TeleMed with Dr. Rodriguez from U of U

I had been in communication with the MA for Dr. Rodriguez, one of the Hepatologists at the University of Utah. She scheduled a TeleMed appointment with Dr. Rodriguez for April 13th. Even though I had just had labs drawn on April 1st, he wanted updated labs for our appointment. So, I went and had more labs drawn on Friday, April 10th, so he could have them for the following Monday when I talked to him on the phone for the first time. 

Monday, April 13th, 2020

I thought it was just going to be a phone call from Dr. Rodriguez, but I got a secure text message link to a video chat. (Good thing I had actually gotten ready the day). He did a brief summary of everything we did in Utah and why we did some tests, etc., which was nice because we really just kind of went with the flow and didn't know why I had some things done. 

The surprise that he brought up that was a first for me, was that he stated that after I had left, one of the tests they sent out for the day I checked out was to test for Hepatitis E. I guess when they did all the hepatitis panels in Nampa/Meridian, the "normal" one is to only test for Hep A, B, and C. When he found out I hadn't been tested for Hep E or HEV, he ordered that test. Turns out, I was positive. Now, if you are Googling Hep E... it sounds disgusting. My first thought was, "Did I not wash my hands enough?", "How did I drink contaminated water?", or "Who could have given me this?" All of these are valid questions, but we may never find out. The fact is, it's very rare in the US where our water treatment systems usually kill and filter it out. The only way it can be transmitted here then is if someone else has Hep E and is contagious, the go to the bathroom, do not properly wash their hands and then touched something that I ate OR some meat itself was contaminated and wasn't cooked all the way through so the virus didn't get killed before I ate it... I'd like to think it was that one, but how do we ever find out? 

Back to the clinical side of things, Dr. Rodriguez when I asked how I got it simply said, "I don't know" and moved on. He stated that he thinks it was the straw that broke the camel's back. He still thinks I have chronic liver issues, but when I contracted Hep E, it put me over the edge. Most, if not all of my symptoms, are also those of Hep E.

• Mild fever
• Feeling very tired
• Less hunger
• Feeling sick to your stomach
• Throwing up
• Belly pain
• Dark pee
• Light-colored poop
• Skin rash or itching
• Joint pain
• Yellowish skin or eyes

So that is one step closer to possibly an answer (maybe?). I'm not sure it's one that I really like, but the symptoms don't last forever and you are only contagious for a while. It doesn't sound there are too many lifelong complications with Hep E on its own. Unfortunately, I have acute liver failure so I still have to figure out how to manage that, but we will take it one step at a time. 

Something else kind of interesting that Dr. Rodriguez mentioned is that there was a Pathology Conference happening next week and he was going to be bringing up my case and getting more eyes on it. Now I really feel like I'm on an episode of House! We'll see what he says the next time we talk.