‘SO YOU WILL DIE SOON?’

It’s been exactly a year or so since I last posted on this blog, a thousand apologies for that, I am alive and in perfect health, I have just been involved in to too many things, some of which included ways to make this blog a very informative one that will help spread the harmful nature of Hepatitis b virus and reduce infections to the barest minimum and the greatest off all, the birth of the most beautiful baby ever made, my daughter Zivael.

So a few weeks ago, I was on an online chat with a friend from Senegal regarding my experience with the virus, she was so concerned I was going to die, ‘’you mean you will die soon’’ in her French laced accent, I asked why she thought I was going to die due to the fact that I once had Hepatitis b, ‘all the people I know in Senegal that had it died very shortly after they discovered it’’. I allayed her fears by telling her I have lived five extra years after I was treated for acute hep b infection, and my liver is constantly on the radar as I do a Liver Function Test ( LFT) every six months. I don’t know if she was relieved because as they say only 30% of our conversations are words the other percentage is through gestures and facial contortions and as I couldn’t see her face I assumed she’s happy I am alive.

After that conversation I felt it was essential we spoke about how contracting Hep B is not necessarily a death sentence especially if it’s just at the acute stage. It is worth noting though that there have been cases of people being diagnosed of the disease and dying a few hours later, these we really can’t say what the reasons are at least not until we seek medical explanation. But there have been people diagnosed with chronic hepb who have lived years managing the virus.

Our view is that it could be really be a mental thing, once you are told you have the virus and there’s no cure for it, you instantly begin to think ‘ok so this is death so close than I had ever imagined’. I won’t deny that I didn’t think that way when I was diagnosed as well, I did, but I learnt to focus on one thing which was the fact that I couldn’t die and leave this world without getting married or procreating, I focused so much on this that i had an almost physical description of what my kid looked which miraculously isn’t too far from what my daughter looks like now. That positive thought along with good care and healthy diet kept me alive, of course I never let God out of the equation, God was at the beginning and at the end of everything I thought of then and now.

In subsequent posts we will deal with the power of a positive mind when managing hepatitis b infections by affected patients and their family members. In the mean time stay in good health, maintain a hygienic lifestyle, wash your hands every time and believe in a Living God. Take care