 out of 600 000) via the NHS.
- I was one of the others 98.5% who did not qualified for the treatment (you may also say I was outside the system).
- One day, a stranger, an Australian (Greg Jefferys) made a trip to India, got treated with generics and ... shared his story. In only one year his story inspired others ( thousands I would say), me included.
- One other day, a doc founded FIXHEPC, a place from where many people (tens of thousands I guess) already got useful information and thousands of them got treated. For sure other tens of thousands will follow soon. Perhaps next year we will be talking about millions ?
- Each of the thousands who got already cured or are currently under treatment let the people around them know about the generic drugs (one tells perhaps to other 10 people, 20, 30.....about the generics). Try to multiply these numbers to see where you get ....

Maybe for someone who never got sick with this disease or another difficult one, the numbers from above are simply numbers.
But when you've been through this ugly disease and got cured, you cannot stop thinking how meaningful it was what those (few) before you did and how it will change in good the life of others (many) in the future.....Words cannot properly describe how this feels, but gratitude is one of it.

Cheers,
RHF

Hi RHF,
the maths as you say blows me away it is phenomenal and word of mouth so works in this situation. Coming here for info the first time was truely helpful and well that Australian you talk of wow an inspiration right?!!!! The second time I came was after the Redemption trials had already started I couldn't believe it had all been put together in a way that made it really accessible to all. Just the thought that you could do something yourself with a little help from your friends and not be dependent on if your name and number came up or not was a good feeling gave one some self esteem and massive hope for the future.

Ok yes monies comes into it but you just know that somehow you have got to do it, the amount is a small price to pay for ones health and well being. I don't want to sound flippant it is still a lot for those with little, I know from personal experience as do others!!!. There were people also very dubious about the whole thing, having experienced rip off merchants or simply wary of anything that seems outside the norm. Personally speaking, I have spent much of my life on the edge of what is perceived the norm so once I read the forum and all the incredible people on here telling their stories and spoken to a few people at GP2U and FHC it was as clear as anything that this was the place to come and get well. No-one sits in judgement. There is a blanket of support around people from others who know how it feels and those who have the awareness to understand how important it is to treat the terrible virus before it does its worst!

I will certainly do whatever I can to spread the message to others. The NHS hospital I have attended the past 20+ years has slowly begun to treat patients who are not so desperately close to end of life situations but there is still a tight quota I believe and in the meantime there are still many totally unaware they even have this monster in their bodies. My understanding is the numbers are enormous but one never hears much about it certainly not in the media here in the UK. I remember many years ago a TV programme I think the title was 'Bad Blood' what a shit title!!!! No wonder people hid it away from those around them. Whew apologies for the soapbox. I will jump off it now!

Word of mouth is definitely the way to go when possible and I will make every effort to open mine at every opportunity
love and hugs
Nadia xx