Transmission Magazine ED04

edition

4

JAn 2010

support

group

come along to our hep c support groups

in 2009

3rd Tuesday of every month

support group 3rd Tuesday of every month Last group for 2009 - 17 November come and hear about

begins march 17 2009 6pm - 8pm*

food supplied

hepatitis c council level 1 - 349 crown st

surry hills

for more info ph: 1800 803 990 suppprt group oct 09.indd 1

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a quick guide to

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be our friend on

EDITOR Scott West

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Tim Baxter Kay Bazley Jennifer Daylight Jenny Douglas Conor Durkin Paul Harvey Rebecca Miers Sonam Paljor Ronald Prince Gideon Warhaft

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

www.facebook.com/ transmissionmag

Jennifer Mills www.jenjen.com.au

CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS

AND

Marty Schneider www.martyschneider.com.au

Skye Ogden www.skyeogden.com www.gestaltcomics.com

SPECIAL THANKS Niki Parry SWOP (Sex Workers Outreach Project)

follow us on

Hepatitis NSW is an independent, community-based, non-profit, membership organisation.

We are funded by the NSW Health Department ph: (02) 9332 1853 fax: (02) 9332 1730

www.twitter.com/ transmissionmag TRANSMISSIONMAG

Hepatitis Helpline ph: 1800 803 990 postal address: PO Box 432

DARLINGHURST NSW 1300 AUSTRALIA

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contents

page 4

We’ll be back...

page 5

Sandra In The City

page 13

page 17

page 22

page 30

a quick guide to

Question & Answer Do I have to pay for hep C treatment?

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Back in may 2010

we will be back in may 2010 To make TRANSMISSION MAGAZINE as good as it can be for all our readers, we will be doing an evaluation in early 2010.

This means we will be trying to find out what you think of the magazine and how we can make it more interesting for you.

If you would like to be involved in the evaluation by telling us what you think, contact us (details below) we would love to hear your thoughts and ideas.

sms: 0404 440 103 ph: 1800 803 990

transmission@hep.org.au

Our next edition will be May 2010 until then become our facebook friend and follow us on twitter to tell us what you think of the magazine and how it can be better!

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The liver is the biggest organ in your body and has over 500 jobs to do. one of those jobs is to break down alcohol so that is safer for your body.

90 -98%

About of alcohol that you drink is broken down (processed) in your liver.

The more alcohol that you drink, the longer it takes for your liver to break it down. on average it takes the body 1 hour to process 1 standard drink.

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A standard drink contains 10 grams of pure alcohol. these days, drink sizes are often more than one standard drink.

The label on an alcoholic drink tells you the number of standard drinks it has.

1 Standard drink =

285 m l beer (full strength)

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100 ml wine

30 ml spirits

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hep C is a virus that can cause your liver to become inflamed or swollen.

Drinking too much alcohol can also make your liver inflamed or swollen.

if you have hep c, drinking alcohol may increase damage to your liver

If you have hep C and drink alcohol, your risk of developing liver damage is higher.

The best thing to keep your liver healthy is to stop drinking alcohol or to really cut down the amount of alcohol you drink.

If you want to have hep C treatment, your doctor might recommend that you don’t drink alcohol at all.

This may increase your chances of treatment working for you.

If you drink alcohol while on hep C treatment the treatment might not work as well.

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There is no level of drinking alcohol that can be completely ‘safe’ or ‘no risk’ To reduce the risk of long term damage from drinking alcohol, the Australian Government guidelines say... men and women should not drink more than two (2) standard drinks per day if on any occasion, you do drink over this limit, you should not drink more than four (4) standard drinks in a day

Binge drinking means drinking lots of alcohol over a short period of time or drinking continuously over a number of days or weeks.

Binge Drinking can lead to long-term health problems especially with your liver. ve hep C, if you ha your k about l a t d l u tor you sho ith a doc w e s u l or you alcoho t is ok f a h w t u to find o

t info abou for more nd hep C e alcohol a is helplin it t a p e h call the 03 990 PH: 1800 8 TRANSMISSION

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C s i t i t a p he

*

t a dummy o n e ’r u o y w o n k * we

a quick guide to

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23/12/2009 11:01:18 AM

what is

?

