s/co ratio

[his3707]

My antibody test came back with a high s/co ratio 22.6  I am waiting for my other blood tests to come back.  what does that mean and is it considered high?  As in bad high?  How high could it go the s/co ratio   thankyou

[his3707]

Are people going to automatically going to think It was me who did this to them?

[his3707]

Also, who should I tell,  What are my responsiblities do I tell everyone that I could have exposed even if I have cleared the virus.  I want my guns loaded and my horse saddled when i get this info so I need know.  My morals tell me to look up everyone.  how do tell someone.  The person who expsosed me might not know it or they might even care.  

[his3707]

I also wanted to comment on the type of behavior I think where I was exposed.  I dont see it very often talked about. That is sharing straws or things to snort drugs.  I only thought you could get it by sharing needles.  I tried iv drugs a couple of times but never shared a need with anyone.  But i dont know what the people were doing that i was snorting drugs with were doing.  it makes me want to puke because I never was an addict or anything I was just having fun.  Wooooo  Now look at the fun Im going to have.  I was a lost person wondering around in the dark just having fun and getting high.  I dont know of other ways to get it.  Anyone have a simular story.  I went to school in the 70's and the worse thing we thought we could get was not much.  Nothing to this magnatude.  I didnt have any quidence or counseling.  I was a charlie brown kid if you know what I mean and definitly got in with the wrong crowed.  I feel ashamed and quilty but I know even though Im forgiven, I still must pay the piper.  Looks like he is here to collect.  

[Marc1955]

The kinds of thoughts that are going through your mind now are familiar to many of us. It is an incredible blow to deal with this news. As Bill says, there's still a good chance you don't have active virus. If you do, you'll find over time that this is a situation that can be dealt with. It is quite rare to pass the virus onto family members. I've lived in a household with my wife and two children for 25 years and none have the virus.

One of the frustrating things about HCV is that you have so much to learn. It's still a fairly recently discovered illness and the state of knowledge is quickly evolving. Even many medical practitioners are not up to date so as a patient you need to learn a lot. But the good news is that you have plenty of time. Nothing is urgent or needs to be taken care of immediately. So take it slow and easy. Treatments are improving constantly. You'll have many options and every expectation that you'll live to see your grandchildren graduate from high school.

[his3707]

Thanks, I am kinda in shock right now about this.  I did have some risky behaviors 30 years ago but I have always been to the doctor on a regular basis and even though I put those behaviors down on all my history sheets no one ever said anything about it.  I had this rough area come up in my mouth and since I smoked I didnt want to blow it off so I went to an oral surgeon.  He said it was Linchen Plannus (sp) and nothing to worry about.  I had an appointment with my regular doctor and just happen to mention it to him and the first thing he says he needs to do is a hep c test.  and the anti bodi comes back pos.  Wow, first I even heard of such a thing.  I am nervous because I have to children and would not want to have unknowingly past this to them.  I am a saved Christian and know where Im going when I die but I don't want my kids growing up without me because of something stupid I did.   I am learning that you can live with this condition fairly well.  Im just upset that no one ever thought to test me.  Im realizing more and more you have to be your own advocate.  glad I quit drinking alcohol several years ago.  I have never had any bad liver function tests.  a couple of high trigliceride tests.  but I am on a statin so you would think they would test for hep c before they put you on those types of drugs.  

[Bill1954]

It really doesn’t matter how strong the sc/o test is; the results that matter are the follow up to the antibody test you’re waiting on. Even *if* the antibody test is a true positive, you still have a 15-40% chance of clearing the virus with your own immune response. The HCV RNA test will provide the definitive results.

Best of luck—

Bill