Telling people you have hep c

I am scared to death to tell anyone that I have hep c. I had to tell my boss a fib because I got sick for a little while. Is it okay to have hep c and work with food and other people in a resturant environment? My Dr. says that it is okay. When I first found out, I was scared, I had no clue what it was or what it did. so, I told my neighbor, which I thought was a good friend! Well, you soon find out who is a friend. My neighbor has twins that are about the same age as my son and they used to always play together. Since I have told her I have seen her only once, and I told her I had this in May if not before then. I was diagnosed to have this for about 4 years, I am only 22! The way I found out was I had some mental problems, started abusing my infant son. I figured I needed help, but had no money, so I went to MHMR. I was there about1 1/2 yrs. before they told me to go to a Dr. about my ast and the other one. The Dr. that I origanly had left for a while and I got a new Dr. and he was the one that brought to my attention that this was not normal. So, I could have already been done with the tx if it was not for this other Dr. that never told me my enzymes where off whack! Anyway, do you tell aperson that you just have the flu, or do you tell them you have hep c. Because obviously there are a lot of ignorant people out there.

[ringading]

hey dear....telling people is a very personal choice, there really still remains much ignorance, or..."lack of knowledge" for many people surrounding this desease.....you must make that call your self....personally, i am too tired to be an activist or educator anymore in life...i have definately done my stint through out the late 80's and 90s as a harm reductionist...

openly telling people, you have hep c can certainly work against you in some cases though, as fear seems to replace common sense for many people..and for you in other cases...as far as working in the service industry, i own and run my own bar/resturant....now closed indefnately, til i feel enough strenght to go back to 15-18 hr days..(once treatment is finished)..but you are not bound by any laws that i am aware of to disclose this information in the service industry, espeacially if you are a server.

hang in there kiddo, get your suport here and anywhere else you can where there are others going through similar experiences and try not worry too much...stay strong for you and your kids and if you need time off take it if you can...before you know it, this too will be behind you....i wish you well, your very brave and strong for one so young...kudos to you!
cheers
kimmy

[Indiana]

Well,well,well....seems that I'm gonna be in the minority here. I told absolutely EVERYONE. Even some who didn't even know me or have any reason to know. Sometimes I even joked about it when I sensed someone was nervous about it.
The first thing I did was educate myself about it all. I armed myself with all the information and references I could. Then I decided that if I was gonna do tx I wouldn't be able to hide it and I also felt that some of those close to me had a right to know.
I was a Boy Scout leader. I told them all(and their parents) in a special meeting. I explained all about it and told them how to be tested if they wanted since I had been very close to the boys for years. Lots of cuts and bandages over our years of camping and travrling. ALL were fine. They ALL supported me throughout my tx and would come over and help around the yard and such whenever they could. They held a BIG perty for me when I was done.
I was very involved with my kids school activities(marching band,soccer,swimming,track,etc.) I told ALL the teams and coaches what was going on and that I could not help much while on my tx. They ALL understood and would cheer and congratulate me just for showing up at the events I could manage to come to. I even gave a speech at the school about Hep C as part of a health week.
My kids did several school reports on it....and with all my info they got A's!
I told my work and they were SUPER! Even when I would do stupid stuff cuz of the brain fog. We all had some BIG laughs. They teased me endlessly because I refused to accept their sympathy. I preferred the laughs.
If I sensed any strangers were nervous I would just Blurt it out and watch 'em squirm. Those were the best.
I NEVER...not even once...regretted my decision to tell. I think it was much better than all the lying and hiding I would have had to do during a whole year of Peg/Intron. That would have added WAY too much worry to my already overloaded tx brain. I remain VERY glad I was open about it.

[DonL]

Interestingly, I have told a number of friends with no problems. I did have a strange occurrance--two clients of mine run an investment counseling service that primarily caters to the large lesbian community in this area. We have been business friends for nearly 20 years (and they came out to me about 10 years ago) so I thought that telling them would be OK, tho there was no reason to. Since then, in November, several emails from me have gone unanswered and some to-be scheduled meetings have remained unscheduled. Perhaps they are just busy, but my new policy is that no one in business will be told unless there is a specific need for them to know. All the friends who need to know, know.

