A New Catch Word

For those of you who are old enough to remember the program The Jeffersons (from the 1970’s), there was a character named JJ whose favorite expression was, “Dyno-MITE.” Given the huge prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection, I think we need a new expression, “Hepato-CYTE.” It rolls off the tongue. Just imagine, someone is talking to you about an idea that sounds good to you, and you exclaim, “Hepato-CYTE.” Sure, you will sound certifiably off your rocker, but think of the opportunity to educate people about their liver cells. Besides, how often does the word hepatocyte come up in daily conversation?

I think this idea is Hepato-CYTE.

A Dangerous Combo: Fatigue, a Foggy Brain and Being Blonde

Lately I have been experiencing more fatigue and brain fog than usual. It is so tempting to blame it on hep C, but the moment I do, my mind is closed to other possibilities. One thing I know is this – I am less tired after a cup of coffee—if my liver was causing the fatigue, caffeine would not be enough to revitalize me.

When I am feeling sorry for myself, stumbling over my own self-pity, it’s not pretty. My husband spends more time puttering in the garage on those days.  

I did go to the doctor. She ordered a sleep study. Looks like it might not be the hep C after all…

Bilious Rhyming

I have no idea why I think of these things, but I thought it would be fun to list the words that rhyme with liver - that exercise led to this poem. I tried to include all the words on the list. (I took a little liberty with the last word). Can you think of any rhyming words I missed?

Biopsy 

The doctor took a sliver of liver;
it felt like a river
and it made me quiver;
I am not much of a giver
when it comes to my liver;
niver again… 

Hep Romance

Living with hepatitis C is about as romantic as having eczema and gonorrhea. This is not the sort of disease you want to gush about on the first date. On the other hand, it isn’t cool to wait until you are discussing what you are going to have for breakfast. With millions of hep C positive people, you’d think it would be easy to find a partner with it, but that may be not be a good idea. Imagine two people with hepatitis C trying to get anything done? That could be a recipe for disaster.

World Hepatitis Day

Yesterday was officially designated as World Hepatitis Day. I don’t think this attracted as much press as the World Cup, but it did have its moments. A concert held in New York featured the Allman Brothers. Natalie Cole, Phil Lesh, David Crosby and Graham Nash also sang. Gregg Allman, Lesh and Crosby received transplanted livers because of hepatitis C; Cole has hep C and received a kidney transplant. It was an all-star line-up of donated organs.

Given that the greatest prevalence of hepatitis C is among Baby Boomers, I imagine that there were a lot of people at the concert wearing jeans and tie-dye shirts. If I had attended, I think I would have worn liver colors—red and yellow. I would have worn a big hat, like the kind you see at Green Bay Packers games, although instead of cheese, the hat would be a giant liver. We had better wipe out this disease soon before I go off the deep end and start looking ridiculous.  

Cirrhotic Humor

This is my 91^st post to The Hepatitis Comics and it is time to stir the bile a bit. Jokes about the liver are harder to come by—you might say my hepatic humor is getting cirrhotic. I am a little tired of using medical humor when I can’t come up with a good, or at least a jaundiced, joke.  

So, I decided to look at other blogs and websites that feature humorous articles written by people who are struggling with illness or disabilities. The first one that caught my eye is a blog called Smart Ass Cripple - expressing pain through sarcasm since 2010.

It is sarcastic; it is also brilliant, edgy, and funny. Clearly, the blogger is not wallowing in self-pity, although there is nothing wrong with a little unrestrained hopelessness from time-to-time. Anyway, although this is not liver-related, it gives me an idea of what a disease-oriented blog can do if one is clever. Check it out:  http://smartasscripple.blogspot.com/