Hepatitis and Me (Part 3): Who to Tell

Okay, so the jury's in. You have the bad news that you have Hepatitis C. Before you freaked out, you got a second test done and scheduled an appointment with your doctor for more extensive tests.

I've been there and done that. For me the news was that I had six months to live. That was a decade ago. So, as bad as your initial prognosis is, don't start shopping burial plots with checkbook in hand.

Like me, you may outlive the doctor who gave you a death sentence.

After the dust settles a bit, you need to start thinking through who you should and should not tell. Generally, your list should include the people who need to know, the people who shouldn't know and the people who have no damn business knowing.

Among the people who need to know are the people you live with. They need to know because Hep C is usually spread by blood, and they need to watch out for yours.

And it's only fair to let them know because they have decisions to make of their own. One of those decisions is whether they want to be around someone with an infectious disease.

Some people can't handle it. I know, the woman I lived with packed her bags the day I told her I was infected.

I often compare it to having a loaded handgun laying around the house. The gun is a dangerous thing and it should be handled as such. You should make rules and take precautions so that no one gets hurt.

Depending how bad it is, and how you feel about it, you should also think about telling the people you love about the disease. Having a strong support group can be everything.

You may find that the whole thing brings you closer to them - and in itself, that can be the one positive thing about being sick. In my family, we've never been closer - though some of our strangest reunions have been in hospital intensive care wards.

So in its own way, not everything about the disease is so bad. Until you start thinking about the people you shouldn't tell.

You have a contagious, dangerous disease that kills hundreds of people every day. Because of that, a whole lot of people are afraid of you. They're paranoid that you will give them the nasty stuff you have. Because of that, a whole lot of them would really like to see you penned up with dozens of other lepers.

In reality, you're probably of the least danger to them. Because you know you have the disease, you are likely to do things that will prevent spreading it. The really dangerous types are the folks out there - and there are millions of them - who don't know they have it and are accidentally infecting other people.

Personally, if I had it to do over again, I would not tell my boss. Not many people would consider it wildly coincidental that I lost my job the same day I told my supervisor that I had Hep C.

There are laws on the books that are supposed to protect you from being fired for health issues - but only the most stupid boss would fire you for being sick. No, they usually will find some other reason to get rid of you.

If you feel that you have been discriminated against because you are sick, see a lawyer. Sue them into sanity or bankruptcy. This doesn't just apply to your boss, it applies to anyone.

There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is that huge cash settlements handed down by the courts generally cause people to pay attention before making the same mistake again. The other is that there are more law school graduates than there are jobs for lawyers.

So help a lawyer out and help change the system. It's The American Way.

Remember that there is always hope with Hep C. Not everyone who gets the disease gets really sick - and not everyone who gets sick dies. New treatments and technologies are coming up all the time.

Who you tell will generally also depend on how sick you become. The sicker you are, the more people who will need to know or will discover your condition on their own. Try not to hold out from people who can help you, but keep in mind that there are a whole lot of people who will be afraid of you.

It shouldn't be this way, but it is.

E.D. Easley is a former editor and publisher with newspapers and magazines in Europe and America. He lives in Spokane, Wash., where he's undergoing treatment for Hepatitis C.