Hi Mike, I am glad that I grew up in a time when the world wasn't trying to kill each other. Can't imagine the trying times that some of the guy & gals had to endure, just hope my kids don't have to go through any of it either.

Dean.

Hi Mike,

I hope that you will be able to come to terms with your experiences and come out the other side.  I sympathise with you, ending tx seems to bring out a lot of suppressed emotions and feelings.  I find myself crying quietly on the bus for no reason and quite suddenly.  I guess everything is heightened as our nerve endings get used to the withdrawal from these very powerful drugs.  I hope that you feel better in yourself.

Dragonfly xxx

Hi Mike, looks like you`re re-examining that difficult part of your life, which is maybe therapeutic for you.  You  look so thin and pale and it must have been a totally trauma for you, which has maybe scarred you for life  (I think I read that you`ve suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?). When I said I liked the photo I meant what a nice looking young man you were, which still shows in stark contrast to that terrible arid war zone all around you.  Thank goodness  you survived.
Love Jill

Hi Mike, What a sad story that picture tells, now you explain the background to it. So easy for politicians to put innocent kids on the front line, and not pay for the consequences themselves. You must have been forced to grow up so fast, and carried the legacy of HepC with you for all those years. Many years ago, I had a friend in England who was a Vietnam Veteran and he told me some horror stories of what he had witnessed and experienced. I often wished that he hadn't, as the images he conjured up in my imagination have never left me. There is a large Vietnamese population in France, a legacy of the French attempt at colonisation/ occupation, as recalled in the crumbling french plantation in 'Apocalypse Now', one of my favorite films, but perhaps not one of yours. Maybe by finally being free of the HepC you can become the young boy that you once were, and free yourself of those memories once and for all.
Love Annie xxxxx

Hi Annie, yes that's me on the demilitarized zone (DMZ). We were on a special operation named Lan Som 719. We were dug in for approximately 5 months while supporting the Army of the Republic of Viet Nam as they attempted to halt movement by the North Vietnamese in Laos on the "Ho Chi Minh" trail. I was 20 yrs old and in Viet Nam about 6 months when this picture was taken. I was very thin from very poor food, and very little sleep. I had immersion foot and had been sick for about a week, the doctor said it was malaria but I don't believe him. I think it was probably an infection from the immersion foot. I weighed about 137 pounds, which is 80 pounds lighter then I am right now. We had lost several people from our unit by the time this photo was taken. Though I was involved in several fire-fights I left Viet Nam unscathed 1 year and 1 day from the day I landed there.

Hi Steff, I thought it might be an advert, but rather pointless as one doesn't need an insurance company in France for the treatment of HepC, so don't know what he is trying to sell. It is a shame that we don't seem to have any very active forums here for people with HepC, the best support group is SOS Hepatite, but the forum is not used much. French government estimates of numbers infected with HepC in 2006 were 6 percent, and rising, but there is still little public awareness. It is very much a silent epidemic. The treatment is good here, and paid for 100 percent by the state, but only a small percentage of those infected get diagnosed and treated. I am still campaigning for autoclave classB sterilisation to be made obligatory, the only sure way of killing the virus. Still not practiced by most of the dentists in my area.
Mike, what a pretty boy you are, or were! Is that you in Vietnam? You don't look old enough.
Love Annie xxxxx

-- Edited by medusa on Wednesday 22nd of September 2010 07:47:21 AM

I think it's awesome Auguste found us and I think it's even more awesome you're here to help. I think French when spoken is one of the most beautiful languages in the world. I apologize for acting like the ugly american with my comment, I just wanted to stick my big nose where it didn't belong. Please apologize for me and welcome Auguste to our forum. Love -Mike 

Hi Mike, Auguste has a question about french health insurance, it is a good but very complicated system here. I'm pleased to have the opportunity to speak french on this forum, as there don't seem to be any forums like this in France.
Love Annie xxxxx

Uh huh!

Salut Auguste, s'il vous avez l' hepatite c, en principe, vous n'avez pas besoin d'une mutuelle pour couvrir la coute d'un traitment, par-ce que c'est une maladie deja prise en charge à 100 percent par l'Etat. Qui sont vos circonstances? Je peux vous dire que c'est un traitment penible, qui dure entre 24 à 48 semaines, et vous avez le droit, et peut-etre le besoin, d'un pension AAH pour la duration plus 6 mois.
Bon Courage, Annie