Any moms out there????

Any moms out there with Hep C that have children????  Just had my son tested, he is 23 months old, and I am waiting for the results to come back.  I am totally freaked out and naturally concerned and scared.  I know the risk is low and doctors don't deter women from moving forward or making the decision to have children but when the time comes to actually have them tested it's a whole different story.  I have an older son and he does not have it.  Just wondering what you did to get through it.

Thanks

[nygirl7]

There are LOTS Of us mommies out here!  I remember the feelingi very very well.....but don't worry mine both turned up negative and the chance it 97/98% that yours will too.

You just have to have faith and think positive thoughts - unfortunately there isn't much else you can do. I was just getting started trying to figure out the disease and go on treatment when I had them tested so I didn't have too much time to dwell but yes I do remember being worried.

GOOD LUCK!

[Marcia2202]

I had all my 5 kids tested when I found out that I had hep c. I kind of had to prepare myself for the worst, so I did. And sure enough, one of them came back positive. For one months we thought that she had it. Until her PCR and genotyping came back negative. You see, at that time we didn't know that positive for antibodies is not the same as actually having the virus. Fortunately she does not have hep c after all.

Just wanted to share my experience.

It is out of your hands and all I can say is, be strong.

Hugs,

marcia

[Isobella]

I've been where you are now.  Not sure how old your child is, but my daughter was 18 when I was diagnosed.  I decided to take charge of my hcv and face it head  on with a brave (educated, strong)  face so I could be a good example to her if the event she was also positive.

As it turned out, she does have hcv.  She doesn't let it rule her life.  I think the fact that she was busy graduating highschool and leaving for college during all this helped.

I just finished tx, and she is waiting for the new drugs to come out.  Totally ***** to have passed this on to my lovely daughter, but the reality is, there is so much worse out there.

The chances are only 6%, so the chances your kid will be ok are much greater than the alterntive.  

The upside to the whole ordeal is that Marcia and I were going thru all this at the same time and became the best of tx(and real life) buddies.  Having someone, either one person or the entire forum to vent to will defo help.

Hang in there and keep us posted.

Isobella

[meems716]

i was diagnosed when i was pregnant my baby is 4 months old and i worry about it everyday i was told to get him tested at 18 months. Im scared so i do all i can not to expose him a little too much. i just started treatment 2 weeks ago but he keeps me strong  well good luck to you and i will pray the test is neg. good luck

[chevyelcam79]

I am also a Mom.  My child was about 5 when I was diagnosed.  He was tested and does not have hcv.  I did have it when I was pregnant with him. The hard part was waiting for the results of his bloodwork.   I was also a single Mom when I decided to do the tx (about 2-1/2 years ago).  It was hard but I did as you can see, make it thru.  

It is tough when you have pther responsiblities but being a Mom "we do what we have to do"

Keep us posted

Shari

[famon1341]

Thank you to all of you for sharing your experience and support.  I should have his resutls by Monday the 23rd.  The waiting will be the worst part if he doesn't have it and don't know what my reaction will be if he does have it.  I will be embarassed and heartbroken.  I don't talk about this stuff to my husband.  He is fully informed has been from the beginning but I still don't think he likes to talk about it so it's nice that I can come here and talk and get things off my mind with people that have been through it.

I just finished treatment in May of this year and just got the results to my 6 months post tx PCR and I am SVR.  That was awesome.   But I am struggling being happy about it because it would be horrible if I cleared the virus and here my son has it.  Extrememely upsetting thought to me.

My doctor said by the off chance he does have it at least you know he will have a strain that is very reponsive to tx since he would have the same strain as me and I am now virus free.  That's somewhat comforting but I would rather him just not have it you know. . .  

Then I worry what if the antibody test comes back positive then I do the PCR test and then there I am having to wait again and hopefully find out from that he does indeed NOT have it.  I need to just stay in today or I'm going to drive myself insane.

I will keep you gals posted as soon as I know the resulsts to my son's antibody test.

