November
2001
Make flyers/phone calls for new hep C'ers who we expect after all the blood donations inspired by Sept. 11.
Interested? Contact us (see box @ lower right)
No meeting -- November 21

Since that is the evening before Thanksgiving, the November meeting is canceled.
We'll see you on December 19.

Meeting Agenda:
6:30 p.m. (sharp) - Silently Sing: I Will Survive
6:35 - 6:45 announcements: Next meeting will be Dec. 19
6:45 - 8:00 internal viral termination
8:00 - 8:30 (or earlier) questions/answers.... 'til we meet again
Upcoming Agendas:


Dec 19 - SCC Classrm 3&4, To Be Announced
(x-mas potluck)
More News

Our Meetings: 3rd Wednesday of every month at SCC (Sutter Cancer Center), 2800 L St (kitty corner across from the 2-story parking structure that is located at 28th & L St. and across L St. from Sutter Hospital)
Contact Us: Phone number: (916) 491-4942
Our Web Site> www.sacmall.net/transplant/hepc.html
Email: dck@innercite.com (include "I Will Survive" in subject line or your message might be delected before being read).

* Time to Renew your subscription to I Will Survive. Members who could not contribute last year want to thank those of you whose paid subscriptions made it possible for them to receive our newsletter. Hopefully, some more of you will be able to provide support for 2001.

If you want to be included on our mailing/emailing list and you can afford to include a check, make it to Eve Cragen, Treasurer I Will Survive, P.O. Bx 2180, Loomis, CA 95650, for:
$24 if you want the Newsletter by U.S. mail
$15 if you get the Newsletter from the website (if you wish, each month we'll email a link to you)
$ 0 if, right now, you can't afford to pay dues. In which case "I Will Survive" will mail monthly Newsletters to you. Please contribute to the "Donations" Box at the meetings as you are able.


From the Sept./Oct. 2001 Hepatitis Magazine:
...Stress influences the immune system and contributes to ...progress of immune based diseases...Yoga, through its deep nurturing of relaxation, decreases stress and thus is a great therapy for those suffering from various conditions...
...Hepatitis asked Blair Justice: "What happens when people write about their pain?" Blair Justice replied: "Writing has measurable advantages if people will do it, but it requires discipline. You must first, in effect, sign up for it--doing it at least five days a week for at least 15 - 20 minutes a day, but the second assignment is that you must be very self-disclosing. And, even when people know that they are the only audience, some people still can't be self-disclosing. Those who are self-disclosers and who really do write about their deepest thoughts and feelings in what their biggest pain in life is are going to get an increased immune competence, and it's likely to occur within 6 months. The immune system doesn't react immediately. You have to track it. But, at the end of 6 months, they are going to have higher immune functioning...They will have fewer visits to a primary care physician. They'll have fewer respiratory ailments--things that people get every year, and they will spend less time away from work because they're sick. And, they will feel better"...
...Given that quality of life is the most important immediate parameter for most patients, it is necessary to devise a commonly recognized tool for measuring outcomes in HCV. Over the past 5 years, a great deal of work has been done in London to create tools for such evaluation. (The result is) a sclae known as QL 100, for the specific purpose of evaluatiing quality of life with regard to HCV symptoms...While some symptoms may seem bizarre to medical doctors, they almost always have a strong resopnance in patients themselves.
...Patients are welcome to use the scale to measure the impact of any prescribed therapy or lifestyle adjustment affecting their quality of life. In this way, there are means of systematically measuring what has or hasn't been done for us. It is also an important tool for patient empowerment, as there are so many individuals out there trying to sell this therapy or that. These tools will allow us to evaluate treatments of HCV and share the results with each other. You can use the QL 100 by logging on to www.objectivemedicine.com. If you would like a copy of the quality of life scales, email> hephandbook@cs.com.
If you have no money or insurance call:
Sacramento Clinical Trials
Schering's Commitment to Care 1-800-521-7157
Infergen's Safety Net Program 1-888-508-8088
Roche's Patient Assistance 1-800-443-6676
Dr. Gish, et al, call: Pacific Hepatology, (916) 443-0503
Dr. Pimstone UCD Med Center, (916) 734-1557
Dr. Rossaro UCD Med Cntr, call: Katherine Suggett (916) 734-8696



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