[doll face]

The first time on tx. I was running a very busy golf course bar. I also had to deal with food now and then.My boss (that I thought was a close friend) told me that she couldn't take the chance of me spreading it, and asked for my resignation.I should have fought her on it because she had no legal right to let me go at the time. Instead I did leave and it's a good thing because the sides hit me bad. I couldn't even get out of bed for the first three months.

When I was told I had relapsed and would have to do tx over again I really debated telling my new boss(I run the front of a very busy hotel)I finally decided to tell him and my coworkers andthey have been wonderful about it. We hired someone else to take over some of my responsibilities.

It is your decision to make. I personally tell just about everyone and try to educate them a little so they are not so ignorant about it. I have had friends, co-workers and even people I don't really know ask me to explain a little to them or tell them where to go for information about it.

Good luck.     God Bless       Kim

[Revenire]

At first, I didn't tell very many people at work, family and friends I didn't mind telling but I thought that at the workplace things could backfire on me -- co-workers fearing 'catching' it, people thinking I was a 'junkie', getting fired for a false reason but really because I'm a drain on the 'bottom line' of MONEY. Then I realized the law protects us at work -- especially at a large company where FMLA comes into play (any company with over 50 employees). I believe many of us are also covered by the ADA, if we have severe enough damage.

Over the past year I've changed my mind about it and now tell anyone. People at work saw/see me going through tx and wonder 'What's up with Scott' anyway.

It is sort of hard to hide 24/48 weeks of tx.

[hph5477]

I told just a few close friends.  Didn't say it was a secret or not to tell anyone; just figured they would let me decide who I told.  Anyway, one of these friends has taken care of telling the world for me.  No big deal really, but I do get a little tired of being asked how I am feeling and people thinking I don't feel good.  I feel great most of the time actually.
  I'm fortunate that I no longer work.  If I did, I probably would have told my boss and a couple good friends but also asked them to keep it to themselves.  You know how the workplace gossip barns can be.......they probably would have had me extremely contagious and on my death bed in 10 minutes time.
  Who you choose to tell is a very personal decision.  Just wanted you to know, that for me, things have worked out fine.  No one has treated me any differently than before (other than asking how I'm feeling, of course).  In fact, one good friend even sent me some flowers one week when my sx has kicked in.....that was a very welcome joy for me that day.
   Good luck with your decision.

[cindee]

I didn't tell anyone @ work @ first....but then I started getting sick...running to the bathroom all the time. So I told my co-workers and I'm glad I did. I had to go on disability in the 3rd month.  Good Luck and many prayers and Much Love to ALL, Cindee

[mycoldfeet]

As a paramedic with Hep C 1a telling my co-workers was an obligation not an option. Im in wk 43 but a long road it is. If you decide not to tell your co-workers or people close to you, you may be putting yourself and others at risk in case of an accident or medical emergency. I myself would not want it on my consience I put someone else through this as was done to me. Depending on the emergency someone needs to know the drugs,tx and anti depressants you are taking as they may cause another drug to be contra indicated, and you may not be able to speak for yourself. If I know a person is Hep c + or tuberculosis or aids I do take a couple of extra precautions and let the emergency room staff know also for same reasons. The decision of course is yours but the effects may be farther reaching. Even a friend you let know where in your purse or desk or wallet is information in case of emergency is a good idea. Good luck and thx for your ear for a second.

[justhinkn]

I found the following site good for answering workplace questions:  http://www.thebody.com/Forums/AIDS/Workplace/

Even though it deals with HIV it also deals a lot with hepatitus (hepatitis).  Read up on their archives and, if you need to, post them a question--they are experts in that area.  It seems like their consensus was to keep things as private as possible, especially if you don't know how any particular person is going to react.  There is still a lot of prejudice and ignorance on hepatitis C.  You are not legally obligated to disclose it to your boss or anyone else in your workplace but your human resource representative needs to know to ensure that your absences and rights are protected.  I'm not sure how that works if you work for a privately-owned business so you might want to ask them if that is your case.

