I was reflecting on this idea of screening and how for me, I have moved a bit – shock of disclosure wise.

When I was found to be HCV+ after donating blood I was told:

1. I must be in a high risk category (read telling porkies to them when I said wasn’t) and the virus could never get through the tests that they used for blood I was previously given. In hindsight, I wonder WTF it mattered how I got it, for my wellbeing anyway, but then again it is nice to be told something in a “counselling session”
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2. not long after, another GP (not one I have seen since) advised me I had joined the ranks of the “sexual outcasts”. Exciting news to say the least.

3. In 1993, a kind doctor from the Sydney Uni medical centre gave me good supporting advice on what had happened and generally since then things have been okay. One exception though in 2009 with a doctor my wife was seeing (not anymore though) who raised the issue out of the blue and gave me a referral to see the specialist I was due to see in a few weeks anyway – so I would not “spread it around”! This was 2009!

In maybe some parallel, I saw someone on the TV talking about how Ebola was managed in Africa and how people came to see outside help as people in white “space suits” coming in and taking their loved ones away.

I think I (we?) learnt to switch off a bit over time and in another post where I was all for starting meds, I think it was GAJ who mentioned in response that different people react in their own individual way toward HCV.

I just hope that now there is the potential for simply curing the disease, the virus is seen simply for what it is, and not all the other “stuff” that went along with it before. I am thinking people do this as a natural reaction when some disease turns up for which there is not yet a cure.

This type of virus will happen again in and after my lifetime and I want better for my daughter.

Yours

J