I am a Dragon Slayer aka Hep C Survivor so far! This is my story on how I found out I had Hep C, living with it, treatment and side effects, and how it affected my children and friends. In 1994, I could just feel in my soul something just wasn't right with my body. I was tired all the time, my weight was like a rollercoaster for no reason. I went to 4 different doctors over a period of 2 years and was told I have IBS, Hashimoto's Disease, Chronic Fatique and Depression. Nothing they did made me feel any better. In 2001, my husband at that time was looking into my eyes and told me, honey the white of your eyes have a yellow tint to them. So again back to the doctor's, I told the doctor to do a COMPLETE blood work up. Doc said he did and everything came back normal. Came to find out no testing for Hepatitis, it has to be requested! Then in 2005, my personal life went into a major uproar, basically almost everything that could go bad did. I started to become even more ill, vomiting, more yellowing to my eyes, skin itching but my skin wasn't dry and total depression. Excusing it off to just being over stressed and going through alot of bullshit. Then I developed joint pain, rashes on my chest and scalp, and started blowing up like a balloon. I finally in 2007 caved in and went to the doc's again. Again, they was suppose to do a complete blood work-up. My glucose was high, my ALT 90 & AST 59 both high, did a arthritis profile which for RH Factor score 368 which was off the charts. Doc thought I might have Lupus and sent me to a Rheumatologist, Dr. Anne MacGuire. April 30, 2007, was in her office and she was looking over my medical records. She looked at me and said, there are no blood profiles/test for Hepatitis. She explain because of my ALT & AST high, the RHF scoring so high, and my symptoms she thinks I have Hep C. She ordered a hepatitis profile, results where hep c reactive 16.6 with a high ration cut-off of a 8.00, I definitely had Hep C. I name this doctor because I will always have the highest respect for her. She then referred me to Dr. Mark Dowell an Infectious Disease Specialist. I couldn't believe it, how in the world did I get this, I racked my mind for months. FACT is I will never know!! Dr. Dowell did a viral load which came out as 410,000 and a geno type 2b. I did not have any medical insurance and was freaking out on how I was going to pay for this. Dr. Dowell had me apply for the Roche medical program. Which I qualified for but now the problem of having to travel 4 hours each way just to see the doc. I also live in Wy and the roads either get shut down or become very hazardous to drive during the winter. So I decided to move there while undergoing treatment. Because of having to move I did have to leave my family and friends. So my 10 yr. old, my at the time boyfriend and I packed up and moved where we didn't know anyone. My liver biopsy results where grade 3 stage 2. Dr. Dowell stated by the damage done to my liver they can estimate I have had this virus anywhere from 10 to 15 years. Started my first dose of tx. on Sept.21, 2007. Weeks 1 - 2 - I would get the chills and then hot flashes, my bones would just ache like having the flu, I would vomit just a couple of times over a 24 hour period, this would last about 2 days. Blood tests, liver enzymes, cbc, white count every week, blood counts were good. Weeks 3 - 4 - everything was about the same except fatique kicked in and then couldn't sleep. Blood count started to get low and liver enzymes was still high. Weeks 4 - 12 - this is when it became the worse for me. The body aches became so painful, I would have bouts of diarrhea so bad that sometimes I didn't make it, so embarrassing. Itching all the time, bouts of feeling like I am being bit by something(doc said it was the pills) skin drying so bad my whole body was like having dandruff. Hair loss started, brain fog's kicked in, I started sleeping all the time when I wasn't in pain, I couldn't eat and when I did I would vomit. At this point I was vomiting 3 to 4 times a day. I started taking compazine for the nausea. Headaches would blow the back of my head off it felt like. Oh boy, did I feel the cold of winter. At this time I lost about 30 pounds. Boyfriend started traveling a lot for work so was never home. When he was home, he withdrew from me, I guess couldn't handle how sick I was. Then a couple weeks later he decided to call off the relationship. I was so lonely, missing my family and friends. Days of just needing a hug. But there was a little angel in my life, my 10 year old daughter. We talked alot about her feelings on this. She went through being scared watching mom get so sick, to being tired of witnessing mom being sick, to rubbing my back when I was vomiting, mircowaving soup for mom, giving me the hugs and kisses I needed, to just sitting with mom and rubbing my hair to comfort me. She gave me the strength to TRY to live a normal life for her, and stick with this treatment. It's no cake walk and now I understand why some just cant finish the treatment. I learned also some friends just don't have the strength to share your sickness with you but they do love you. So don't be angry because they become distanced with you. People just handle things differently. Week 12 all liver enzymes were normal, my viral load came back as undetectable, but my blood count was at a very low point, I then ended up with a staff infection on my whole left side of my body. Week 13 - 24 - Energy although low was better, I was able to function within my household. The vomiting was going back to like it was in the beginning of the treatment. Still had a hard time eating though but getting better. Started to do small jobs in the house, could do some shopping and errands and stuff. Most people looking at me would notice the sickly color I had and the hair thinning. I had really long hair to the middle of my back the thinning made it look horriable so I had to cut my hair short. The pain was going back to just 48 hours after the shot. I am starting to feel half-way human again. March 7, 2008 is my last tx shot and then the viral load test again. My second viral test came back it was un..able again waahoo!! Now time for the withdraw's from the tx. At this time I want to thank all my (my space friends) for the wonderful words and comments. It really helped me at times. I also would like to express, Dr. Mark Dowell is a Wonderful doctor! Under construction more to come. 
