This is Aubrey's mom, Kathy. Aub and I would like to tell her story so that it may help other kids and/or their families who may read this.

Aubrey was born in 1990, she was a twin, and was 2 months early. Both her and her brother, Austin, had severe birth defects. Aub's were with her heart and she survived. Austin was born without kidneys, he didn't.

When Aub was a week old she underwent her first open heart surgery. It was during a transfusion from this that she was infected with HepC. She has had another surgery, did great recovering from that one and we only worried about her heart and her lungs (she has asthma) right up until March of 2000. That was when we got a registered letter saying she was exposed to the virus when she was a week old and the hospital wanted to test her to see if she was infected.

Up until this time we never knew there was such a thing as hepatitis C. In the following months we had a heck of an education. If it wasn't for the people here we would have been basket cases. Aub is in stage 2 liver disease. We have no idea how fast the disease is progressing in her because her 1st biopsy, which was supposed to be a baseline to compare later ones to, showed she was already in stage 2.

She has been a real trooper through all of this, she's taught the rest of us in the family a lot in the way of courage. She's always ready to help someone else. I'm not saying this just because she's my daughter, it's the way she is.

If anyone reading this has a child infected with hepc, and you would like to talk about how you feel, what to expect, or just to vent your frustrations, please feel free to contact us by email.

My addy is k_ogin@yahoo.com and Aub's is aubrey_o_2000@yahoo.com. We will be glad to talk with you, and help if we can.

Aubrey and Kathy Ogin

UPDATE 2/23/2002

Aub began tx in August of 2001, Intron A. At 3 months she was undetectable. Because of neurological side effects we decided to stop tx after 5 months instead of risking permanent damage. The ticks, headaches and dizziness are all gone now, but we found out this week the virus isn't. Aub still wants to fight this dragon, more than ever! She's an inspiration to the family, she's been through so much and never really complains. When the doctor called with the PCR results he asked me what I was going to tell Aub. I told him the truth. After the initial shock wore off, she said she was normal before she knew she had this, she was normal while it was gone for that short while, and she is normal now! Like I said, she's a true inspiration to us.

Love to all, Kathy