For a long time, I thought hepatitis C (hep C) was just something I’d have to live with. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

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After years of being in and out of prison, being re-infected multiple times and fighting through all sorts of barriers to access treatment, I’m now cured and stronger than ever.

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I was probably in my early to mid 20s when I first found out I had hep C. Back then, there was nothing around to help. It was just something bad to have.

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People would say, “You’re going to lose 20 years of your life.” It was scary. Then more and more people started talking about it. Treatment with interferon came out, and some of the long-termers in prison were put on it. Some of them were feeling sick. It was really hard on them. They said it was how they imagined having chemo.

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Even though I tried to look after myself, trained, ate well and kept active, by my 30s I started feeling tired all the time. At first, I thought it was just the heat, but then I realised it was probably the hep C.

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I wasn’t given much information about the virus early on. It wasn’t until I was encouraged to do a routine blood test when I came back into prison that I took the first real step towards treatment. When you come in, they ask if you want bloods done. I said, “Yeah, alright. Test for everything.” My results came back positive for hep C. Everything else was fine. They just said, “It can be bad in the long run.”

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When the current DAA tablet treatments became available, everything started to change. In 2017, I found out about the tablets while I was inside. When I got out, I went to my regular doctor. I was rapt. He gave me heaps of insight about the DAA treatment and told me there were barely any side effects for most people, nothing like the old interferon.

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But then I relapsed, started using again, went back to prison and got hep C again. I started getting sharp pains in my liver and kidney area, always tired. I was putting in a lot of request forms for help.

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Then I found support from a familiar face, a nurse who had known me since I was a teenager. She had become one of the hep C nurses. She really cared about people and put me down on the list to get the bloods done and started me on medication. She looked out for me. That made all the difference.

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When I got out again, I went to a clinic at a community corrections centre to get tested and treated for hep C. They told me my liver was inflamed and it would only get worse if I didn’t do something. My liver is doing much better now and my levels have gone down. I used to get pains in my back and liver, and now that’s all settled.

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The people at the clinic were amazing. They explained everything – what can happen, what treatment does and what the end result looks like. They had cultural awareness and mental health awareness. They didn’t pressure me or talk down to me. That means a lot, especially for people who’ve been inside. We don’t really trust anyone. Before community corrections, I didn’t trust anyone.

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It’s all connected, my body, my mind, my energy. Since being treated, I can get up in the morning without feeling broken down.

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It’s amazing what they’re doing, and everyone is so nice. They gave me the option to get rid of something that’d been weighing me down for years.

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These days, I tell other people to go to medical, put in a request and get tested and treated for hep C if you and medical decide that’s right for you. Just go in and get the test done.

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After more than a decade living with hep C, I’m finally free of it and hopeful about what’s next.

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Hep C is curable. Treatment is simple and it works for almost everyone. If you think you might have it, or know you do, put in a request to get a blood test
at medical.

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Get tested. Get treated. It could change your life.

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All the pieces of the puzzle finally came together for me. After treatment, I get up earlier in the morning and I feel like having breakfast – and it’s only getting better from here.

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It’s never too late to get treated. It turned my whole life around.

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Brett