early classification

[runsincircles]

I was knowingly exposed to hep b around the same time I contracted hcv, I do not have hep b however.  Before hep c, did they classify all non a hep as b?  Does anybody know what the early classifications were before hep c?  He was born in 1966 and contracted hep b as a child.  Is it possible that he had hep c and they just didn't know about it yet?  I assume I got the hep c either from him or other people we "partied with".  I never used needles but he had so I just assume he had hep c as well.  I just don't understand how I could have one and not the other.

[jules2551]

so your ex acutally died?  i m sorry i confused here.   I am sorry of your loss regardless

[runsincircles]

The hep was only discussed in the very beginning, before we were intimate.  We were never married, which is why it's not on my profile that I'm a widow.
I only say I might not have stayed , because I was ignorant about hep c back then.  To me it was just as scary as AIDS.  However I have no idea what I truly would have done, so I guess what I'm saying is I'm glad I didn't know(if that's actually the case) because he was a huge part of my life and I wouldn't be who I am if I hadn't had him in my life.

[maybe368]

In my opinion, not too much, but that is just my opinion. I think it was Yogi Berra that said "nobody gets outa' here alive". There is a good book called "The End Of Illness", by Agus where he says that cancer is a verb, not a noun. That the body is constantly "cancering", but the immune system usually stops it. He makes a good case and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in their health...Mark

[jules2551]

I am sorry for the loss of your husband!  I had just never seen this on your profile.  Please forgive me for being an A$%!  But not seeing that, which I apologize, what is the difference betwwen cancer and Hep C?

[runsincircles]

Let me clarify for those of you who are sensitive today.  I was 17, he was 32 and I have no idea what decision I would have actually made at that time.  All I'm saying is "if" I had left him I would not have my daughter, and she is my miracle in so many ways.  The age thing was more of an issue than the hep.  Whether I got hep c from or not, I cherish every memory I have of him, and I will always miss him.  

[runsincircles]

YES , he died of cancer when our daughter was only a year old.

[jules2551]

"Of course I say I wouldn't have stayed,"

Would you have stayed if he had cancer?

[runsincircles]

I wouldn't have left him if I had found out later into the relationship.  He told me in the beginning, before we really started dating.  Of course I say I wouldn't have stayed, but we tried not to get involved because of age and there was no stopping it.  It was meant to be.  

[jules2551]

"in sickness and health...till death due as part"

[Mustlovedogs99]

You would have left your husband because if you knew he had Hep C?  I hope that's not what you're saying!

[runsincircles]

Thanks guys!!  I just have to ask his mom if she remembers about when he was tested last.  It just doesn't make sense that I have one without the other.  Maybe it was b all along and he never got tested later in life.  That's just my luck,  I figured b wasn't so bad.  If I knew he had c(?) I would have left him and I wouldn't have my beautiful daughter.  

[maybe368]

In the early days, the late 70s to early 80s, Hep c was called non a- non b. There was no test for it. In 81 or 82 the heptavax (sp?) b vaccine came out. When I was tested for b, I came up positive for b. Well, as it turned out, I was never positive for b, it was c all along. I lived thinking that I dodged a bullet, until the late 90s, when the FD began routinely tested for Hep-c, iwas given the bad news. I am not the only one that this happened to, I heard this same sad tale from other firefighters. On a side note, in today's modern society, blood born diseases are well known and "universal precautions" is known by all, but was not in the vernacular.at the time. Any health care worker at the time was at high risk to contract hep-c. Hope this helps, Mark

[hrsepwrguy]

1960-1970’s
Scientists developed blood tests to identify hepatitis B (1963) and hepatitis A (1973), but many of the blood samples taken for post-transfusion illness tested negative for hepatitis A and hepatitis B.
Given that the mode of transmission (blood transfusion) was the same, scientists classified the unidentified cases as non-A, non-B hepatitis. It is now believed that approximately 90-95% of cases previously classified as non-A, non-B (NA/NB) were actually hepatitis C.

1980-1990’s
In the 1980’s, investigators from the Centers for Disease Control (headed up by Daniel W. Bradley) and Chiron (Michael Houghton) identified the virus. In 1990, blood banks began screening blood donors for hepatitis C, but it wasn’t until 1992 that a blood test was perfected that effectively eliminated HCV from the blood transfusion supply. Now the risk of contracting hepatitis C through a blood transfusion is approximately .01%. Prior to the screening of the blood supply for hepatitis C, approximately 300,000 Americans contracted hepatitis C through blood transfusions or blood products.

http://www.hcvadvocate.org/hepatitis/factsheets_pdf/Brief_History_HCV_2006.pdf