re: #112 Aceofwhat?

He’s not gravely ill.

Yes, he most certainly is. U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson battling hepatitis C.

WASHINGTON — For months, speculation has swirled in both Atlanta and Washington about U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson’s health.

The Lithonia Democrat’s already-thin frame has shed 30 pounds in the past year. His speech is slower than ever, and he regularly gets lost in thought in the middle of a discussion. He is easily fatigued and often impatient and irritable.

Monday, he revealed why.

In an exclusive interview with the AJC, Johnson disclosed he has been battling hepatitis C, an incurable, blood-borne liver disease, for more than a decade.

He was officially declared free of the virus in January, but it has ravaged his liver, resulted in thyroid problems and other health issues, including depression, for which he’s also being treated. To keep the disease in remission, Johnson is going through an experimental treatment that he said has been the worst part so far.

“I am weaker than I ever have been,” Johnson, 55, said in his Capitol Hill office.