GET TESTED

The hepatitis c trust's GET TESTED campaign,had it's latest event this week,in the form of a photography exhibition by Boy George ( formerly of Culture club ) displaying pictures of celebrities,Taken by the Boy himself. The subjects were also in attendance,along with many others. The event was also attended & reported by Vouge,bringing a new level of awareness.

The trust has done well in getting public figures on board,in what seems a very difficult field for celebs to show out. The Campaigns aim is to RAISE AWARENESS around the risks & dangers that surround HEPATITIS C and the fact that for a potentially terminal virus it gets relatively poor publicity. People really need to understand,it's not just a decease that spreads within the lower classes & drug abusers. Hepatitis c touches Barons & Earls   as well as binmen & housewives.

The fact that the numbers of infected run into many millions worldwide,coupled with the fact that at least 50% are totally unaware. The virus can lay dormant & even when active,goes about destroying the liver very slowly over many years,before any symptoms become apparent.

         " Hence the nickname " The Silent Killer "

If you have had a blood transfusion anywhere,tattoo, dental or hospital treatment in a 3rd world country injected drugs,shared snorting tube or other tools. Maybe your close to one who has,then you need to GET TESTED & advise them to do likewise. The reality is it could have been in your family for 20yrs. Check out the link below to get the full picture of who what when & Why...

Click this link...GET TESTED
Click to read...Vogue Blog

Alcohol & Tobacco,keeps us busy !

I hate the hipocrisy surrouning Alcohol & cigarettes .

Because the church uses wine in it's service,it makes it acceptable,which in turn gives it respectability.Now the last monopoly still viable in society,after slavery & opium,became outlawed,tobacco & booze is solid state.
How do you think we took the land from African tribes. When we 1st set up shop,along with the Dutch.Historical records tell us how we traded beads & other meanial necessities,then,when some trust was established,brought out the fags & booze,knowing full well how popularly it would be embraced...& it was. The natives traded food then the odd cow,this was the tipping point,as for any native society,cattle are their lifesblood,so little by little,they succumbed, till they had no cattle after trading the last. All that remained was the land they occupied. The tribe in question were named the " Hottentots " ( beleive it or not ).There were other tribes out there that the European invaders had never layed eyes upon,the (Bantu ).They did meet eventually,these were not up for a trade in fact they were one the finest fighting forces ( without guns ) in History,by now they were a fusion of Bantu & became known as the " Zulu ".The rest is History. History therefore shows & tells us our leaders know how to use Alcohol & Tobacco to keep us down...


You can fool some of the people,some of the time...

Peter Rabbit

BOOMSHANKA...Interception !

Very funny and oh so true.The mind games that become a big part of our drug use behavior,will be more and more deviant as we progress up the ladder. When were young,we think it's cool to tread where others fear. Only fools walk where angels fear to tread. Enjoy yourself but don't be a fool. Use drugs if you must,just don't let them use you.

Be Safe,be individual...thats cool

24 Hour Party People

This ones for all you mad heads with the sounds blasting out as you get ready for another night out, hoping for sex if not drugs & definitely some rock n roll. Ah the good old days...Been there, done that, got the tea shirt collapsed veins & perhaps the greatest memento of those halcyon days-a deadly virus, no not HIV, nearly but not quite, no it's HCV (hepatitis c ), not quite as feared & definitely not as publicised. Put it this way it beats HIV in a few ways, but let's put that part aside for now. Let's get down to the nitty gritty...

If your going to get high this weekend then so be it, just be aware of these basic rules you MUST stick to. Share your gear but not your tools or your germs. Snorting using whatever ( rolled up cash or straw) as a tube is one thing but start passing the tube around, well, you might as well be sharing a spike. Your nose is full of tiny blood vessels that get broken when your shoving that tenner up your bugle, which means claret on the dough, the Hepatitis C virus lives for days  outside the body...Get it ? Use your own tube & not a banknote (remember 90% of banknotes have traces of cocaine ) we might know where our cash is going but we don't know where the doughs been, use a straw or similar & keep it privates, right !

For those who have progressed up the league table to shooting up, well what can I say I know were your at but when I was there I didn't have the knowledge to hand that you guys do, like did you know that you can be as careful as you like with your own works (keeping it privates) quite rightly, yet share a spoon or a cup of water & bang, your in it. Sharing spoons or water to inject is as RISKY as sharing a needle.

