Earlier this year, Paul Fleming was overjoyed when he received the news that he had cleared hepatitis C (HCV) from his blood. He had lived with the virus since 2010.
Most commonly transmitted through blood, HCV affects the liver and can cause cirrhosis (scarring), with symptoms including skin problems and weight loss, and, if left untreated, can lead to liver failure and cancer.
It was Paul’s second diagnosis with HCV. The first time he was diagnosed with the virus was in 2005. He was lucky because his body cleared it naturally within three months between his first and second test.
“It just happens,” he says. “But if you’re exposed again it doesn’t mean to say that you will clear it again.”
And he wasn’t so fortunate second time around, going on to live with…
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Attitude (Digital) - 1 Issue, October 2017