(Image credit: life123.com)

By Max Winkelman

 

This week is National Nursing Week (May 7 – May 13). This year there will be a focus on

patients living with Hepatitis C and the nurses helping them. Furthermore, World Hepatitis Day

is coming up on July 28th.

 

Hepatitis C is an infectious disease primarily affecting the liver. In Canada there are almost

250,000 people living with the disease. Unlike Hepatitis B there is no vaccine against it.

 

It can be quite hard to become aware of the fact that you have Hepatitis C. Bob Mitchell, a 57

year old man living with Hepatitis C, contracted it in 1977 through a blood transfusion but only

found out 6 years ago.

 

Mitchell says, “I found out approximately 6 years ago and not knowing anything about it, it took

me very much by surprise. If we [he and his nurse] don’t get it treated then it turns into cirrhosis

or cancer.”

 

Canada instituted universal screenings on blood transfusions as recently as 1990, long after

Mitchell contracted it.

 

Mitchell says, “I stayed working and my company was very supportive. If I was tired I could go

home.”

 

You can’t contract it through regular day to day contact such as hugging or kissing but sharing

personal items such as razors or toothbrushes may lead to contracting the disease.

 

Mitchell is very thankful for the assistance his nurse has provided throughout the whole

process. “Geri [Hirsch] as a nurse practitioner has been great through this whole process.

Whether it’s dealing with the insurance company or calling her with questions at any time, she

just tells me where to be and I go there.”

 

Mitchell says “Geri has been very good with me on the treatment side effects, such as nausea,

weakness, tiredness, loss of appetite and you really have to watch you don’t get dehydrated. She

was very cautious that it doesn’t get my Crohn’s [disease] out of whack.”

 

Mitchell is hoping for government approval for a new round of treatment this June, as his first

round of treatment “didn’t work.”

 

Mitchell says, “I haven’t changed my lifestyle as of yet. I’m determined to beat it and I’m not

going to let it overtake me. So I continue with my lifestyle and my work. I’m not going to let it

get me down.”