Hi, My name is Greg and this blog records my experiences since discovering I was infected with Hepatitis C in August 2014 and what happened as I progressed through the shock of the initial diagnosis to trying to find an effective Hep C treatment. In particular it documents my visit to India to obtain an affordable generic brand of Gilead’s Sofosbuvir. I hope this story will be of some help to you and you are welcome to add a comment if I can be of assistance.

July 2014
In July 2014 my wife and I went for couple of weeks’ holiday in Queensland, having a break from the Tasmanian winter and catching up with friends and family in Queensland and northern New South Wales.

Somewhere along the way to our holiday destination, probably on the flight from Hobart to Brisbane, my wife picked up a very bad dose of the flu and was bedridden for a few days on our arrival at our eldest son’s house. Of course I ended up catching the virus too, not as severely as my wife but I was pretty sick for a couple of days.

August 2014
About mid-August 2014, a couple of weeks after getting home from the holiday, I began to feel strangely fatigued. The fatigue coincided with the colour of my urine becoming noticeably darker and acquiring a rather strong and unpleasant smell. I knew something was not right but did not worry too much until I had a day when I could not raise myself from my bed. Then I started to become concerned. The thing that really got me thinking about going to the doctor was that my morning cup of coffee, a double shot long black, practically sent me to sleep. Something was wrong and I felt it was probably my liver.

Meanwhile my wife, who had started worrying sooner than me, had Googled my symptoms and insisted that I visit our family doctor, which I eventually did.

Our doctor ordered liver tests and when the results came back they showed liver enzyme levels 20 to 50 times higher than they should have been. Another set of tests showed that I was carrying Hepatitis C. virus antibodies and another set of tests showed that I was carrying live Hepatitis C virus. The enzyme levels and symptoms were indicative of acute Hepatitis (recently contracted) rather than chronic (had it for a long time).

Of course all this produced a mental and an emotional shock, a lot of shock; for me and for my wife.

The shock of learning I had Hep C was followed by a lot of questions because I knew next to nothing about Hepatitis C. I turned to Doctor Google and asked things like:

  • How did one catch Hep C?
  • How did one transmit Hep C?
  • Could my wife catch Hep C. from me?
  • Could my children catch Hep C from me?
  • What were the treatments for Hep C.?
  • What were the side effects from the treatments?

On and on; there were so many questions. Thank God for good old Google!!!

However, even as I was Googling and all that new information was churning around in my head, the biggest question, and one that Google could not answer was: How did I contract Hep C?

This entry was originally published on My Hep C Diary. Reprinted with permission.