Maggie H.

Autoimmune Hepatitis

Since 2009, I have been on a personal quest to learn about autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), AIH treatment protocols, AIH research, and learning to live with AIH. Like many patients dealing with chronic illness, I am hesitant to post about my personal autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) journey. But, I feel that I am doing a good public service for others struggling with a new AIH diagnosis or learning to live with AIH. I began writing to help others through that feeling of despair that came with a frightening diagnosis. It is such a good feeling to be able to throw a life-line of support to a fellow AIH patient seeking help and medical information.

I am a huge fan of social media. I began sharing my AIH journey on my blog, Ask Me About AIH, to raise awareness about autoimmune hepatitis, shortly after my AIH diagnosis in 2009. When I was newly diagnosed with AIH, I spent countless hours on the Internet, searching for any AIH news. It was often a fruitless, frustrating effort to find recent medical news about autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), a rare form of liver disease and an autoimmune disease. I created my blog to track AIH news and medical resources for newly diagnosed AIH patients, like me, searching for any AIH news and needing this critical, medical information. I was amazed and alarmed to learn how little my physicians knew about AIH when I was first diagnosed.

Not only have I learned to live with AIH, I am thriving and surviving. Since my 2009 diagnosis, I am still in Stage I. I received good reports from two liver biopsies that showed only mild portal fibrosis. It has not always been an easy journey. Like many autoimmune disease patients, I was diagnosed with a second autoimmune disease, Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, in 2010. I learned to manage two chronic illnesses, and I survived Papillary Thyroid Cancer in 2013.

Ask Me About AIH, my blog, is my way of presenting myself as a source of AIH and autoimmune diseases information from the perspective of an AIH patient. In 2012, I earned a Master of Science degree in Library and Information Studies. My graduate classes gave me a new skill-set, mining the Internet for medical information about autoimmune diseases, including AIH. I am a academic librarian and a AIH patient, eager to share my AIH resources with others. I found comfort and much-needed reassurance by reading the open-access, free medical information about AIH on the American Liver Foundation website. I know you will find comfort, too. Join me on my AIH journey. Namaste, Mags

Visit Maggie’s AIH blog:

https://askmeaboutaih.wordpress.com/about-ask-me-about-aih/