I can still remember the phone call very clearly: “The virus is gone!”

Strictly speaking, I could have been infected at any dentist’s appointment. Or at the barber’s. When they shave your neck with a razor you can easily get a little cut in your skin, and then the virus can get into your body that way. Perhaps someone who’d been there before me was infected and had been shaved with the same razor. That's all it would have taken. The virus can survive for a long time outside the body. In dried blood, for example, it can survive for up to 30 hours at room temperature.

Or perhaps I got infected during my student job doing the laundry at the university hospital. I was touching bloody sheets from the operations and wards with my bare hands every day. The virus could have got in through a small injury, like a torn cuticle.

We didn’t wear gloves back then. Nobody knew about the virus. It was only discovered later, when it was found that people with HIV often also had a viral liver infection. Both viruses are passed on through blood, through wounds when sharing needles, or through unprotected sex.

I can remember suddenly having a high fever for a few weeks shortly after working at the hospital. It was like having the flu. Perhaps that's when I got infected.

The only unusual thing was that certain liver-related levels were slightly higher than normal in a blood test I had by chance not long after. But nobody kept an eye on that afterwards. The sneaky thing about hepatitis is that your body is only slightly affected and you don’t have any noticeable symptoms. It’s often a “silent” infection.

Fatigue and exhaustion came along later, but I just used to ignore it. As long as I had something to do, was at my desk or giving presentations to customers, I put it out of my mind. But I noticed that I generally had less energy. I wrongly put that down to stress at work.

What also troubled me after the diagnosis was the thought that I might have unknowingly infected other people. I’ve been happily married for over 40 years, but luckily I hadn’t infected my wife. The risk is pretty low with unprotected sex. The virus can only be transmitted if you both have a wound and your blood comes into contact. My two children were also tested and, to my great relief, were both fine too.

After I’d found out that I was infected with the hepatitis C virus and that it was still in my blood, we took some steps to make sure I didn’t infect anyone. Things like me always using my own sink in the bathroom, in case I cut myself when shaving and the virus stayed in the sink.

And to protect my wife, we started always using condoms when we had sex. I think that’s absolutely essential in a relationship if you’re infected.

I was always very careful with injuries at home, and never wanted my wife to dress my wounds or anything. Like when I bashed my head on some scaffolding when I was going out of the front door. The blood came pouring out. But there was no way I wanted my wife to touch me, so I dressed the wound myself as best I could. I told all of my friends so they knew to protect themselves if I happened to bleed.

After the diagnosis, I was referred to a specialist who was experienced in treating hepatitis C. I had various examinations and a liver biopsy, and was then given injections of the medication alpha-interferon three times a week in the evening. It was absolute torture. I couldn’t sleep at all on the nights after having the injections. I had fever and the shivers. I felt dreadful. And I lost my appetite.

The hope was that it would get the virus out of my body. But that didn't happen. After three months, the amount of the virus in my blood still hadn’t gone down and the high liver-related levels hadn’t changed. So we stopped the treatment.

A few years later, a new type of interferon was developed that was released more slowly in the body, only had to be injected once a week and – most importantly – had fewer side effects. And the medication was also combined with ribavirin, which kills viruses. Even though I lost 20 kilos because I had lost my appetite, it was successful: After a year, there was no longer any trace of the virus in my blood!

But it was short-lived. Three months after I stopped the treatment, the liver-related levels in my blood skyrocketed again. It was obvious that the virus was still there and that the hepatitis C was still active and had now become chronic.

I was very frustrated. There were no other treatment options at the time. The only option was to have regular check-ups and wait for a new treatment that might help more.

Nine years ago, I was referred to a professor who was testing new medications on patients as part of studies. The new medications were called direct-acting antivirals. I was on the waiting list and was due to be one of the first people to be treated as soon as the medications were approved.

The treatment started eight months later. It was a combination of two new active ingredients called sofosbuvir and simeprevir – one tablet of each.

I was very skeptical at first because I thought I'd have side effects like with the interferons, but there weren’t any. I felt fine, the treatment started working quickly and was effective: There was no longer any trace of the virus after just one month!

I was given the medication for three months in total. The critical phase was after I stopped taking it. We were on tenterhooks for three months. I can still remember the phone call very clearly: My wife and I were sat having breakfast when the phone rang with the message: “The virus is gone!” It was a very liberating moment – a turning point.

My wife and I had a glass of champagne that evening to celebrate. But it was the only sip of alcohol that I’ve had in the last 20 years. I'm very strict about that. I don’t want to put any unnecessary strain on my liver and risk my health.

My euphoria was dampened somewhat because although the virus was gone, liver damage was still possible and cirrhosis could develop or get worse. There was still a risk of liver cancer, too.

And what do you know, a few years later signs of liver damage showed up. I had blood in my stool, and after a gastroscopy I was told that I had varicose veins along my food pipe – a result of the early stages of liver cirrhosis. Five years ago, I started to develop ascites, which is a build-up of fluid in the abdomen, and a sign that the cirrhosis has gotten worse. I lost a lot of weight and only weighed 56 kilos.

Two years ago, a tumor was found in my liver during an ultrasound scan. I then had an MRI scan and got a phone call afterwards: “Go straight to the oncology department, we think you have liver cancer.” It was a shock. But they were able to completely cut the tumor out of the affected part of the liver and found that it was indeed cancer. I was lucky that it was spotted and removed in time.

So I'm one of those people who developed liver cancer despite successful hepatitis C treatment that had got rid of the virus for good. The cancer was a result of the liver cirrhosis.

My family’s support has been very helpful, my wife carries a huge load. But a lot of things have changed in everyday life. I can still take good care of myself, but I find the extreme physical weakness distressing. And that also affects my mental health. I often have mood swings. It’s not unusual for me to be sat there quite happily, and then all of a sudden be in floods of tears.

Of course I don’t drink alcohol anymore. And I have to make sure I eat often throughout the day so that the gaps between meals aren’t too long. But it’s incredibly difficult to stick to those 7 or 8 meals a day. Having to eat every three hours takes up a lot of space in your life. That does end up affecting your quality of life too.

The information I got from the liver disease support group really helped me. And above all, I saw that I’m not the only person out there who has had this infection. Unfortunately, I’m not one of the lucky ones who have peace after a successfully treated infection. Instead, I’m one of those who has to struggle with the long-term effects.

My advice to others who get the diagnosis would definitely be to take the disease seriously. That means sticking strictly to the medication plan, going to all doctor’s appointments, and avoiding everything that might strain or damage your liver. That includes not smoking and no alcohol. Your life expectancy and the health of your liver really depend on that.

A lot of people don’t know that you can get tested for hepatitis C for free at your local health department (Gesundheitsamt) and other places in Germany. That's the only way you can find out if you’ve been infected – for instance, through unprotected sex, sharing equipment for taking drugs, or through a blood transfusion in the past.

Because the sneaky thing is, you often don’t notice hepatitis. It’s a silent infection, so it can be easily overlooked. Although there is no vaccination for hepatitis C, there are very effective medications with a good chance of recovery.