Why I Keep Helping People With Hep C

When I first started writing my Hep C Blog back in 2015 its was about my own personal journey to cure my own Hep C infection and the struggles I went through getting past barriers such as price and finding reliable suppliers of genuine Gilead approved generic Hep C medicines.

Since I have been cured the focus of my Hep C blog has changed and I rarely write about my personal life anymore. I tend to write about other Hep C stuff; stuff about treating Hep C or things related to Hepatitis C, things that will help people who have Hep C to get rid of the virus.

Tonight, for a change, I thought I would share a little about my personal life.

To put my life in perspective, I live in a small village in Tasmania where I have a nice garden and some grandchildren living nearby. I retired down here back in 2007 to spend my time engaged in creative pursuits. I completed my Master’s Degree in History in 2012 and was enjoying spreading my time between my writing, my family, and my community.

Then in 2014 I became very sick and discovered that I had Hep C and liver cirrhosis.

In 2015 I went to India and blogged about my journey to recovery.

Receiving Help From Strangers
One of the important things about that journey was how many people helped me along the way, in particular, Giten in Thailand and then complete strangers in India.

This help I received from strangers had a profound effect on me and I saw how important it is that we all help each other through our difficult times.

In return for the help I received, which literally saved my life, I promised that I would dedicate myself to helping other people with hep C.

Since then I have been involved in spreading the news about affordable hepatitis C medication and helping people to access cheap hepatitis C treatment.

I have been doing that every day since 2015 and I can tell you that sometimes I get very, very tired of the amount of time I spend in front of the computer screen. Each day I answer between 50 and 80 emails or messages from people wanting information about hep C or hep C treatment. I also work in my Facebook groups answering questions about hep C and responding to comments.

But there are other things I would really love to be doing.

Before I started working in the hepatitis C world I was beginning my Ph.D. and also writing books. The last novel I wrote was actually pretty successful, selling over 10,000 copies.

I no longer have time for writing or for my studies and sometimes I wish that I could go back to my Ph.D. or finish that book I was working on back in 2015.

But I swore that oath to myself back in 2015, when I was cured of  hepatitis C, that I would keep helping people get treatment until no-one needed my help anymore.

But sometimes I get tired and I think I would really like to finish writing that book, but then I get an email like the one below that I received today from someone I helped get treatment earlier this year and it reminds me why I keep doing this.

And so I keep doing this thing, helping people get rid of the hepatitis C virus.

Here is the email I got today and I hope by sharing it people will understand why I keep helping people with Hep C to find their cure.

Hi Greg, 
  I just wanted to let you know my test came back undetected. I have 2 weeks left of treatment.  I am so grateful to you from the bottom of my heart. I was so desperate for treatment and I’d lost hope. The pain and fatigue was so bad I thought of taking my own life. Words cannot explain my absolute gratitude. This was truly a miracle, I prayed for guidance and I found you online. Your videos on YouTube is was really helped me to take such a leap of faith. With the virus gone,  a renewed faith in humanity I can now look forward to living. 

                               Highest Regards, J. M. 

Please let me know if I can help in any way, even by just sharing my experience.

And this email reminds me that we climb to heaven on the shoulders of those we have helped and it reminds me that Jesus said: “Even as you do onto the least of these, my brethren, you have done it unto me.”

If you have had hepatitis C and gone through hepatitis C treatment you too can help others by sharing your stories and experiences. Because you have been through the process of having and then curing hep C your insights will be very helpful to others.
 
And so I will keep helping people with Hepatitis C find their cure until there is no-one that needs my help.

Greg’s blog is reprinted with permission, and the views are entirely his.