how did you tell people? - Robin

[Guest guest]

Hi Robin

Please dont worry about telling people about your HCV.

I will tell you some very good reasons why:

- It is VERY important to get the HCV awareness out there to the general public.

I keep hearing over and over that 1/2 of the people who are infected, dont know that they are.

THEY COULD BE DYING OR INFECTING OTHERS RIGHT NOW.

Maybe by alerting people they will go get tested.

Robin, this is so very important, and it goes way beyond our own personal fears about stigma.

It may be a matter of life and death for someone.

- The more people that you tell, the bigger a support system you can build.

Those people who heap stigma on you, you may not want in your life.

Its good to know who your friends are, and who you can count on when push comes to shove.

- Telling all the Medical people who deal with you is vital - dentists, doctors, nurses, etc.

These folks may not take the time to check you for infectious diseases when they are treating you.

You dont want them to get infected.

You want to make sure that they take precautions with their tools too, to keep from infecting others too.

- Robin, I am a bleeder. [nail biting, scratching, accidential dings, hemorrhoids, etc]

HCV is transmitted by blood to blood contact.

There is the chance that we can infect others without knowing that we did.

If you tell people, then they can protect themselves, while we are trying to protect them too.

Robin, the stigma issue works both ways.

We stigmatize ourselves because we feel unclean.

Others stigmatize us out of fear of being infected.

Stigma is not a good thing, and we have to end it.

The only way to do that is through education.

Since we know about our disease, it is up to us to help others know.

I, personally, tell everybody I have HCV. I brag about it almost.

I know how very important it is to do so.

If they back away, I say...'see ya. No hard feelings'.

Just come right out and tell people Robin.

Its kinda fun to see how they deal with the knowledge, in a twisted sort of way. LOL :-)

And you may be surprised.

I have met many who said - 'you do? Me too'.

love

don in ks

From: shortbob78 <shortbob78@...>Subject: [ ] how did you tell people? Date: Tuesday, September 28, 2010, 7:41 PM

I was not going to tell anyone that I (might) have HCV until I get the results of my second test to confirm the first (even though I know this one will come back positive,too). But my friend Donna came over, and she is the kind of person you want rooting for you when you have a problem, so I decided to tell her. Before I even got a chance to give her the "one in 12 - have you been tested?" line that I am going to shamelessly steal from Teri, she said, "Oh, yeah? My husband has it, too." Hmmm, okay. So was it you, Teri, who said something to the effect that you probably know people who have this and they just don't talk about it? You're so smart!So my mind has gone to the time in a couple weeks when I am going to have to tell my daughters. What I plan to do is have some stuff printed up for them to read. I am starting to get nervous about this. I don't want anyone to worry

about me...I am not worried about myself...but I want them to learn the facts about this without going into panic mode. Does anyone care to share their experiences telling their loved ones? I would love to hear them.I have been knee deep in family drama the past few days (Mom fell and broke her nose but is okay), so I am way behind in reading posts. But I see that several of you are having a rough time right now. I am so sorry and am sending well wishes to those who are feeling bad as well as those who are feeling great. Even though you were all strangers to me just a few weeks ago, I worry over every one of you every day!Robin ------------------------------------