Winnetka, California
Diagnosed with Hep C in 1996

I have hep C, genotype 1b and am getting steadily worse at a fast pace. I was diagnosed in 1996 and I have all of the effects—hepatosplenomegaly (simultaneous enlargement of liver and spleen) and possible cirrhosis with up to 18cm enlargements of liver and spleen. I took quercetin (a plant pigment) in buckwheat tea, which reduced the enlargements to 10cm and reduced my viral load to zero.

We need to find out how can we pay out-of-pocket at a reasonable cost for sofosbuvir and ledipasvir to get a 100% cure rate. There are a lot of poor people with this disease who are dying. Please help.

What three adjectives best describe you?
Kind, truthful, studious

What is your greatest achievement?
I won first place in a writing championship.

What is your greatest regret?
Not being able to save my boyfriend from a heroin overdose

What keeps you up at night?
My dog or a movie

If you could change one thing about living with viral hepatitis, what would it be?
To not have the condition at all

What is the best advice you ever received?
Stay sober

What drives you to do what you do?
My car

What is your motto?
Just be

If you had to evacuate your house immediately, what is the one thing you would grab on the way out?
My dog

If you could be any animal, what would you be? And why?
A bird—for the freedom