IN THIS ISSUE… - Barnsley Council Online

Dear EditorSaturday 28th April 2012. I am sitting tryingvery hard to control yet another anxietyattack which has been crippling me all week.As I struggle to keep this to myself while myhusband sits opposite, the postman arrives.Through the door comes the Hep C TrustNewsletter. Sometimes I’ll be honest itgoes straight in the bin - no news is goodnews, all that stuff. But today I opened it tofind the article ‘Stigma’.I contracted hep C over 20 years ago after ashort but very costly experiment with drugs.I was diagnosed in 2000 after undergoingIVF treatment which by law you must have atest for hep C for. This of course came backpositive. Ridiculous as it may seem I wastotally shocked. My husband was a hugesupport and still is to this day. Thankfully hewas negative.RECIPE Super Green SmoothieThis will give you a huge vitamin boost for firstthing in the morning and also helps to support thekidneys.Ingredients250ml pressed apple juice (the cloudy sort)A handful of chopped kale2 small heads of curly parsley¼ - ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper (depending onhow spicy you like it)2 rounds of fresh pineapple chopped into cubesInstructionsBlend for five minutes - or until everything hasbecome liquidised and drink immediately.For the next couple of years I can honestlysay I was quite unaffected by the news. Onreflection I realise I was given very poorinformation and to cut a long story shortwas told I could be lucky and it might neverreally affect me much. How wrong was that!I have genotype 1, have had two biopsies,one in 2000 and the other in 2007, whichwere both fine. I had conventional treatmentin 2007 but this was stopped after 12weeks as no major improvement wasshown.Most recently I have had a Fibroscan fromwhich the results were very good. All mybloods have been very encouraging and Ihave no sign of fibrosis at present.As you can see above I really am very luckywith those kinds of results. But since about2004 I’ve experienced symptoms ie verypained feeling in my abdomen and back,lack of energy, hard to concentrate and justrecently very bad anxiety attacks about whatthe future holds.As I mentioned before I have a verysupportive husband but feel it’s so unfair tohim to have to go through this all the time. Ijust keep it to myself. I have a fantasticfamily although none of my own, but for methe ‘stigma’ of it has never been an issuebecause no one knows.Dealing with hep C the way I have hasbrought me extreme personal heartache andI find it very difficult to speak to anyoneabout it.Can I just say reading the article made mefeel as if I was not alone and gave me greatcomfort. So much so that I felt a sense ofrelief for a bit and had a lovely day with myhusband, forgetting about the drudge of hepC for a while.Thank youTHE HEPATITIS C TRUSTSTAFFCharles Gore Chief ExecutiveRachel Bailey Office AdministratorShabana Begum South Asian Project Co-ordinator (p/t)Sarah Coleman Coventry Project OfficerJim Conneely Outreach Officer - Testing VanCatherine Corr Health Day Workshop Manager (p/t)Richard Denny FundraisingGary Hemphill Peer to Peer EducatorLesley Jenkins Volunteer Co-ordinator and Training and DevelopmentManager (p/t)Léann Lavery Communications ManagerSamantha May Head of Support ServicesSusan McRae Training and Development Officer (p/t)Gemma Peppe Campaigns and Events Manager (p/t)Leila Reid Media and Pharmacy Project (p/t)Colin Sim Support Services Officer (p/t)Stuart Smith Website Manager/and secondment to AddactionEmma Ward Project Manager (on maternity leave)Saskia Whitfield Community Projects (p/t)Petra Wright Scottish OfficerCONSULTANCYJane Allen andBecky HugPolicy and Parliamentary Advisor/HCV Action ManagerElaine McElveen Benefits Advice (p/t)SUPPORT GROUPSJayne (JJ) Women’s Group and Living with hep C GroupKeith Mixed GroupHELPLINE VOLUNTEERSAnna Helpline Admin AssistantJohn HelplineMax HelplineSuzanna Helpline19