We Are Not Alone In This Battle

[Magnum]

Some of the famous folks who have or have had Hepatitis C:

Pamela Anderson - actress
Tommy Lee - drummer
Naomi Judd - singer
Allen Ginsberg - poet
David Crosby - singer
Freddy Fender - singer
Steven Tyler - singer
Dusty Hill - singer/bassist (ZZ Top)
Ken Kesey - author (One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest)
Jack Kevorkian - doctor
Evel Knievel - dare devil
Phil Lesh - musician (founder of the Grateful Dead)
Linda Lovelace - porn star
Mickey Mantle - pro baseball player
James Earl Ray - assassin
Ken Watanabe - actor (The Last Samurai)
Rolf Benirschke - pro football player (San Diego Chargers)
“Superstar” Billy Graham - pro wrestler
Christopher Lawford - actor (All My Children)
Natasha Lyonne - actress (American Pie)
Martin Phillipps - singer (The Chills)
Jerry Stahl - screenwriter (Permanent Midnight)
Gene Weingarten - writer (Washington Post)
Check Negron - singer (Three Dog Night)
Larry Hagman - actor (J.R. Ewing)
Laurie Bembenek - Playboy bunny
Willie Dixon - blues singer
Benito Mussolini - dictator

We will win this battle....

Magnum

[hippygem]

Hi Kalio/Forseegood, been ages since I saw you guys posting, nice to see yous back again.  Hope all is well with you both.  
Foresee I contacted Nu-Liver and they are going to give AHCS 25-30% discount if you are interested.

In regards to the Celebs with HCV, Pam Anderson is such a bimbo, cant stand her, its like Chopper Read here in Oz, its as if they are illiterate or just plain drug-F******d.  Its a pity Anita Roddick passed away, she was a fantastic advocate, but her husband carries on with her work in the UK Trust.  We need someone that would jump on the wagon for HCV World-Wide, either infected or not.

To me HIV is worse and with a more stigma attached which over the years has changed.  With more 'media' we may, over time, stop the discrimmination against HCV.

Linda

[Jacob43]

Man, I hear you.  I might have heard of HCV one before being diagnosed

[PegOnPeg]

I'm shocked at the lack of community awareness.  Jeez, I have a friend who has been HIV+ since '84...his drs. just told him that there's no reason why he can't life a long, full life.  So...they've got HIV figured out for the most part.  Let's move on the HCV..get some education & stop the stigma.  It IS time.

[Jacob43]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_with_hepatitis_C#cite_note-6

[pjhep80]

I met Chris Lawford at a signing for his book Symptoms of Withdrawal...

a great guy and one of the only 'known' people with the guts to actively speak out about having it ...

[pjhep80]

you forgot gregg allman

and probably many many famous people out there who

a)  dont know they have it
b)  have it and cleared spontaneously (keith richards claims to be one of these)
c)  have it and are not treating and not telling

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/heprock/index.html

[Forseegood]

I just think that was more about the times and the knowledge of her particular doc...back then (and even sometimes now, when you read some posts here re ignorant docs) many docs thought if you had this and you were symptomatic, that you would be kicking the bucket soon...

but if you weren't symptomatic, you'd be okay...all kinds of misdirected notions...for all we know she had just moderate liver disease, or less...

say what you will about the woman, she is one of the only celebs who have this who has done anything for this community at all....and she's done a lot, relatively speaking....

[Mary4now]

Why would she be dead in 3 months, what the heck was the condition of her liver?

[meki]

ROFLMAO!!!!!!

Youse guys are funny.

And I love each and every silly one of you.

Meki

[FlGuy]

Good to see you again.  When I think of the important people who have hcv, I just look at the names of the people who post here.

[Forseegood]

I think youre doing a variation (though much better) on my "Hey, howa bout those Dolphins?" posts...lol lol....good on you too!

[pitter]

and merry be and la girl, and NY girl,don't wnat to leave any of you great contributors out.

[pitter]

and foreseegood,and susie q and trish, scratchin head, mikesimon.cruelworld, dogsledder,kalio, and everyone else here...i can't pull up all your names as I am fifty something and menopausal! Ha!!
we are the bomb!!!

[Forseegood]

mistake...I meant to say that you guys said she was CURED by combo therapy...

