I live in Miami and I was diagnosed with HBV 3 years ago and it was devastating because I didn’t know anything about that disease and also I couldn’t understand if, as the doctor said, I must have acquired it when I was born, no one had ever detected it until I was 65 and only in a casual.
Although I am an inactive carrier, it has been very hard for me because until that moment I considered myself a healthy person without any chronic disease, normal blood pressure without diabetes, etc., only a slightly high cholesterol. For all this I hoped to at least reach 86 years like my mother. I was such a hapy person, all my expectations in life in one way or another had been fulfilled and suddenly everything changed, now I know that I have about a 40% chance of getting liver cancer. I never talk about it with anyone, just the family, I feel that there are many reservations with this disease due to ignorance, luckily my husband does not suffer from it
My greatest hope that the cure for this disease will come soon
While there is no doubt that active chronic HBV is associated with increased rates of HCC, the situation is difference for those with inactive HBV infection.
One of the largest studies looking at this issue (see here) showed that the rates of HCC amongst people with inactive HBV were 0.06% (in non HBV infected controls 0.02%). The elevated risk is there but is slight.
Welcome to the community and thank you for sharing your story. I want to echo @availlant’s comments here: the liver cancer risk is low in inactive HBV, particularly if you keep monitoring your status with 6-monthly blood tests and visiting a doctor. Many of us with HBV on the forum live completely normal and long lives. You are not alone!
Hello @Ofeliafdz Your story is exactly the same as mine. I live in Miami, I have been happily married for 20 years and with two children. all of them healthy and I have never had another partner other than my husband. I recently accidentally discovered that he had chronic HVB, being an inactive carrier. I was still devastated. I don’t know how I got it. I checked with a doctor who sees me every 6 months and he says that despite how difficult it is to bear this news, I am in the best situation with this diagnosis… He calmed me down a lot and calmed my anxiety. So I recommend you see a good doctor who understands how difficult it is personally to be diagnosed with a disease that generates so much taboo. After that you will know that you can lead a healthy and normal life, while the cure comes out.