Felix Cattenburg is ill. He's suffering from Hepatitis C, a relatively unknown disease that affects the liver-functions. He has been diagnosed last summer. Because of this liver-malfunction, Felix needs an operation soon. He is now waiting for a donor, and carries his pager with him everywhere he goes. When a donor is found, he'll be having to undergo a heavy operation.

33-year old Felix maintains a diary on the Internet about his life with this disease and the upcoming transplantation of a new liver. 'I have started the diary because there is very little publicly available information about the Hepatitis. Writing this document not only helps me to cope with the situation, but hopefully inspires other young people who are seriously ill as well.' Sometimes, Feelix gets very angry about the Dutch health-care: For some kinds of hepatitis, like for instance Hepatitis B, you can be vaccinated. But this still never happens.' Felix feels that Secretary Borst is lingering too much.

In spite of his disease, Felix continues to see positve things in life: you're forced to moderate sooner, he thinks. 'I have decided to realize my plans faster. For instance, I've been planning to move to France for sveral years now.'

A liver-affliction is very serious. 'Theoretically speaking, without a donor, I have about two more years', Felix says. Because of this, he thinks a lot about death - but even more about life. His diary, to which he adds a new page daily, is being edited for the Internet and refreshed by 'the gentlemen of swa': 'It's very special to me that these boys do all this work without asking for a retribution. They didn't even know me! That is truly very nec.' After the transplantation, Felix wants to continue his diary until the moment he can leave the hospital. That'll be within a month, he hopes.

If you want read Felix's diary, you can go to URL http://www.worldonline.nl/~swa/felix.

NOTE: The diary is currently available only in Dutch. If you are interested in helping to translate (Dutch-English and English-Dutch), please contact Felix at drip@euronet.nl.

 

Last modified: 11 May 2000