Oh & just to help you understand something else we back in the day had no idea of  certain facts. People say oh cirrhosis of the liver, were ok, the liver mends itself, Right ?...WRONG. Once infected your liver will start to deteriorate & will no longer be able to mend. This is where there is a little good news, HCV has a treatment in place, it doesn't work for everyone but it does for at least 50%. The SOONER you GET TESTED the better chance you stand of successful treatment.

So use your loaf, don't be a sheep, remember some of these so called friends will try to get you hooked, so they can rinse your gear, they need your cash, as you'll only need a little powder at first so they can cain the rest,  it's nothing personal it's just how it goes down.

I'll post links for useful sites, if your at it, in it or close to one who is, you need advice, help & most of all you need to get tested for such decease. Check out the" What not to Share site ".There's a link on my blog home page, then you'll understand how vulnerable you can be living around such unfortunate souls.

My Story... http://hepatitisandheroin.blogspot.com/p/brief-history.html

I should know, I was one. Once I was lost & now I'm found,

Peace.

Yogourt and Bananas

The end of week one brings you back to the clinic for your 1st set of treatment (tx) blood screens, this will continue every week for the first four weeks of tx, then once a month thereafter. This is so they can monitor your bodies reaction to the drugs & also to see how your doing in general.

My body coped with tx but only just. The effects of the drugs became more apparent with each passing week. Getting to grips with taking tablets 12 hrs apart ( in my case it was 3 x ribavirin 200mg in the AM then 2 more in the PM ), not only having to remember to take them on time, but also, having to eat with, to help them work & ease their toxic effect. Yogurts & Bananas...became the order of the day, washed down with as much water as a body can stand, this also eases the side effects, dry skin, cracked lips & helps to flush out your liver & kidneys. YOU MUST drink plenty of water !!!

My routine started to settle down, I noticed how  tx was effecting my body, the trick is knowing when to rest & when to push your body. I soon learned that in my case Jab day would be followed by a serge of energy that, as it was summer, would push me out into the garden, where I would dig over borders, weed & generally overdo it. Then came the payback, after gardening, would see me with such a temper & totally wiped out, as much as I knew this & would say" right,this time I'm going to slow down", but did I...No, did I Eckers like. I'd find some way to overdo it, be it a walk too far, or carry too much shopping home, it seemed I would always succumb to the Jabs effect.
This part was very hard for my son, as he knew, what was to come each week. I know now he would stay out, working in the libreray at university (it's open 24 hours ) or stay in his room, out of my way, because of my temper after overdoing it.

Then came the Ribo-Rage, in my case it manifested in the form of a tendency toward manic behaviour, I would go on & on & on repeating the same gripe, whatever it was, retelling it, each time as though it were the 1st. I would stand in the doorway of his room & vent, then walk away, as if that was it, only to turn around & return to carry on the story...This I would do over again, then I'd finish & usually go & lie down,( bed also became the new settee, breakfast, lunch, diner & super table all rolled into one ). My son must truly have thought I was going Bananas. He feared the worst, that much I know.

Those first three months pushed my body to it's limit, Having caught flu, along with a shit load of stress from various orgs,( the council & the phone company ) the fact that I was still grieving my Mothers passing, these & more all reflected in my platelet, T cells & other blood counts All reaching their cut off point,( this is when tx is usually stopped ).

I don't know how or why, but when my 3 month results were assessed, I was deemed well enough to continue...So I did.

.Rabbit

The Rabbit



The Fulham Rabbit meets the Hackney Rabbit." I am rabbit, hear me RABBIT#..."

                         

Up To Date And Drug Problems

This blog,alongside info on my other sites may seem a bit back to front & upside down,( should therefore make perfect sense to any space cadets,reading ).This is cause I started it late in my battle with Hepatitis C,so to get things into the correct perspective & really due to the fact I write,freestyle & am momentarily blank on tx anecdotes,this post seems to flow nicely so here it is...

I am currently writing about past events,working my way up to the present day,for reasons that will become obvious.I have described the basic outline of how my story unfolded,from my contracting hepatitis in my teens,being jaundiced,hep c wasn't even thought of then,then being diagnosed Hep c proper many years later,at which point there was no sign of a Tx at all.
My 1st trip to the hospital to get my body's condition assessed & there was still no Tx at that point,but HIV was abound & I think interferon was on the agenda,so things were moving in the right direction.
Then I write about treatments arrival,though people had tried to purge HCV with interferon alone,it was not an option for me at that point,due to my commitment to my son & my mother,both of which I  looked after.
Then with the passing of mother  and  Jnr being more than capable of taking care of himself,I was free to explore the possibility of Tx.After much ado & tests ad infinitum,they gave me the nod to start & so my last post begins the story from that point & will continue till we are all on the same page,poised for the turning of this new leaf,whatever it brings...

