Las Vegas grandmother shines her light on the darkness of hepatitis

Bonnie Brunson strongly suspects the colonoscopy she received on June 7, 2005, at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada caused the hepatitis C infection she was diagnosed with on Aug. 22 that summer.

The 65-year-old Las Vegas grandmother can’t think of any other way she would have been infected with the blood-borne virus, especially since her blood work for 10 years before that showed no elevations of the liver enzymes.

The date of her colonoscopy is two years earlier than the dates health officials have been focusing on — June 25 and Sept. 21, 2007 — but within the four-year period the center’s staff routinely reused syringes and contaminated vials of anesthesia medication.

Bonnie believes she is the seventh person to have contracted the virus through a routine colonoscopy, although health officials have not confirmed that.

Because the investigation is ongoing, the Southern Nevada Health District’s Stephanie Bethel said, health officials don’t know whether June 7, 2005, is a significant date. She said she’d bring the date to the attention of investigators.

Before Feb. 27, it was a mystery to Bonnie how she could have contracted the disease. Married 44 years to her high school sweetheart, Carl, she’s led a straight life. No sharing of needles for this grandmother.

When health officials announced that 40,000 people who had procedures between March 2004 and Jan. 11 might be infected with hepatitis B, C or HIV, it was a relief to believe she had found the cause of her illness. However, another concern had to be addressed.

"I got tested yesterday for HIV. Naturally, I’m just as anxious as everybody else," she said Friday. "In some respects, it was closure to find out the cause."

Bonnie has no doubts. She has kept detailed records.

"The treatment was pure hell," she said.

Weekly injections of interferon plus daily ribavirin pills.

"It’s just like someone going through chemo. Hair loss, nausea, weight loss, anemia, very severe headaches, no appetite," she said, ticking off her side effects. "Every week there was some complication."

Pre-existing medical problems are exacerbated by the virus, but fortunately she didn’t have any.

Bonnie had no reservations about going through an aggressive treatment.

"It’s a big commitment and I did it. I knew there was a chance it wouldn’t work," she said.

Married, with three children and three grandchildren and a host of friends, Bonnie said her decision to go through the treatment was easy.

"I kept thinking: I have so much to live for. And people live with this for many years."

The treatment lasted a year, and she has absolutely no regrets, and no hesitation about talking about the disease, even though "the stigma is awful."

A nurse herself 25 years ago after moving to Las Vegas in 1979, Bonnie was frank.

"This is life altering. It’s always in your mind that you’re a walking infection, a contagious person. It changes your outlook on life."

But she’s a positive woman. One book she found helpful and wanted to share with others who might want information is "Dr. Melissa Palmer’s Guide to Hepatitis and Liver Disease: What You Need to Know."

Palmer takes the approach: You know what you have; now do something.

Some people with the disease have no interest in talking about it publicly. One of the six infected people told me she didn’t have any interest in contributing to a column.

"What’s the point?" she said, her voice weary.

Bonnie said she’s willing to talk about it publicly, first, because she wants the Southern Nevada Health District to look carefully for infections on the same date as her colonoscopy. Is there anybody else who visited the clinic on June 7, 2005, who now has hepatitis? Could there be a third critical date in the investigation?

"I want to do something," she said, because she’s living proof there is quality of life after hepatitis C contamination.

She couldn’t talk to me the first time I called because she and Carl were taking the grandkids out for pizza.

In the background were the joyous sounds of children’s giggles, just three more of the reasons a rough treatment was worth it for Bonnie Brunson.

Jane Ann Morrison’s column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275.