We just opened this forum up yesterday and could use everyone's help adding content to it ASAP. This is a very serious issue that many of our loved ones and friends are dealing with both inside and outside of the prison system.
The reason I ask for the rush to add info is that in the next week PTO will be getting spidered heavily by Google and a number of other major search engines and indexes. All the content you add will be indexed as well.

Fed Ex, sorry, but I don't understand when you said PTO will be getting spidered.


My friend was just diganosed with Hep C on Dec. 14, 2002. However, the request and blood work was done 2/1/02. The good people in Lancaster, CA prison did not see fit to give us the results until Dec. Right now Ruben is waiting to see the dr. again and hopefully get a biopsy. Not sure if they will give him treatment as he is coming home 12/1/03. I think treatment is for 1 year. There are other members whose loved ones have started treatment.

Great job with the content everyone.

Ompa,
When I say PTO is getting spidered, it means that the search engines send out "spiders" (Little bots/programs?) that go through and index the information on your site so that when people go to Google.com or other search engine, they can type in search terms that will link to relevant sites.
PTO has over 85,000 posts, many of which have quite a bit of information relating to prisoner support, etc. Up until a few days ago, the search engines would not look at all the content (posts/threads/etc) on PTO do to a variety of conflicts.
Now, our archive (http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/archive) will let the spiders soak up all the useful information available here without error, because it is a static .html page in the archive.
So, simply put (at the end of course), most of the pages/posts/topics you see at PTO, will be listed with the serch engines, and that will hopefully allow those that don't know about PTO to find us.
I'm proud we almost have 2000 members now, but I am a greedy, member hungry admin.. We have 2 million people in U.S. prisons.. I won't be happy until we have over 2 million registered family members, friends and others here. ;) Actually, I am very happy with our community now. I just want to reach those that are in need of support, information and assistance and have no idea we exist..

Ompa:

Welcome to our Hep C family.

I was just telling Libra in another post, that I want (first) names of all these Hep C people who are being neglected! We have started this forum to be able to COLLECTIVELY start making some noise on behalf of anyone with Hep C, who is NOT receiving the medical care they need.

Please feel free to share a little more of your story here.

And watch this forum. We are in the process of getting A LOT of info posted, that you and your friend might need to know.

I'm very happy that you are here. Welcome, my dear.

All My Love,
Menolly

Hepatitis C

Hepatitis is a liver disease. There are two kinds of hepatitis – those caused by viruses and those caused by chemicals or drugs. This page will deal only with those caused by viruses.

The liver performs many functions in the body, including processing the body’s nutrients, manufacturing bile to help digest fats, and breaking down potentially toxic (harmful) substances into harmless ones that the body can use or excrete. When the liver is damaged, these functions are impaired to some extent and the potentially toxic substances accumulate. The hepatitis virus reaches the liver through the blood stream, multiplies in the liver cells, and is released into the bloodstream, the bile duct, and feces; in this way, it can be spread to other people.

The accompanying table summarizes the three most common strains of hepatitis: Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C.

Hepatitis may start rapidly (acute) or more slowly (chronic). Acute hepatitis typically makes the affected person feel sick, as if they have the flu, often with loss of appetite and sometimes diarrhea and vomiting. In many cases, it causes a brown discoloration of urine, loss of color in the stools, and a yellow color of the skin and eyes (jaundice). Most affected individuals eventually recover completely. The acute form may last from a few days or weeks to several months.

Chronic hepatitis usually causes no symptoms, or causes only loss of energy and tiredness; most people don’t know that they have it. In some people, chronic hepatitis can gradually damage the liver and, after many years, cause it to fail. The chronic form may last from six months to many years after infection. Since the liver also produces blood clotting factors, some people with chronic hepatitis develop bleeding problems.

Testing

There are a number of blood tests that may be used to diagnose hepatitis. A liver panel contains tests for a number of enzymes produced by the liver. Persistent elevation of the liver enzymes ALT and GGT can indicate damage to liver cells, decreasing the ability of the liver to perform its many functions. There are tests for antibodies against each type of virus that causes hepatitis. Elevated bilirubin levels appear most obviously as yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes, indicating breakdown of liver cells and an inability to process bile.

A liver biopsy, in which a needle is inserted into the liver to withdraw a small amount of cells that are examined under a microscope by a pathologist, is the most definitive way to diagnose the disease. Since this is an invasive procedure requiring skill on the part of the physician performing the biopsy, it is used primarily when other tests are inconclusive, or to determine how much damage to the liver has occurred.

Screening donated blood for the presence of hepatitis virus infection and other communicable diseases has greatly reduced the transmission of infections through this route.