Hepatitis & Face Lifts

[Gia305]

Can a woman with hepatitis C have a face lift?

[Gia305]

Thanks for your encouragement. I know most people say fix the inside first, but I feel fine, never been jaundiced & don't want to take the meds. currently available. So what should I do, get a new liver just for the heck of it? I've been wanting a face lift forever & by god, I'm gonna get one. I just hope I get the doctor that I want. He does beautiful work. So thanks again.

[pooh55811]

"Can a woman with hepatitis C have a face lift? "
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I see no reason why a woman with Hepatitis C cannot have a face lift. There is nothing specific about Hepatitis C that says a woman cannot have a face lift. That is the short response.

Here is the long response:

First: I agree that treating the Hepatitis C would be of far greater concern and importance (to me) than fixing my face (not that I could not use a face lift; I could use one, LOL). The point is, one does not need a perfect face to live, but one does need a functioning liver to live.

Second: Some people progress slowly and others progress rapidly from Stage 0 to Stage 3-4 liver fibrosis. There are many things that affect liver fibrosis progression besides the number of years one has had Hep C.  In addition, Hep C does not live peacefully within our livers. It is a virus. It is systemic. It causes inflammation all over the body, not just in the liver. A person does not have to be symptomatic for the Hep C to be causing havoc in our livers and in our bodies. In addition, liver fibrosis stage does not necessarily correlate with how many symptoms one is having. I am quoting someone else when I say this, "With Hepatitis C you can be floating down the river one minute and going over the waterfall the next minute. With Hepatitis C one never knows where the waterfall is."

Third: It would be advisable to know what your liver fibrosis stage is now (not what it was a few years ago). So a current liver biopsy would be important. Knowing your current liver fibrosis stage would be helpful to both you and your doctors to know if it would be advisable to have surgery or if there could be complications (due to liver function problems). In addition, you would want to have pertinent lab (blood) tests run so that you would know in advance if there was some potential problem (for example, a clotting problem).

As far as surgery goes, most people who have Hep C do not know they have it. People undergo surgery all of the time. Many people with Hep C have surgery before they ever find out they have Hep C. I probably contracted hep C in about 1975. Since then I have had 7 major surgeries, the last one in 2000. I had no problems from surgery. I never knew I had Hep C until 2011. The point is, I had Hep C for 37 years or so. I had 7 major surgeries and no complications. No one had a clue, including me, that I had Hep C. The only problems I can see are those mentioned by the others, possible complications if you have advanced fibrosis. Som it is best to find out what fibrosis stage you are at and then discuss everything with your doctors.

Best of luck.

[Advocate1955]

Also, Gia, you can't assume that because you feel fine Hep C wise that your liver is fine. Fibrosis can progress without any symptoms, and a person can develop cirrhosis without any symptoms.
Advocate1955

[Advocate1955]

I too would be more concerned about the status of my liver (exactly what stage of liver damage)than cosmetic surgery. Once your liver damage progresses to Cirrhosis, which it may or may not have already done, the damage is irreversible and the chances of successfully clearing Hep C are reduced. I don't know about the risks of voluntary surgery for Hep C pos vs Hep C beg, but as rivll said, any surgery poses a risk, and those risks are increased when your liver is compromised. Without knowing the current status of your stage of fibrosis, there would be no way I would be able to answer your question as to whether or not having a face lift with Hep C is safe.
Advocate1955

[can-do-man]

So many things wrong, but to set the record stright 20 years has nothing to do with getting HCC. It has to do with becoming cirrhotic and which also has no time lines.... Labs after 50 will NOT tell you if you have liver cancer.

Oh my!!!

[BoceprevirGal]

   And just to set the record straight, I know quite a few people who have had hepatitis as long as 40 yrs, with drugs and drinking included in their medical history, and when they get their biopsys, they are still, many times, still at stage 0, 1, or 2.
   This first-hand experience of mine, is from observing my fellow Heppers,
at the Hep C Support Group I attend~
   I have also observer many people who have stage 3 or 4, after having Hep for 30~40 yrs. It just really varies, according to a persons' individual immune system. Ifour imune systems fight the virus continually, then inflammation/scar tissue ensues, eventually becoming cirrhosis.
   If our immune-systems are NOT bothered by the Hep C virus, then it lives peacefully within our livers, and the individual will not experience inflammation/scar tissue.
   But after 20 yrs, liver cancer can come around, so keep getting those labs done, I'd say every 6 months after age 50 yrs,instead of just the labs at a yearly physical- word