Asking questions & accessing resources as a woman of color with hepatitis C
“I got diagnosed with something that comes with a horrible stigma, with no follow-up, with no information, with no treatment.” - Jessica, Hepatitis C patient
Transcript
It was tough. You know, I got diagnosed with something that comes with the horrible stigma with no follow up,
with no information, with no treatment. [MUSIC PLAYING]
After I received my diagnosis, my doctor shut me out.
My liver wasn't bad enough to get treatment at the time. I'll never forget my doctor saying that.
I did not receive any follow up information. I didn't even understand what the disease was.
All the information I found, I had to research on my own. They're not doing liver biopsies on me. They said they would do it annually to see
if anything has progressed. They kind of shut me down. It was a lot to do with my age.
But I feel like it had more to do with my age and my ethnicity as well.
There shouldn't be a reason why I'm not getting appropriate answers from a physician
as a woman of color. I received my diagnosis in 2011. I did not receive treatment until December 2018.
And finally, someone was able to explain, all you have to do is take a pill a day. And you will be treated.
You will be cured. Your blood will always test positive for hep C, but you will be cured. So I will forever push people to just go get tested.
It starts with getting tested and seeing what the next step is, which is treatment. And it should be accessible to everybody.
hepatitis c
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