Isobella my son is 23 months old right now. :-)

[meakea]

Famon...  From my own personal experience:  I gave birth to 3 children when I unknowingly had Hep C.  One was by natural birth and the other two were C-sections.  They are all adults now and, thank God, none of them have Hep C.  

I understand how you feel.  Even with the odds being in your favor, until you get the results, it's hard not to be anxious...Moms just do that.  :)

Let us know how it turns out.  

[famon1341]

I did have a question.  What was your daughters reaction?  I am more worried about that then my husbands reaction.  I have this terrible scenario running through my had that he will damn me and hate me because I did this to him. Again I am getting ahead of myself because I don't even get the results back until Nov. 23rd but I have so many what if's running through my head.  I'd die if my son wanted nothing to do with me when the day came to have to tell him.

Needing all the support that is available.

Thanks Faith

[Marcia2202]

When we first thought that my daughter was infected she actually reacted quite well to it. Of course she was sad and it was a difficult period in her life. But she felt it brought her and also her friends a lot of perspective into their lives. It took her some time to bounce back, even though she turned out to be negative.

She never blamed me for it and I didn't blame myself either. You know, things like that are out of our hands. I believe that there are higher forces controlling those things.

If you raise your children with love and respect, they will love and respect you back. So I really think that it boils down to that.

Hugs, Marcia

[Isobella]

I think she was kinda shell shocked when she first got diagnosed.  It was after her senior year and she was in the process of gearing up to leave for college.  That gave us plenty of car time driving to college and back....we had good quality time to talk things out.  

I was always very upfront and honest with her.  Initially when I was diagnosed, her first concern was whether or not I was going to die.  After reassuring her and verbally walking down the paths of best case scenerio and worst case scenerio, she was better prepared to handle her own diagnosis.  

Every now and then, though...the kid in her comes out.  Just recently with the H1N1 concern on college campuses.  She asked me if she would die if she got it because she has not only HCV, but EBV.  I assured her that the chances are that she won't get either one and promptly got her vaccinated for both.  And when her room-mate was diagnosed with seasonal, she spent a few days at a friends house.  She takes staying healthy very seriously.

On the one hand, she is very determined not to let HCV rule her life.  She is chomping at the bit to start tx.  On the other hand, that scared kid pokes her head out sometimes and it breaks my heart.  

Ironically, if I cry or feel guilty...she gets mad and tells me to get over myself.  She has never blamed me in any way or made me feel quilty or questioned me on how I got it.  But she is determined to own her disease and be a active participant in the choices she has for fighting it.  

If you do one day have to tell him-- he is your child--you are the parent.  He is going to follow your lead.  If you present this to him as a devastating-life altering-ruined forever- how could I be such a bad mother-scenerio, he will react in kind.  f you approach it calmly and explain how you got through it and he can too, he will react in kind to that as well.  

I know it's hard for you right now.  Not knowing is the worst.  But, honestly...the chances he will be negative are far better than the alternative.  I will be waiting to hear your good news on the 23rd.  And in the event he is positive, I (and everyone else) will be here to help you get through this.

Ditto on the husband situation.....mine has been perfectly content to let me make all the decisions regarding this stuff.  But he has also been my greatest helper through tx.

Sending you (((((HUGS)))))

Hang in there, baby

Isobella

[famon1341]

I have great news ladies!  I just got my son's hcv antibody test back and he is negative!!!!  It's like a ton of weights have been lifted off my shoulders.  Honestly I was happier to hear this news for him then when I heard I was SVR.  I feel like I can breath easy now.  I have been so anxious, irritable and down not knowing.

[Marcia2202]

A HUUUUGE congratulations! I definitely know how that feels! Now you can lay this hep C thing behind you, once and forever.

Hugs, Marcia

[nygirl7]

Excellent wonderful news - we can all understand how you feel and get joy out of it for your son :) Wonderful news!

[sunshines76]

I tested my twins when they were 16 months old - they are fine, nothing was transferred. I breastfeed them too.