Fear of The Unknown

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It was somewhere in 2008 when I got diagnosed with hepatitis B infection. At that time I had no idea what kind of infection it was and was so naive. I asked myself so many questions; what happened? What did I do wrong? The new broke me down. I couldn’t focus on my studies as expected. I was told it was my death sentence. That thought alone made me feel terrible.

I was afraid to tell my family about it. My mum who has been toiling hard to see me through my senior high school education was not aware of my condition. I confided in a close friend of mine. His family then took me with them to a different health facility for a confirmatory test, which also was positive.

I was told there was no treatment for it. Even the health professionals said I had very little time to live. I became so disappointed in myself. I wondered how I could ever get over it. That experience made me loose hope in the health facilities.

Few years later, I took it upon myself to find some solutions. So I went online to read about the infection and how to live with it.

It’s been eight years now since i was diagnosed. I never even imagined myself to be alive up till now. I have been alive by grace. It was through my regular online research when i came across the Hepatitis Foundation of Ghana. I became so interested in their work and so decided to contact them. I spoke with the president of the Foundation who assured me of my situation. He told me of the treatment options available. I was greatly motivated by the articles i read on their website.

I became so excited about that assurance. And I felt so bad I was misinformed after my earlier diagnosis. I come from a region in Ghana where the prevalence rates of viral hepatitis is high. So many people within my community have no idea about what the infection, not to talk about the level of misinformation among the health professionals too.

It’s amazing so many people are afraid of the unknown. The news of my initial diagnosis made me terribly afraid. But I believe for us to enjoy a good piece of life, we should seek the right information especially on viral hepatitis from the right and trusted source.