"It Turned My Life Inside Out": Pamela Anderson Recalled A Doctor Giving Her A "Death Sentence" Of "10 Years To Live" When She Was Diagnosed With Hepatitis C

Posted 2 hours ago

Context Warning: This post briefly mentions sexual abuse.

Our girl Pamela Anderson hasn't always had it easy in the public eye. And one of her greatest struggles came in the late '90s when she was diagnosed with Hepatitis C.

Hep C spreads through direct contact with infected blood, and is a viral infection that causes inflammation and damage to the liver. Pamela contracted the virus by sharing tattoo needles with her ex-husband, Tommy Lee, and, at the time she was diagnosed, there was no known cure.

Pamela shared her diagnosis with the world in 2002, and previously told People that it severely damaged her self-esteem. "Even though I may have looked confident on the outside," she told the outlet, "I think it really was a dark cloud that lingered over me."

The Baywatch icon experimented with various alternative medicines, and then, in the early 2010s, a cure for the virus was found. After initially being told she "would die" within 10 years of contracting Hep C, Pamela tried out the new anti-viral medications. In November 2015, she announced that she was officially cured.

Tommy was cured of the virus, too. Today, according to the CDC, oral medications cure more than 95% of people with Hep C in just 8 to 12 weeks.

That was more than 10 years ago, and now Pamela has given some rare comments about her recovery from Hep C. Giving a powerful speech during the amfAR Gala at the Venice Film Festival on Sunday night, the Last Showgirl star recalled that the devastating diagnosis "colored and corrupted [her] decisions."

"It was a death sentence. That’s what my doctor told me — that I probably had around 10 years to live," she said on stage, per Variety. "It was not fear of death, but fear of what might happen to my young children. It turned my life inside out." Pamela and Tommy share two sons, Brandon Thomas and Dylan Jagger, who are now aged 30 and 28, respectively.

"My experience of shame and guilt was also an unconscious journey. It stays with me; it haunts me," she continued. "And just like the sexual abuse that I endured as a child, it felt like it was carved into my forehead: Damaged goods. And I presented myself as such."

Pamela said it "took everything" she had in her bank to pay for treatment. She confessed that she still hasn’t "fully recovered" from the news of her diagnosis from all those years ago, but has "finally come to terms" with it — and has used the hardships to propel herself forward in her career.

"My truth has come through my work, finding ways to express myself through the arts. It gave me the ammunition I needed, a fertile life to use and play in," her speech concluded. "I’m not a victim, I’m a victor. I am strong and capable, more now than I could ever dream of… I’m not the damsel in distress, no matter how easy that role is to play."

For context, amfAR is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It has also worked on Hepatitis C research and advocacy, as it's a common co-infection for people living with HIV. At Sunday's event, Pamela was honored with amfAR’s Award of Courage — and boy, she deserves it!

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