B Here

Welcome to the B HERE community! We would like to hear from you and learn about your experiences related to hepatitis B.

• How has hepatitis B impacted you and your family?
• How have you spread the word about hepatitis B?

If you have experienced or witnessed the impact of hepatitis B and would like to help inspire and encourage others who may be dealing with hepatitis B, please share your story with us by completing the information requested below. All story submissions will be reviewed and must be approved by Gilead Sciences, Inc. before being posted. Please note that not all stories will be posted and stories may be edited prior to posting. Comments that do not directly relate to hepatitis B will not be posted. Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required to submit the form.

*Your Story

*I acknowledge and agree that, by sending information on the "Share Your Story" section of this website, I am submitting to Gilead Sciences, Inc. personal information that may include information concerning my medical history. I acknowledge and agree that I am not submitting this information to Gilead for its review or comment because Gilead does not provide medical or clinical advice in response to any information submitted on "Share Your Story" or elsewhere on this website. I further acknowledge and agree that information submitted on "Share Your Story" will be viewed by multiple representatives and authorized agents of Gilead.

Please read below about the experiences of other members of the B Here community who have shared their stories.

I was adopted from Korea in early 1978. Until I was 17 years old, I never knew that I was infected with hepatitis B virus. I found out when I donated blood for a local blood drive. For a number of years after I found out, twice annual blood tests showed that even though I had been infected with hepatitis B virus, the virus was not detectable in my blood.

Then suddenly, in my late twenties, my doctor called to tell me that the hepatitis B virus had suddenly become active, that in fact my viral count had increased in six months from undetectable to in the hundreds of millions. Nevertheless, my husband and I were encouraged to start a family and to postpone hepatitis B treatment until we did so.

Our beautiful son was born in 2006. He was closely monitored in-utero, and soon after delivery he received the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine as well as the hepatitis B immunoglobulin. In the months after that, he completed his hepatitis B vaccine series. Thanks to those measures, he is entirely hepatitis B free.

From 2008 to 2010, I participated in a hepatitis B clinical drug trial at a prominent New York hospital. I am happy to say that since month six on the study, my viral loads have been undetectable.

I share my story in part to free myself from the stigma, in part to encourage others in their battle and in the hope that they too will feel comfortable coming out about their status.

There is absolutely nothing to be gained by staying in the shadows. Living your truth isn't always easy, but this campaign will only be won if more people are willing to do so. It's the key to management and prevention. Let's do this for our children.

— Rayna St. Pierre

My father began to feel inner belly aches and pains in 2001. I didn't understand then what was going on — I knew he wasn't feeling well, but I did not think it was anything too serious since he never outwardly complained that much. My mother urged him to go see a doctor. Instead, he turned to Chinese herbal medicine. We went on a trip to Taiwan at the end of the year for Christmas to visit his family, and he was finally convinced by his mother to go to see a doctor there. That is when we discovered he had tumors on his liver from Hepatitis B infection and was going to die from liver cancer. I cannot begin to describe the devastating events that followed that day, and how 7 years later, I can still barely bring myself to think about what has happened. This is one of the few times that I can even relate this story, because I want to let people know how important it is to catch this silent killer early on. PLEASE get tested, encourage your parents to get tested, don't wait until it is too late.

— Candace F.

I am actually coming from a standpoint of already knowing that I have hepatitis B. My mother passed it down to me through birth. I already had an uncle suddenly die from liver cancer. He was in his late 40s when he discovered something was wrong with his liver, and the doctor told him he had liver cancer. There was no warning.

Hepatitis B is definitely a silent killer. You have to really take care of your health. My mother is a vegetarian so she eats pretty healthy. She exercises almost every day, but for some strange reason, her viral counts increased this past year. She's in her late 50s. Thankfully, she is currently seeking help from her healthcare provider to manage her hepatitis B. Hepatitis B has become an even more serious issue in my family since another uncle developed liver cirrhosis. Some people don't take care of their health until it's too late.

— Elicabeta