Death and Hepatitis

[brawburd]

If a person is diagnosed with Hepatitis, should the coffin be closed? Or does the family have a choice?

[keltik]

my mother currently has hepatitis c. so far lifes been going really ****** for her, but transplant is an option. and a good one at that. if the disease is caught early enough then it can be treated with strong drugs. The latest figure published by the New Zealand Liver Transplant unit show a 98% chance of surviving the op, a 85% chance of survivin for 2 years after and 75% chance of making it for more than 5 years. Of course im assuming youre talkingn about Hep C, Hep A and B are easily cured so no worries.

[Yinzer]

I know absolutely nothing about hep A or B but I was diagnosed with hep c 3 years ago. I am only now about to start interferon treatment (which my doctor likened to chemotherapy for cancer patients) and up until now have had no bad symptoms. It all deprnds on the persons "viral load", the genotype (hep C 1, hep c 3a, etc) adn the person. women fight it better than men. And the younger the better. Some people even fight it off completely on their own while others like my cousin's friend might notice they're kinda yellow today then die a week later. Also, hepatitis is a very slowly moving disease so no major changes may happen for years. Some people don't even learn they have it until a routine trip to the doctor's 10 years later. THe most important thing is to get some bloodwork done and analyzed to track the progression. BUt yes, the family and the infected person definitely have a choicee.

[RevShirls]

In the early days of AIDs and hepatitis many funeral directors (in the 1980s) insisted on closing the coffin and having the body in an opaque body bag. I think they were following some kind of guidelines. This has all changed and I haven't been aware of this for years now. I remember back in the 1980s I was conducting the funeral of a young woman who was HIV+. Her teenage sin was heart-broken and desperately wanted to view her body the day before the funeral. The funeral director said it wasn't possible. I had a furious row with them and said that I would be willing to be responsible for the opening of the coffin and removing the body bag. They agreed and further heart-ache was prevented. After this the funeral directors changed their policy and, as I said, I haven't heard of this for years.

[RevShirls]

oops should have said "teenage son" not "teenage sin" lol - I must have sin on the brain.

[keltik]

yup i forgot to add that being diagnosed early is the key, my mother has had the virus for 20 years and only 3 motnhs ago she gained 20kilos in 12 days for some mysterious reason. luckily shes back to a slim 50kilos and is waiting for a suitable donor.

[Yinzer]

Sorry for my ramble, I misunderstood the question.

[dryvanda]

I lost my 37 year old brother to this didease just 14 months ago abd his coffin was closed. I was very upset by this because we were very close and I so dearly would have loved to kiss him goodbye but instead had to say it to a wooden box. I could not get this out of my head so asked why 3 weeks later and was told he was in a double body bag marked highly infectious and the directors insurance did not cover them for that.Personally I do not belive that at all but have to live with it