Personally I wouldn't tell anyone unless they had been a long time and very trusted friend.  It's transmission to someone else is mainly blood-to-blood and if you're not sharing needles with someone or bleeding into their open wounds, there's not really a need for them to know unless you need their support.  If you need to talk about it there is always this board if you have something you just need to get off of your chest.  Get yourself thoroughly tested if possible, check out your options for treatment and whether your want and/or need it at this time.  Let the whole situation soak into your own head before you make any disclosures to anyone else.  

Unless you're one of the rare people that it acts aggressively on, you have quite a bit of time on your side before you start having any debilitating symptoms--could be decades.  Your chances as a female and considering that you got it at such a young age are on your side statistically.  For example, I got it in 1980 with a blood transfusion at the age of 20.  My recent liver biopsy showed no scaring and very little inflammation after 20 something years.  I have some fatigue and some joint pains but other than that, I'm in good shape with it.  I intend to put off treatment until something better comes along in the next few years.  Just make sure that you take care of cuts and wounds and don't share any sharp objects such as razors and clippers with anyone and you should be fine. Information is your best allie.

[pearse]

While on tx I had to be taken to the ER. My wife told the techs I had hepc and was on tx. I was taken to a remote room, about 10 mins later here comes the Doc and nurse in big rubber gloves and aprons. I have never been in and out of my local ER so quickly.lol
It never bothered me who knew I had hep. My boss and coworkers all helped me so much. Besides my wife's aunt who told everyone I had cancer:)

[pearse]

I almost forgot, Your not still tipping those cows are you? Hope you didn't get any MAD!!!!!

[ringading]

indy, some how i wouldn't expect less from you.....very admirable of you,as you are working alot with kids, but yours was a somewhat different situation wasn't it?  being a scout leader..(LIL, hey, do you know HER) and as you say many years of cuts and wounds etc, is different and honerable and correct for you to have disclosed the info...
and MYCOLDFEET...you guys always use universal precautions right and if i am correct have been since the late 80's....but yah, in your business, i too agree that your co-workers should know also, as you probably at times come into situations where there is a threat of violence or harm to you dealing with some clients, whether impaired or high etc..so it's good info for co-workers....but i really think it is a coin toss disclosing for most of us....i don't personally want to have to deal with the bs and the feeling that i am being treated somewhat different as a result of this info....sadly it does happen, except in rare cases....i have told only a very few...humm 3 close friends..THATS IT..not even my family...i really rather not be treated any differently...and when my phone RINGS i want it to be becuase someone WANTS to call me..NOT because they feel sorry for me...the only thing i dis-like worse than feeling sorry for myself....is someone else feeling sorry for me..k

[giddyup]

I'm with Befuddledbedarned

[lackalustre]

well i'll throw in my $0.02  worth too.  i tell whom i am comfortable telling.  i didnt even tell my family for a few months after diagnosis except immediate family-i was so devastated.  they then all got tested (neg)   most friends have been pretty accepting but  sometimes i get paranoid what people think. especially on tx. my mind got so weirded out about having this.
   as far as working in a restaurant and food preparation.  if i cut myself while preparing a salad or anything id throw it out.  id do that even if i didnt have hepc.
  coldfeet, thats a good idea aabout putting a card in your purse or wallet in the event you get in an accident or something.  although you use universal precautions.  i thought of wearing a bracelet like a diabetic but thats a little too much.

[doll face]

This so called "needle sharing disease" is going to keep being known as that unless people like us educate the ignorant. I didn't catch this from a needle and if I did I don't think it would make a difference in the way I feel. I would rather tell people myself than have them guessing why I am so sick and absentminded lately.

I don't mind people asking how I feel,because when I am out in public I usually feel great and tell them that. They all don't need to know how much my bones hurt,how tired I am or that I can't remember anything without writing it down. I do not like or accept pity, but I hate ignorance just as much.

