Life quality after being diagnosed & life time left, living w/hep c

[tracehut]

Is 5 years really about all survivors have too look forward to even if your feeling alright during those 5 years?
Or what is expected 'life-time expectancy' after being diagnosed & treated?

[HectorSF]

Excellent advice above.

'what is expected 'life-time expectancy' after being diagnosed & treated?'
If your hepatitis C is successfully treated and don't have advanced cirrhosis, your life expectancy is the same as it would be if you hadn't had hepatitis C. That is why people treat the hepatitis. So they can go on and live lives free of the hepatitis C virus.

Good luck to you and your husband!
Hector

[pooh55811]

Welcome to the forum.

I was looking at your profile page and you said your husband has Hep C and is currently being treated and that you think you have Hep C also.

You need to get tested to see if you have Hep C but it would be best to get health insurance BEFORE you get tested.

To answer your questions:

"Is 5 years really about all survivors have too look forward to even if your feeling alright during those 5 years?
Or what is expected 'life-time expectancy' after being diagnosed & treated? "

I am not totally certain what you mean by survivors, but I will try to give you some additional information.

No one can tell you what your life expectancy would be after being diagnosed and treated. People are different. Lifestyles are different. Genetics are different. Some people are diagnosed within a few years of contracting Hep C, whereas most are diagnosed decades after contracting Hep C. Liver damage varies. Some people develop liver damage faster and others may go through life with little liver damage. Therefore there is no way to estimate life expectancy after being diagnosed and treated.  

Most of us on the forum are in our 40s, 50s,and  60s. Many of us, if not most of us, have had Hep C for decades, since the 1970s. We were diagnosed at all different ages. I am 66. I was diagnosed in July 2011. However, I have had Hep C since 1975 or possibly later depending on if I got it from a Gamma Globulin shot or if I got it from occupational exposure. I just finished 48 weeks of treatment. I expect to live a few more decades.

How long a person will live after being diagnosed and treated cannot be determined. However, if a person has little liver damage and few Hep C associated health problems, and is treated successfully, that person has a very good chance of living just as long as anyone else. If a person's liver disease is more advanced but is able to treat successfully, that person also has a good chance to live for many years.

You are 47. If you have Hep C and are successfully treated, you could potentially live into your 80s or even 90s. Your husband could also potentially live into his 80s or 90s.

So, first step is get insurance. Then get tested for Hep C. If you are negative, then you have nothing to worry about. If you are positive, then you need to find a Hepatologist or a GI who is experienced and knowledgeable about Hep C.  

Here's wishing both you and your husband the best of luck.

[ceanothus]

What?! Certainly not! One's life expectancy with untreated Hepatitis C is extremely variable, depending on lots of different factors such as the virulence of your virus, whether you drink alcohol, your health otherwise (are you overweight, do you eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly?), and probably your own genetics. Most people who are newly diagnosed have actually had the virus for 20-25 years. The virus attacks the liver, but does the damage pretty gradually. As the virus attacks the liver cells they are replaced with scar tissue, which doesn't fulfill the necessary functions and also blocks some blood flow. The damage happens very gradually, going through stages 0-4 of fibrosis before finally becoming cirrhosis. People can continue to live a long time with cirrhosis, or they might develop more serious complications and end up needing a liver transplant to survive. No one can predict the outcome with any certainty. I acquired Hepatitis C in 1984 and was diagnosed with cirrhosis around 2004. My liver is still fully functional and I'm currently almost finished with a 48-week long treatment that gives me a 64% chance of a cure. The new drugs that are coming out recently are really raising the odds of getting cured. If you get cured before developing cirrhosis your liver will slowly regenerate itself once the virus is gone and your life expectancy should gradually return to somewhere near what it would have been without the virus. If one already has cirrhosis there is less certainty regarding regeneration, but at least the liver is no longer under attack and has a chance at becoming healthy again, although I think one will continue to carry a higher than normal risk of liver cancer. We get screened regularly to watch for that and catch it early.

You need to be in the care of a good doctor, at least a gastroenterologist, but preferably a hepatologist, get regular exams and blood tests, have 1-2 abdominal ultrasounds per year, have a biopsy at some point to determine exactly how much damage the virus has done to your liver, and then talk to your doctor about what treatment option is best for you. It's a slow disease, but use that to your advantage by getting going quickly on beating it. Best wishes, and let us know how you are doing.