Julie’s Story

English

Fourteen years before her husband died, Julie and her husband returned home from Vietnam with a newly adopted 5-month-old daughter, who was shortly after diagnosed with hepatitis B. Julie’s daughter was in and out of the hospital for two years. Although Julie worried, she and her husband kept her daughter’s condition to themselves due to fear of stigmatization and social exclusion. At about age seven, Julie’s daughter started a new treatment, and she began to get better. As Julie’s daughter grew older, eventually graduating from high school, she reached what doctors referred to as a “functional cure.” Prior to her husband’s death, Julie’s husband would take her daughter to her viral load test. After his passing, it was Julie’s responsibility, but she began to worry about who would take care of her daughter after she passed. Thankfully, Julie found support through the Hepatitis B Foundation, which promised to be there for her daughter no matter what happens.

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