I have a friend that has HepC also and he refuses to tell anyone. He finally had to come up with something to tell people after starting tx, so now all he says is that he has a blood disorder and his meds are a type of chemo, and he leaves it at that.

This is a very personal decision for everyone and this was just my 2 cents worth.              

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE WITH YOUR CHOICE.     Kim

[suho]

I just joined this site a few days ago. I was cured 4 and a half years ago, after 2 tx... 1 for 6 months interferon, then 3 years later for a year, with interefron/ribaviron. This is the first posting that made me cry, so I thought I should write. I told everyone. I was extremely symptomatic, chronic/active for 15 years.Was so sick I couldn't function. You are lucky if you feel good enough to get up, even though you may not think you are so lucky. Gotta count even the little blessings. I was shunned by some, but what hurt me mostly was that my husband(now ex) and my brothers told me to get off my lazy a-- and quit faking. I was very unfortunate to have lost many years of life when I was so very ill. I am fortunate in that I seem to be cured. (although my phosphatase,alk. is high... gotta see dr.)I am fortunate that I learned how shallow my husband abd brothers are... how sad that I suffered alone. Back then we did 3 shots a week, what's it nowdays? Now I am well, and finally following my bliss and trying to be an artist, still alone, lost the marriage and never see the brothers... I have much to convey in my art.... reclusive I have become. Part of the illness will linger on for me... the emotional scars are deep. Even now, when I tell people I had it but am cured, I feel the tension. But I tell. "Be who you are" is my motto. Good luck to you all. Thanks for letting me vent. I still need you, even though it is gone.... I hope.....

[suho]

I just joined this site a few days ago. I was cured 4 and a half years ago, after 2 tx... 1 for 6 months interferon, then 3 years later for a year, with interefron/ribaviron. This is the first posting that made me cry, so I thought I should write. I told everyone. I was extremely symptomatic, chronic/active for 15 years.Was so sick I couldn't function. You are lucky if you feel good enough to get up, even though you may not think you are so lucky. Gotta count even the little blessings. I was shunned by some, but what hurt me mostly was that my husband(now ex) and my brothers told me to get off my lazy a-- and quit faking. I was very unfortunate to have lost many years of life when I was so very ill. I am fortunate in that I seem to be cured. (although my phosphatase,alk. is high... gotta see dr.)I am fortunate that I learned how shallow my husband abd brothers are... how sad that I suffered alone. Back then we did 3 shots a week, what's it nowdays? Now I am well, and finally following my bliss and trying to be an artist, still alone, lost the marriage and never see the brothers... I have much to convey in my art.... reclusive I have become. Part of the illness will linger on for me... the emotional scars are deep. Even now, when I tell people I had it but am cured, I feel the tension. But I tell. "Be who you are" is my motto. Good luck to you all. Thanks for letting me vent. I still need you, even though it is gone.... I hope.....

[jonihs]

My only question is that tx. lasts 6 to 12 mos. then weeks or months to fully recover. How ya gonna convince people you got the flu that long? I tell people other than my family, that need to know, that I have a rare liver disease I'm being treated for. Then change the subject as soon as possible. There are other scripts you can use( chemo, etc.) But mostly I just tell them the truth and they really don't want to know much more.      JMO      Joni

[Indiana]

