Comments by guesswhat - Las Vegas Sun

Comments by user: guesswhat

Posted on: State's epidemiologist speaks out on health scare

I was diagnosed with HepC in 2000 and have long suspected a surgical procedure that I had in 1982 as it was common at the time to "sterilize needles in alcohol"(alcohol does not kill HepC)and I jaundiced shortly thereafter. Non specific Hepatitis, thats what they used to call it. Here's the fun part, when I was diagnosed in 2000 and sought medical treatment from a GASTROENTEROLOGIST, he wanted to immediatly start me on interferon treatments(a type of chemo commonly used to treat HepC) I started reaserching, found out my genotype, my viral load, and demanded a liver biopsy. I changed doctors twice and eventually saw a specialist from California. I am one of the lucky ones, I will never get sick from HepC, but had I listened to that first doctor I saw in Henderson, I would have been self injecting expensive, toxic chemicals for a year. He didn't just suggest it,he was insistant. So please, if you get diagnosed, take responsibility for your own health because I found out the hard way that there are doctors out there that are more concerned about the money than your health. And hey, doesn't the doctor that started this viral war own Gastroenterology clinics where newly infected patients would have to go to get that expensive chemo? Things that make ME go hmmmmm!

(Suggest removal) 3/8/08 at 3:35 a.m.