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It's a great day
in Texas! I am new to this room and would like to introduce
myself and share my blessings with you today. I was an alcoholic/addict,
iv drug user for many years. I had a baby @ 17 & gave
him up for adoption. I began to drink/drug and basically screw
up my life for 18 years. After hitting my "bottom"
I decided to get clean & sober. My son's 18th birthday
was August 1st, 2000, & I decided that I would attend
my 1st AA mtg. to get help, as a b-day present to him, even
though I didn't know where he was & hadn't seen him since
birth. Well, my last day to drink/use was July 27th, 2000,
and my 1st AA mtg. was August 1st, 2000. I met my (now) husband
@ AA in Oct. 2000, and @ 100 days sober my phone rang &
it was my son! He had been looking for me & found me!
I met him & his parents and I couldn't have asked for
better people to raise him! I got to attend his high school
graduation & he gave me away @ our wedding April, 2001.
In fact, his adopted father is a minister & performed
the ceremony! It was beautiful!! By the way, my husband is
also clean & sober. Anywho...The first week of June, 2000,
I went to the dr. for my yearly physical & she found,
you guessed it, hepc! Well, 2 weeks later, June 26th, my husband
was on his way to pick me up @ work to take me for ultrasound
on my liver & he was hit head-on by a truck & almost
killed. I got to the site of the wreck as they were cutting
him out of his pickup & putting him on air flight to the
hospital. He was in neuro critical care for 4 days w/ serious
injuries. Carotid artery severed in neck, amputation of end
of thumb, closed head injury, ect...Anyway...I work at a nursing
home as a recreational therapist, so I took him to work with
me every day for over 6 months while he recouped, doing physical
therapy at my job site, ect. During all this, I began my tx
August 2001. I never missed a tx and only missed 11 days of
work for 8 months. I cont. to take my husband to dr., lawyer,
ect. We settled out of court with the insurance company of
the other driver in Jan. 2002 and bought a house, moved, all
that goes with it...Still did not miss tx. Sick as a dog,
by the way...with a husband who refused to admit I was sick
and figured that if we didn't talk about it my hepc would
go away. Well, he finally went back to work March 2, 2002
and I am still on tx. When I started my viral load was greater
than 10 million. In Jan. 2002, it was down to below 600. It
is still below 600 and I am in week 45 of tx with 8 more shots
to go. I am on combination tx, 3 shots a week. God has continued
to carry me through all this & my husband is now coming
around to understanding the disease process & being supportive.
My job has been great to me, I have been under the FMLA, with
no retribution for missed work time here & there. I am
a geno 2b, 37 years old, ast & alt way out of range when
first diagnosed...now @ 13 & 20 or so. My dr. is confident
that I will remain undetectable and God is continuing to keep
me and help me every day. I just want everyone out there to
know that even when it looks like there is no hope and the
road is too long and hard, just remember my story & know
that YOU CAN DO IT...NO MATTER WHAT!!!! I would love to hear
from you all...my e-mail address is cara.hackett2@verizon.net
Also, caradel@yahoo.com.
Please keep me in your prayers, and my husband as well. He
was also an iv drug user for years and spent many, many years
in prison. So, the chances of him having hepc are greater
than not. So far, he has not been tested & doesn't want
to be. He seems to be in decent general good health, but we
never know, do we? Take care everyone & God Bless You
ALL!!!!
Cara
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