For decades, hepatitis C has been treated with medication, but for most has not been curable, with many patients ending up with liver cancer.
That is, until recently.
Michael Wheeler says that his body has been put through the ringer.
"Years ago, I tried to hop a freight train and I pulled this arm clear out of its socket. I got scars here on my elbows where I went down on a Harley," Wheeler said.
He was even shot, which damaged several organs.
"Pancreas, liver, spleen, and the bullet came out near my spine," Wheeler explained.
But one of his body's biggest fights lasted 20 years: his battle with hepatitis C. He says that he likely got it while working as a logger on the west coast.
"In between Auburn and Placerville and Sacramento and Lake Tahoe, which is the High Sierras," Wheeler said.
"Hepatitis is just general inflammation of the liver that can be a lot of things," said Dr. Katherine Whiteley, a family practice physician with University Health System.
Dr. Whiteley says that hepatitis C can be exacerbated by excessive drinking.
"It can be due to alcohol, it can be due to medications, it can be due to auto-immune disease," she said.
Five years ago, Wheeler moved to San Antonio, and last year started coming to University Health System's Southwest Clinic. He started taking medication for his hepatitis in February and is now cured from the disease.
He says it changed his life.
"The first week I started taking the pills, I thought, ‘Man, I have a lot of energy. I want to go out and work on the motorcycle,’" Wheeler recalled.
"It's exciting that he's cured and he's got a whole different outlook," Dr. Whiteley added.
Wheeler encourages all men and women who are baby boomers, those born between 1945 and 1965 and are the most susceptible, to get to their doctor and take the blood test. He says it could be a life-changer.
"I felt better. I felt better about me. I felt better about doing things and started planning to do things,” Wheeler said.
The blood test is quick and is covered by Medicare in the yearly physical. So, if you are at risk, Dr. Whiteley says to schedule an appointment with your physician right away.