6 ms·
Using a throwaway for obvious reasons. Like many of you, I'm a young and healthy guy. I haven't taken a sick day in years. Since I'm young and healthy, I didn'
by hep_c_throwaway 7y ago
Using a throwaway for obvious reasons.
Like many of you, I'm a young and healthy guy. I haven't taken a sick day in years. Since I'm young and healthy, I didn't see the need to take an annual physical exam. Scheduling doctor's appointments is such a hassle. I'm sure many of you feel the same.
So when I was diagnosed with Hepatitis C, it came as a complete shock to me. The shock was due to two reasons:
1. I wasn't involved in any of the "high risk" activities associated with Hepatitis C, which are intravenous drug use and tattoos.
2. I regularly went to the doctor's when I was a child, so there was at least 20 blood tests done back then. None of tests caught the Hepatitis C back then.
Since Hepatitis C is a chronic condition for most people, if I didn't catch mine early, it would have been found much later in life when all of the damaged has been done. I only caught my Hepatitis C because I wanted to an elective cosmetic medical procedure. It was my own vanity, plus pure luck, that caught it.
When I was a child, I was covered under the government's and my parents' health care plans. When I entered college, I was enrolled under the mandatory student health care plan. After I entered the work force, I was covered under my employer's health care plan. All this health care was fully paid for, either through tax dollars, or my parent's contributions, or my own contributions, and I stupidly chose not to utilize it, because I was young and healthy.
If you don't want to end up like me, then please heed my advice: all of you are under-utilizing the medical services that you have already paid for. You should research what kind of screening and preventive care is included in the health care plan that you purchased and then take full advantage of them. It's better for you since you live longer. It's better for your insurance company since screening and preventive care is much cheaper than paying for treatments down the road. It's better for your government since they get to collect more tax dollars over your longer lifespan. And it's better for me since I make a living using the software and services that you guys provide.
I can stick around and do a AMA if you guys have any questions for me.
- crobertsbmw 7y agoDid you ever figure out why you got HepC? Did you conclude that you had it from birth, or did you remember that you stepped on a nail while traveling in Vietnam?
- hep_c_throwaway 7y agoYes, I got it from a blood transfusion when I was a child. The Hepatitis C virus wasn't identified until 1989, and blood bank wasn't wide spread until early 1990s, so anyone who received a blood transfusion before then is at risk.
- juskrey 7y agoSo you WERE in the high risk group after all, you can't advice anyone out of the risk group to start using unnecessary medical procedures.
- rpedela 7y agoThey probably didn't realize they were in the high risk group until the diagnosis since the transfusion was so long ago. Even just talking to a doctor about screening tests can still be helpful since they will likely ask "have you ever received a blood transfusion" if you are asking about Hep C.
- carapace 7y ago"Don't take medical advice from strangers on the Internet." is an important rule, but "Get a yearly physical." is hardly controversial or high-risk advice, eh what?
- quaquaqua1 7y agoIt's not controversial, but not many people receive blood tranfusions with hep c in them. For that reason, when I originally read his post, I thought that he contracted it just by walking down the street, seriously
- vo2maxer 7y agoThe annual physical exam as it is currently understood by most patients and performed by many physicians is actually quite controversial. It has become more of a just-in-case tradition with little evidence for its benefits. The best approach is to consult the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and follow its screening recommendations: https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/ https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/
- jjtheblunt 7y agoSo what do they conjecture was the means of contracting it? Excellent write-up, btw, and thanks for it. Totally agree with use-what's-been-paid-for regarding checkups, as it's a win-win all around, for everyone.
- amelius 7y agoIf I tell this to my doc he'll just explain me the risks of preventive screening.
- jki275 7y agoI think the risk of a blood draw has to be just about as close to zero as one can reasonably get.
- Consultant32452 7y agoIt's not the blood draw, it's false positives resulting in unnecessary expensive and frequently invasive procedures done. A quick Google search for too much screening provides many results on the topic.
- jki275 7y agoI think that's hyperbole at best.
- kragen 7y agoTell your hypothetical idiot doctor about the new guidance coming from the CDC and watch how fast he shuts his stupid hypothetical mouth.
- nabnob 7y agoDo you have any theory about how you caught hep-c? What's your experience with treatment? Did your insurance cover it?
- hep_c_throwaway 7y agoI got it from a blood transfusion when I was a child. I got diagnosed back in 2016, and the available treatments back then wasn't great. As an alternative, my doctor signed me up for the clinical trials for the drug now known as Harvoni. I figured that it's a moonshot and didn't pay it any mind. (Having read Stephen King's Firestarter didn't help either.) I also moved to a different city for a job. Months later the drug company called and told me I qualified. The drug trial would have been free and would have cured my hep C, but alas I can't afford to quit my job and fly back to the old city for 3 months. (In hindsight I probably should have.) Around 2018 when generic Harvoni became available from Indian manufacturers, I got serious about curing my hep C once and for all. I found a doctor that's willing to work with foreign-sourced Harvoni and ordered it online for $1300 (all out of pocket). I started the treatment under my doctor's directions and it went smoothly.
- juskrey 7y agoSounds like typical advertisement of modern anxiety and fear dealers. Every medical interaction, including screening and even friendly talk with doctor, has side effects.
- adamsea 7y agoI feel you but let’s not forget that there are simultaneously both “fear doctors” and legitimate sources of anxiety and concern which stem from our present way of life.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- inasio 7y agoI used to do HCV research in British Columbia. Something that might be useful for you if you haven't yet started treatment is to see if you qualify for a settlement. In BC in particular there was a class action lawsuit the compensated people infected from blood products (between 1986 and 1990) [1] [1] https://www.callkleinlawyers.com/class-actions/settled/hepatitis-c-tainted-blood/ https://www.callkleinlawyers.com/class-actions/settled/hepat...