All that said,I'm also addressing the facts of drug misuse & the pitfalls therein.For instance I spoke to my old friend yesterday,he told me of a lads night in & how another was building joints,for each of them...Here that's yours,This ones for me.As generous as it seemed,the other would soon betray the real reason behind the facade.When my guy offered him the spliff,as by now there well stoned,the other declined & stated the truth...sorry,no offence but I'd rather not share, hep c & all,you know...no hard feelings ey.No,that's fine my guy replies.They carry on,the other is quaffing the brandy,in very fine style & once happily pissed didn't give two hoots about the saliva on my guys Jay.
What a load of old bollocks,yet it shows us both the fear that still surrounds such virus,juxtapose the fact that once we loose control of our sense,we can endanger ourselves,without a care.

Remember,whether it be Cocaine,Heroin,Amphetamine The sharing of the tools used in such pursuits,Tubes,needles,pipes spoons,even water from the same cup,puts you at RISK.If you must use drugs,then use them safely,oh & by the way,I don't want to be a kill joy,but Just let me remind you how it will unfold for you,this much I guarantee.First you'll lose your money,then your job,then your Partner,then your dignity,then your family,then your freedom & quite possible your LIFE.
I now it's easy for me to sit hear & preach,but let me remind you,that I stood on the edge of that very same abyss,I have the ulcers & virus & collapsed veins to prove it.Just be safe is all I wish,the other thing I know is no amount of preaching,jail terms,pain & anguish will alter your course,only you will know when that time has arrived.

Who am I to judge...       

LET BATTLE COMMENCE

My 1st start date turned out to be the same day as my birth, a good omen maybe ? Listen, forget omens, statistics on treatment & research everyone is different, your end result is the only statistic that matters to you.

My actual start date was approx a year after Mother passed away. So I attended the clinic on a January afternoon. After going through the usual weighing, temperature, heart rate & blood pressure tests, then blood samples,(drawn with some trouble), requiring a Dr to go in either my Femoral (groin ) or jugular (neck) vein. This was to  become the 1st lesson of my treatment protocol at the clinic & took a while for them to get a routine organised, much to my chagrin.

Next I met one of my specialist nurses, we sat & went through the ABC's of it, reminding me of joining a gym...here's your  DVD on how to administer your jab, your AM & PM pill box, a trendy insulated, jab carry case complete with freeze bag, to place inside, A burn bin, A box of Rebetol, 3boxes of Virefieron & a bunch of booklets, my own tx goodie bag.

The nurse watched me do my 1st jab at around 4pm.They had me hang around for a while, in case of any adverse reaction...there was none. So I signed on the dotted line & that was it.

Arrived home, Cup of coffee, then waited to see how this would go, it was like dropping magic mushrooms for the 1st time, that same sense of expectation, "what was going to happen", ( I must add I hadn't read much about TX or hepatitis c, even, a big MISTAKE ). It started to come upon me late evening, slowly gaining momentum, until I had to take a paracetamol around 2am. No big mystery, the same reaction as a dirty fix or withdrawal symptoms. This may have been my first time on TX but I had been here many, many times before. Whilst I had a rough night, sweating, hot & cold shivering, this was pare for the course for a heroin addict.

The next day found me settling down, yet still out of sorts. I might have been used to such drug induced symptoms, but nothing could have prepared me for what lay ahead. This was to be the steepest learning curve faced so far in my life, in a game you better catch onto very quickly, if you want to be in the fight proper, you can't come unprepared & you can't get a late start. I had come unprepared & started too early. After all mum had only been gone barley a year.

Fact is, by the end of the time spent caring for Mother, circumstances had taken a heavy toll on me & my boy. I was so used to fighting the system,( social services ) & the care assistants, for mistakes made & here was another system that made mistakes. Meaning I'd got another thing to get to grips with, when really you just need to do your TX without worry or stress, ( I laugh now but the one time each month that I knew I'd be stressed, is when visiting the clinic ) along with a reliable, support framework. Of all these I had naught, apart from my loyal, reliable son.

The dye was cast, hold onto your hats we're in for a bumpy ride.


Rabbit.

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