Sometimes called ‘combination therapy’, treatment for hepatitis C today is usually a combination of 2 types of drugs

Pegylated Interferon + Ribavirin what is Interferon?

Interferon is a substance that your body makes by itself to help fight off infections like colds and hepatitis.

Your body produces interferons by itself.

But during treatment you take more and stronger interferon to help fight hep C.

Pegylated interferon is a type of interferon that stays in your body longer.

Pegylated interferon is an injection that is taken once per week.

what is Ribavirin?

Ribavirin is a drug that tries to stop the hep C virus reproducing.

Ribavirin is in tablets taken every day during treatment.

used together, these 2 drugs work to fight the hep C virus.

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-

who should really think about having hep c treatment?

People who have serious liver damage caused by their hep C People who have had hep C for a long time (more than 15 years) People who have hep C and:

- have drunk a lot of alcohol in their lifetime

- also have HIV, or hep B or all three

- are overweight or have diabetes

People whose hep C is really causing problems for them in their lives To find out more about any of this, call the Hepatitis Helpline 1800 803 990

before treatment can begin ...

People need to be assessed by a doctor or nurse.

The assessment will be some questions about things like: - mental health issues (any issues now or in the past) - drug & alcohol use - supports (family & friends) - responsibilities like relationships, kids, work - how someone deals with stress & anger

This process is important. It will try and help someone figure out if it is the best time for them to be going through hep C treatment.

It will also help them prepare for the things that could happen during treatment.

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How long does treatment go for?

The time someone needs to be treated for, depends on which genotype of hep C they have.

If you have hep C and want to know what genotype you have, you will need to ask your doctor for a PCR genotype test.

Genotypes 1 and 4 = treatment for

1 year

Genotypes 2 and 3 = treatment for

6 months

treatment =

1 injection per week (Pegylated Interferon)

(48 weeks) (24 weeks)

+ tablets every day (Ribavirin)

Will treatment get rid of hep c?

The success rates of treatment can depend on a number of things like someone’s:

genotype

age

body weight

amount of liver damage

viral load (how much of the virus is in the body)

but current research shows that;

Genotypes 1 and 4 =

50% chance of getting rid of hep C

if someone has genotype 1 and they get treated before they have too much liver damage, they have up to a 60-70% chance of getting rid of hep C

Genotypes 2 and 3 = TRANSMISSION

80% chance of getting rid of hep C

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what side effects can hep c treatment have?

Side effects are something that lots of people worry about.

They can be different for everybody. They are often bad in the first few weeks of treatment but can get better as treatment goes on.

Some common side effects are:

depression weight loss feeling tired skin problems

temporary hair loss mood swings feeling like you have the flu headaches & nausea (vomiting)

Some of these side effects can be managed with help from a doctor.

ew nre-treatment If someone has had hep C treatment before and they didn’t finish it or the treatment didn’t get rid of their hep C ...

new medicare rules mean that they

can have another go at treatment without having to pay lots of money

if you would like to know more about hep c treatment talk to the hepatitis helpline ph: 1800 803 990 (freecall) (freecall from prison too) TRANSMISSION

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at the methadone clinic

James...?

it’s about hep C treatment

Hi, what’s the survey about?

count me out of that one! i don’t wanna go through all that drama again

see ya tommorow.

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drama? you didn’t have a good time on treatment

bloody hell, where do i start?

good time!? well it wasnt my idea of fun

what do you mean?

... a few years ago i went to a rehab

they said it might be a good time for me to get treated for my hep C ... so i did

first i had to have a liver biopsy, that’s when they take a piece of your liver out for testing

Will This hurt?

After they figured out which type of hep C i had, i began treatment and had to have all these injections

maybe!

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wh liv

the drugs they were giving me made me feel like shit. some days i couldn’t even get out of bed ...

my hair started falling out

and i ended up feeling really depressed

i felt like a zombie

pro th

that guy looks how i feel

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when i got out of rehab, i got referred to a liver clinic to continue my hep C treatment

but i knew i wouldn’t go to the clinic.

