Gracie’s Story

Her diagnosis was a ‘worry’ for Gracie, who says that while the ‘relationship didn’t last very long […] the hep C did’. She thinks that she acquired hepatitis C in 1979 when she ‘shared needles twice at university when experimenting with heroin.’ Gracie told her mother about the diagnosis but her mother was unsure how to respond: ‘I remember telling my mum that I had hep C, and she said, “Oh! Where did you get that?” and I said, “Sharing needles,” and she went, “Oh! That’s nice.” She’s a poor old love, didn’t know what to say.’

In the late 1990s Gracie started a series of tests, including tests for her liver health. These indicated that the health of her liver was worsening. As she recalls, ‘They did a biopsy and they said there was some scarring [on my liver], just mild scarring. Then the next time I did a biopsy, the scarring was a medium. Then they started saying that “It looks like the older you get, the more your liver deteriorates.”’

During this period Gracie was teaching at a secondary school. She remembers being very aware of her blood, given the nature of her work: ‘I taught upholstery, which involves staples, sharp objects […] and knives and scissors and needles. So, you know, there’s a bit of bleeding that goes on […] I just told everyone, “I’ve got hep C. I’ve had it for 20 years. Don’t get my blood on your blood. So, if you’re bleeding, put a Band-Aid on. If I’m bleeding or if you notice I’m bleeding, because sometimes I don’t notice, tell me.”’

Given the declining health of her liver, Gracie started to investigate treatment options. She remembers she was advised that the interferon-based treatments available at the time would be highly unpleasant and unlikely to cure her: ‘I’m pretty sure they said [I had a] 5% [chance of success]. It was some pathetic amount, anyway, for a year of hell, and I just thought, “No, that’s not going to work. I’ll just wait and see what else turns up.”’

Gracie recalls receiving a call from her specialist while on holiday in Queensland. The specialist told her about a clinical trial of the new treatments that was starting soon in Melbourne. She remembers ‘racing’ back to Melbourne to participate in the trial, which resulted in cure. As she explains, ‘You had to take […] one pill a day for six weeks. The first week I went in, they took a test and they said, “There’s still, like, 5% viral load.” The second test had no viral load and it stayed [at] nil for the rest of the time. I’m thinking, “Holy hell! You don’t even need to take this for six weeks. Two weeks and it’s done.”’

While Grace describes feeling ‘really fortunate’ that she was able to be cured of hepatitis C, it didn’t affect her daily life significantly. She explains that being ‘An old lady […] there’s nothing I really want to do that hep C [stops]. If I was a young woman and sexually active, this would’ve been a massive improvement in my life, but I’m not, I don’t care, and everything’s cool.’