Country star Naomi Judd and my mom unknowingly shared a link

Naomi Judd, the award-winning country singer and one half of “The Judds” duo, recently passed away. The music world was rocked when his daughter, Wynonna Judd, revealed her death was by suicide due to mental illness.

Mental illness isn’t the only life-threatening illness Naomi has faced in her 76th birthday.

Noemie

Naomi Judd was a registered nurse and worked in a hospital setting for years before her success in music. By telling his story, HepMag.com Reports that as a nurse she had numerous needle sticks, and one of those needle sticks gave her the hepatitis C virus. She unknowingly lived with hepatitis C for eight years before that the symptoms only weaken him with nausea, fatigue, loss of appetite and joint pain.

In 1991, Naomi was forced to retire from touring due to liver virus and was given three years to live.

Hep Magazine also reports that Naomi and her team found the doctor who was working on a new treatment for hepatitis C with a drug called interferon alpha. At this stage, it was a long and arduous treatment with a survival rate of less than 50%.

Because Naomi was candid about her liver disease, the story was widely covered in the news.

In 1998, the Chicago-Tribune published an article on how interferon alpha worked for Naomi, not without pain and brutal side effects. Nonetheless, she persevered and established the Naomi Judd Education and Research Fund, providing grants for liver research.

The Chicago-Tribune also says Naomi was able to fully recover from hepatitis C, meaning there was no detection of the virus in her body. However, she was dealing with anxiety and depression from the whole ordeal.

carmel

In 1980, my mother, Carmella, was told she needed a quadruple heart bypass. During the operation, she needed several blood transfusions. At that time, blood was scarce, so people often donated walk-in hospitals and were paid for their blood.

It was an easy way for addicts to earn money. The blood was not analyzed as it is now. Drug use is a way to get hepatitis C, called non-A non-B at the time. Little was known about hepatitis C except that it destroys the liver and can cause liver cancer. Either way, it’s not a pleasant way to pass, and there was no cure.

Ten years later, in 1990, my mother was diagnosed with non-A, non-B hepatitis. We were devastated.

My brother was watching the news and saw a story about Naomi Judd contracting non-A, non-B hepatitis. The news anchor said she was receiving treatment through a new drug protocol called interferon alpha.

That was it for my brother. He called Naomi’s record label in Nashville, was persistent, and eventually got in touch with someone who could help him. All he wanted to know was the name of the doctor who provided this treatment, so that our mother could potentially be saved. It was our only hope for her.

Sure enough, my mother’s hepatologist (doctor who treats liver disease) consulted with Naomi’s doctor, and it was determined that my mother could try interferon alpha. We had hope. It was a 50/50 chance she would survive, but we had to try.

Interferon alpha didn’t work for Carmella. She succumbed to liver disease 4 months later.

However, we are grateful for all that Naomi Judd has done to bring hepatitis C and liver disease to the fore by using her national star platform to do good in the world.

Two strong women and a disease that unknowingly brought them together forever.