Just need to clarify this. Saying that you have a "somewhat" communicable disease doesn't mean you have to disclose WHERE you got it. Yhe truth is...NONE of us REALLY knows. They didn;t take precautions before the late 80's. Anyone here born after that? Did any of us go to a dentist? Had a shot by an air gun? Had an injection by a "reusable" needle like they used in the 60's and 70's? Had a manicure? I'm sure there are LOTS of major precautions being used there. Had a transfusion before the late 80's? Had a tatoo? Shared a toothbrush? Touched someone elses blood? Screwed a Hobbit?(ok, maybe not that one) Kissed a fool? Gimmee a break! Drug use is just 1 part of the total mix. This coulda come from any number of places. Don't let anyone "BRAND" you ....and don't do it to yourself. No matter how obvious it "seems" on the surface. The truth is....You DON"T KNOW! And it fact...it don't matter...except to the overly "pious" folks that we don't like anyways. So, the way I see it....SHAME ON THEM for trying to assign "blame" where none can exist! This disease is an epidemic nowadays. Millions of folks have it. Are they ALL druggies? The numbers are too big to ignore now. Don't take it! Don't let your past make you "assume" that you got this from some foolish behaviour. YOU DON'T KNOW! Stand up for yourself! We are all people who have a horrible disease and are doing our best to erradicate it for both ourselves AND the rest of society! They should be kissing the ground we walk on! Not criticizing you!
It's all in the perspective....isn't it?
So...That's the answer....We don't know how we got it. NOBODY really does. And that's what you say. It's the TRUTH after all!
I guess that you can all tell that this is a sore spot with me. It just ticks me off when we blindly accept our past automatically as the reason for our having this. Until someone PROVES different I'm goin with my story that I believe mine was from the alien abduction that MAY have happened to me in the 60's while I was....incapacitated. It's just as likely as the rest............

[jonihs]

Like I said b4---I love ya! Just had to say it again b4 going to sleep.   Goog Night

[want2live]

At first I kept it a secret. What a burden! Now I tell anyone, and if there is a problem, it's their problem; not mine.
With more awareness of HCV, more lives will be saved. If we all keep this secret, people will die.
I still respect an individual's right to privacy, the above is just my two cents.

[ringading]

i've been working on that for a wee bit now.....back and forth with a producer....she has a greater coverage, impact, viewer ship, than any one single person on television.....her recent show on south africa, probably has had more impact than dear bonos decade of endless work and education.....
kimmy

[ringading]

ha ha i LOVE YAH GIRL....but come on now.....you and i have been friends for a year and ahalf and i happen to KNOW for a FACT that you've kissed 2 hobbits and 1 troll....comeon now fess up!

hugs
kimba..kimbee...kimber...kimmy....blah blah

[justhinkn]

I'm wondering how difficult it would be to have Oprah put the information on her show?  I'm serious--she's got the pull more than any other force out there that I know of yet I've never seen anything on her show about it. So many people don't know they have this stuff yet, like Indy said, the ways that it could have been acquired before 1990ish was pretty great.  Remember the shots you received at the doctor's office when you were young when they foolishly reused needles and "sterilized" them in alcohol, or the way you got your ears pierced at the mall (who knows how they cleaned their guns) or shared self-piercers, or the guns they used to immunize us against polio (I'm sure they thought they were cleaning them between children), including all of the vets immunized by airguns and the blood transfusions and, my gosh, all of the other ways you could have gotten it in very simple, everyday situations before blood transmission was regulated.  They had a surge on people finding out they had it after all of the 9/11 blood donators that were turned down because of it.

[justhinkn]

You've been in contact with one of her producers?  That's great and a good start.  I've never known why they haven't been done this subject since she has done several other major illnesses.  If she does it right, and I'm pretty sure she would, it could get a message out to the public that the government agencies can/will not do.  Could you imagine the influx of people getting tested just within a week of her episode on it?  Good for you!

[want2live]

Just think what the gift bag would contain on that Oprah show?

[ringading]

sadly this IS a highly political issue, as the goverment really truely would rather the full exact extent of this NOT be so known, as they would undoubtly be slammed with demands for compensation (the financial and public relations nightmare that will follow) as well as the responsibility to treat the millions of people who are infected...the majority of whom DO NOT KNOW....after 9/11 in dallas i believe, out of 20,000 people that donated blood, 60% of them were found to hep c....i BELIEVE i have that stat right...so if you can imagine the hysteria that would follow this being exposed and having light shed on it......it would take someone like her to NOT buckle under to the influence of, goverment pressure networks etc...as she owns her own!!! anyway, more on this as it developes.and discussion with them continues, i must say they do have remarkable reshearchers at harpo studios and leave very little un-turned before going into production with anything so heavy.they can work on something for a year before producing or airing.....AND I SAID i was too tired to ever be an activist again...ha...just goes to show what one can do when they are suffitiatly PISSED OFF
KIMMY

[Dirac]

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