[Forseegood]

My point? not to be argumentative...because really, Naomi Judd is who she is, I wish her well like anybody else, but she's no big figure in my life and not worth arguing about really, it's just that I corrected something you said and then you took issue with that correction, and I guess you still are...hence this discussion....

this is what you said first:
She also received a lot of hatemail.She claimed that her recovery from the virus was due to her alternative treatments and some other hocus pocus.She forgot to say she was on combo.

I just thought, to be fair, I have heard her say, all along, that she attributed her healing to herbs, supps, a positive attitude, etc...but I always heard her say (or read her say) that she was cured by monotherapy, along with the rest of it, I don't think she was trying to mislead anybody, this is what she thinks....

then you guys said she didn't do monotherapy, that she did COMBO therapy....which isn't true, she did not do combo therapy...and I put an article saying so...If someone disputes my point, I just try to provide the best proof I can provide, that's all...hoping youre well....

I

[miked]

Thanks.

Two dogs, three cats at present; one horse in my past.  Hope you're feeling well.

[Forseegood]

Naomi Judd now free of liver disease, her doctor says
Last modified at 9:58 a.m. on Saturday, March 28, 1998

ST. LOUIS (AP) --

Naomi Judd is singing the praises of the St. Louis doctor who she believes cured her liver disease.

Ms. Judd's blood tests currently show no signs of the Hepatitis C virus that ended her singing career and threatened to take her life, Dr. Bruce R. Bacon said Friday.

''This is my new duet partner,'' Ms. Judd, 52, said as she hugged Bacon at a news conference at Saint Louis University Hospital, where Bacon heads the department of gastroenterology and hepatology. She also will speak today at a benefit aimed at raising awareness of liver diseases.

Ms. Judd had been ill for several years when she was diagnosed with Hepatitis C in 1990, a year after the disease was first discovered. She was told at the time that she would likely die within three years.

The affects of the disease -- headaches, flu-like symptoms and fatigue -- forced Ms. Judd to retire from the popular country music duo The Judds, leaving daughter Wynonna to go it alone. At times, the depression from the illness and the diagnosis was overwhelming, she said.

''My husband had to take all the guns out of the house at one point,'' Judd said. ''You try having a headache for 12 years.''

Several prominent doctors said there was nothing that could be done, until Ms. Judd met Bacon through their involvement in the American Liver Foundation. He believed the drug Interferon could halt progression of her disease. The drug works in 7-10 percent of patients, he said.

Ms. Judd took the drug for a year, ending last May. Tests since then continue to show no signs of Hepatitis, though Bacon cautions she won't be considered ''cured'' until years of additional testing continue to show no evidence of the disease.

As far as Ms. Judd is concerned, she's cured. She recalled the moment last May when Bacon called to say blood tests indicated the Hepatitis was gone. Ms. Judd was in a New York City hotel room with her daughter, actress Ashley Judd, at the time.

[Forseegood]

But i hear her interviewed about this, she said she was cured with monotherapy...I'll go get some proof...nice to see you anyway!

[Kalio1]

Judd did mono therapy, then tried all kinds of nutrition and other support therapies, then she did combo therapy and that is how she SVR'd. She turned to alternatives when the first treatment failed but ultimately was cured with the dual terrors, Interferon and RIba.

[Forseegood]

I'm sure...no worries....

[Forseegood]

that very few celebrities will stick their neck out to stump for this disease...with all the hate mail they receive...mainly from *other* people who are infected...

everybody has an opinion about who they think should represent us......if they don't come out, they are hiding and adding to the stigma, if they do come out, they aren't the people who should be representing us...

I've thought of Elizabeth Taylor and how much she did for people with AIDs, she's the first celebrity to get behind that cause and raise tons of money...maybe a celebrity who doesn't have it should do it, but then, of course, they'd hear from all the people who feel we should be represented by a celebrity who DOES have it...sometimes, you can't win for losing....it's tricky....

[Forseegood]

respectfully...As far as Naomi Judd....she does attribute her SVR to supplementation, prayer, etc...but she also did the monotherapy (they didn't have combo back then) of just a lot of interferon (that's all they had back then, with a very low percentage of svr's) and I've heard her talk about monotherapy and how hard it was.....but she's svr....

[dogsledder]

Add Gregg Allman to the list (Allman Bros. band)

[pitter]

and then theres jmjm, isobella, and workin dog, and meki, and lady lauri, and miked, and fretboard, and pitter, and charm, and lady why, and andiamo, and grandma, and debnevada, and willy50, and you know , harrybeads...and all of the rest of the best!!!!!