The treatment was killing me, i didn’t want to keep doing it ...

Hang in there with the treatment

Yeah right!

d so now you know why i don’t want to know about it again!

that sounds pretty full on

I had hep C treatment last year.

some of the side affects were hard to deal with but nothing like you had you were probably one of the lucky ones

i don’t know about lucky but now they have new treatment, which increases the chances of getting rid of hep C it sounds like you had ‘monotherapy’ these days they use ‘combination therapy’

which means what?

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it means they use 2 drugs called interferon & ribavirin instead of just the interferon which you had

yeah tell me about it! and i didn’t have to get a biopsy either. You don’t need them to start treatment anymore

great that’s just what i need, more drugs!

times have changed then hey?

it’s a shame i’ve got one of the bad types of hep C

bad type? what do you mean?

they told me that the type i had was harder to get rid of

oh ok, all i know is that these days the chances of getting rid of hep c with treatment are better than they used to be

you make it sound easy

nah, it wasn’t all easy, but it wasn’t all bad and in the end i got rid of my hep c

i’m spewing, I used up my chance all those years ago.

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I’ve already had a go at treatment if i want to do it again i’ll have to pay heaps of money for it

nah, that’s changed as well

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if you have been on treatment before and you didn’t finish it or it didn’t clear your hep C, medicare will pay for you to do it again

are you serious ?!

would i lie to you Jimmy?

hmmm well it gives me something to think about

see ya later man, this is my train

i’d love to get rid of my hep C

The Hepatitis Helpline is really good for a chat - Give em a buzz

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later that week a zombie movie? wow this could be a sign

hello, hepatitis helpline

where’s that magazine?

is it true i can do treatment if i didn’t finish last time i tried?

yes it is true, medicare have just information information information information changed the rules information information

MSC 2089 Hep C Poster Final v2

24/10/02 4:40 PM

that’s cool. whats this about different genotypes?

Page 1

support

support support support support

support

support

confidential

free free free free

confidential free & confidential confidential confidential

referrals referrals

so i won’t have to pay thousands for the treatment?

referrals referrals referrals

referrals

H EP

referrals

C

9332 1599 FOR SYDNEY CALLERS w w w. h e p

H E L PL INE 18 0F O0R

8 0N3 SW

OTHER

990

CALLERS

atitisc.org.au

no, nothing major like that

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28 23/12/2009 11:01:45 AM

s

well, treatment for genotype 1 & 4 goes for 12 months

and genotype 2 & 3 goes for 6 months

a doctor can give you a test to see which type you have

is it going to work or what?

i can’t tell you that but what i can tell you is, if you stick to your treatment ...

there is a 50 - 80% chance that it will work for you, depending on what type you have

so my mate Tim was right hey? who would have thought! maybe it’s time for another go...

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23/12/2009 11:01:47 AM

Do I have to pay for hep C treatment?

q a

Both medications (pegylated interferon & ribavirin see page 18) are free in Australia if you have a Medicare card

but you have to pay a patient dispensing fee when you pick up the medication from your hospital pharmacy.

The current cost is $5 or $25 per month, depending on whether you are a private or public patient and whether you hold a Healthcare Card or Senior’s Card.

sms: 0404 440 103

ph: 1800 803 990

transmission@hep.org.au

if your question is urgent call the Hepatitis Helpline TRANSMISSION

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ph: 1800 803 990 (freecall) (freecall from prison too) 23/12/2009 11:01:55 AM

available in

N.S.W

if you want to speak to someone who has had hep C treatment and ask them questions about it you can call ...

Hep Connect

SWOP

To organise a time to speak to a volunteer phone

9332 1599 (Sydney) phone: 1800 803

990

1800 990about (Freecall NSW) to find out803 more Hepregional Connect TRANSMISSION

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sms: 0404 440 103 ph: 1800 803 990 transmission@hep.org.au www.facebook.com/TRANSMISSIONMAG

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www.twitter.com/TRANSMISSIONMAG

23/12/2009 11:02:03 AM