Hepatitis C victim scared to be optimistic this week By ALEX HAMILTON HEPATITIS C victim Christine Campbell] has been glued to her TV this week while politicians debate who should pay com- pensation to her and other tainted blood victims, “J’m scared to be op- timistic because I was op- limistic before and I got shot down,”’ said the forty- two-year-old mother. She became infected after a blood transfusion during a pall bladder operation 13 years ago, Campbell is referring to the present compensation package for victims of tainted blood which may be changed after health minis- ters meet today. Campbell was quiet about her illness, speaking out only after the federal and ment was clearly at fault for not using devices to screen blood, since tests were widely available. The government claims the tests weren’t readily ac- cessible before 1986, how- ever olher countries were using the tests as carly as 1968. The compensation pack- age excludes more than 60,000 hepalitis C victims, including’ Campbell and 4,500 other British Colum- bians, who were infected by bad blood prior to 1986. Campbell has written Prime Minister Jean Chretien, calling the pack- age unfair. “Last week [ heard my letter being read in the House of Commons on TV,”’ she said. ‘St was a thrill to hear it because now provincial governments an- I know they've reccived it nounced a $1.1 billion com- and they’re listening to pensation package for ap- me.” proximately 22,000 victims | Campbell was on whe were infected with bad blood between January 1, 1986 and July 1, 1990, In that period, the govern- Troubled river THE SKEENA River system has won the dubjous distine- tion of being one of the top 10 endangered rivers in B.C. For the first time, the Skeena system, including its major tributaries of the Bulkley, Morice and Sustut, bas landed on the Outdoor Recreation Council of B.C.’s annual sick list of rivers, announced April 27, It’s listed as the fifth most endangered river in B.C. “The Skeena has come close in past years,’’ says Mark Angelo, chair of the council’s endangered rivers com- mittee and head of the Fish, Wildlife and Recreation de- partment at the B.C. Institute of Technology. Given some of the increased pressures — increased logging, road building and over-fishing — the decision was made to put it on the list,’’ he says. Individual tributaries of the Skcena have been named to the list in the past — the Babine River is one example. By naming the entire system to the list, Angelo says, the coun- cil is saying the dangers are equaily present in all tibutaries. ‘‘There were exorbitant amounts of nomina- tions for the major tributaries. It was appropriate to view it as a system.” The only other river system to make the list is the Owikeno System, located on the central coast. antidepressants for 13 years because she and her doctors believed she was depressed. She went off the drugs Dr. Tom Strong Registered Psychologist Now Regularly Practicing from Mills Memorial Hospital ® Relationship & Family Therapy ® Full Range of Individual Psychotherapy © Training and Seminars * Brief results oriented ® Chronic pain & illness consultations Ask chout the couples consultations book sppok ploose oft The casis for psychafagical svieaecinovety 1 _ 8 O0.456-7733 to Thursday 1pm, -4 p.m, Saturday & Sunday 10 am. - 4 p.m. Enderby, B.C. (250) 838-7867 or (250) 546-3088 Day Weekend Friday, May 15 & Saturday, May 16 It is May Long Weekend and the start of Holiday Season. Party with us over the long weekend or you could always go camping in the rain. Hanky Panky’s Located in the Inn of the West Christine Campbell after being diagnosed as having Hepatitis C. That’s when the years of nausea, digestion problems and the exhaustion made sense, Massive crilicism over the limited compensation pack- age resulted in pressure on federal health minister All Rock to extend it to all vic- tims. When Campbell recently atmounced she had Hepatitis C, she worried that people in town would shun her and her daughter. “Many people don’t un- derstand the diseasc,’’ she said, ‘'They think it's con- tagious.”’ But so far, Campbell said, her friends in Terrace have been very understanding, People with Hepatitis C fear revealing themselves because they risk alicnation from friends and family and even loss of employment. Often people _belicve Hepatitis C is like AIDS, Hepatitis is an incurable liver disease and it isn’t contagious, The virus attacks the liver and is spread by bload-to- blood contact through trans- fusions, intravenous drug use, body piercing, tatloo- ing, and used needles. There is no evidence the virus can be transmitted by casual contact, ingesting foods, or by coughing or sneezing. Hepatilis C causes many symptoms including ex- treme fatigue, appetite loss, nausea and vomiting, itch- ing and joint pain. In most cases, the virus leads to chronic liver dis- case often requiring liver transplants. However, many people with the virus are able to live symptom-free for years before realizing they have Hepatitis C, There are no medicines, antibialics or vaccines that can be used to cure acule sufferers of the disease. The drug Interferon can alleviate some of the symptoms. Campbell said the virus makes everyday tasks such as walking to the comer store or washing the car, very difficult. “I tre so casily,’’ she said, ‘I’m good for a couple of hours and then I’ve got to take my naps.’” The chronic fatigue, she said, keeps her from being able to hold a job, forcing her to depend on social as- sistance. Nowadays she worries about making car payments and keeping up morlgage payments. Campbell found out she had Hepatitis C after she received a notice a few months ago from the Red Cross urging her to get tested. The letter stated the feder- al government had dis- covered some infected blood could have crossed her path while she was oper- ated on. The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 13, 1998 - All If you've got EMAIL, you can-reach us o* electronically, We waicome letters ; news lips, sports and community: -" contributions, and feadbac types: _standard@kermode.not. 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