a revelation. Hmmm.

[Guest guest]

Teri

Is your hair speaking to you?

Your mad, mad, MAD, I tell you. LMAO :-)

Just funnin.

Teri, I feel exactly the same way.

My HCV has given me a 'purpose' in life.

This group is my path, for now.

When we can get past all the shock and awe of having an illness, then we can see the blessings buried inside.

A very wise man 2000 years ago once said, 'all things turn to good'.

Isnt it amazing all the twists and turns that comes with HCV?

wow

Hugs to your son. Happy Birthday.

love

don in ks

It's 2 in the morning here in Chicago, so for everybody reading this, I believe, it's May 22, 2010. Today is my son's 30th birthday. Dirty Thirty as we are calling it! Until about a half hour ago I never made the connection I just made. Not only is today my son's birthday but it's the anniversary of the day that the dragon got me. I had him at 2:29 in the afternoon and around 2:35 they started hanging blood. 5 units of that dag nasty untested stuff. I never made that connection before. I have always said that I should be celebrating and not him because I was the one that was in labor for 52 hours. Tonight when I see my son and have a drink with him to celebrate (not a real one) I'm going to be thankful for not only my son, but that I did get that untested blood. I've just seen a different side of HCV. Having being diagnosed with this after having it for 25 years, going thru the

pain, the grief and the treatment and coming out on the other side has changed me and it's all good. I know that when I am on this group, helping someone that has just found out they have Hep C or is facing treatment or going thru treatment, I am helping someone. I am giving back. I wasn't that kind of person before.. I also wasn't as tolerant or as calm (Yes guys I know I've had my moments of craziness lately, this week... the day I took those blood tests, I know) but my demeanor has changed. I'm not the same person I was before I found out I had the dragon in my liver. It's been in my head for awhile too but that might have been a good thing too. I'm not sure that my life had a purpose before all this. Yes, I was a mother and raised a wonderful child who is now a man and I did a great job with him. He will be the first to tell you that. Well the second, I already told you. Being a

single parent isn't easy and my patience with him was sometimes short. I have all the patience I can handle right now. I have learned to enjoy life. I've learned how easily it can be impaired or taken from me. This side trip with Hep C has done a lot of good for me in my life. It's done a boatload of damage too but that's okay. I can deal with the Fibro... right now, I know how to relax. I never did that before. I can take a day like I did today and not clean the house or pack a box, which I should be doing but I chose not to... I chose to take a mental health day instead. I've played on the computer all day and answered some e-mails on here as well. What I'm getting at is that I think I was given that bad blood for a reason. Everything in my life has taken me to here. Yes I have Fibromyalgia but my Hep C is at undetectable levels. And somehow I feel like I'm giving back and

this is where I needed to get to. Where life means something. It's not about things and money and cars and the size of your house. Its about living your life to the fullest and helping others.

I heard a line on tv the other day. Can't remember the name of the show for the life of me (brain fog) and I've been watching it since it first came on a couple of years ago. It's the Witness Protection show on TBS or TNT. Anyway this is the line... "Everything matters, everything you say, everything you think, everything you do. It all counts." I think the statement is profound. I think it's a way to look at life. I can tell you that I'm looking at life differently now. HCV was a bump in my road that got me here... with you guys. I hope what I do here helps. I think it's what I was meant to do.

Okay, now you can call me a lunatic.

Teri