Another dragon bites the dust!!!!!

Hi everyone,
I've been away w/o access to a computer so I'm behind on everyone's current news. I'll try to read posts from the last three weeks over the next day or two so I know what's going on. In the meantime, I couldn't wait to share my news: The virus, as of two weeks ago (19 wks into tx) is officially UNDETECTABLE. I'm still itching like mad and very worn out today (shot # 21 last night), but my heart is so light. I'm so grateful and awed by the enormity of it. I've been living with this icky thing for 35 years.  I'm almost afraid to believe I'm going to be free of it. I will have to stay on treatment for 72 weeks, and I'll do so happily.

I love you all. Each of you is dear to me, and I feel blessed to have such a warm, caring, supportive community of healers. I've turned to you so many times when my side effects were unbearable and life seemed so bleak. It's so great to have good news to share.

Back to bed now...It's still Tuesday and I'm still exhausted. I've got to get back to kicking dragon butt.  21 weeks down, only 51 to go!!!!!
Love, light, peace and (((((hugs))))) to all, Judi

[honey1616]

Judi...Congratulations!!  Always great to hear when that dragon is dying!!  Yeah!!  Keep up the good work and great attitude and yes...You will be free!!

[Amerabrit]

Wonderful news:)

[Tony-z]

Congratulations, you may now be entering into the dragon slayers hall of fame.

                        :-)

                   TonyZ

[mikesimon]

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/474625?src=mp

[hepcgetlost]

honey15637
(11-May-04) HepCGetLost Judi...Congratulations!! Always great to hear Thanks to you all for the good wishes!

I can't stop smiling. I want everyone to feel as good as I feel right now.

Mike...extremely informative and encouraging article. Thank you! :-)
judi

[berlynn]

Just wanted to say....wuuuuuuuhoooooooo! This is great news. You keep right on working hard to kick that dragon's butt. Take care

[DebbieDo]

Why 72 weeks........i thought the norm was 48-52.......Deb

[TnHepGuy_]

<b>CONGRATULATIONS!!!</b> That is <b>GREAT NEWS!!!</b>

As I found out just a week ago - news like this can provide a <b>HUGE<b/> boost to carry you on towards the next milestone.

Thanks for sharing it with us. And best to you as you continue forward.


TnHepGuy

[twotells]

Judi,  I'm very happy for you- what an encouragement!  Dave

[CCgirl]

Great news!!! congrats!!

[hepcgetlost]

Thanks to all of you for the encouragement. It means a lot. I'm proud to be part of this community.

debbie, the reason I'm going for 72 weeks is that the latest studies show that genotypes 1 and 4 (that be me) have a better chance of SVR (especially if they're not EVR--that be me too) with aggressive and longer tx. So if I can swing it financially, I'm going for the max. I don't  want to relapse and I want to give myself the best chance to never have to do this again. I welcome the opportunity to be irritable, itchy, achy and tired for the next year and a half if it kills this dragon for good.

I feel supported by all the wonderful people on this forum -- it's good to know that we don't have to ride this roller coaster alone. We learn from each other and lean on each other, laugh and cry and pull and push ourselves through the days and weeks, the highs and lows. I feel connected to each person who has ever posted here, whether we've responded to each other personally in the past or not, just because I read through all of your posts daily and am cheering you on through each victory and holding you in my heart when things go badly. I am continually inspired by your stories of courage and strength through some really tough times.

This has been a great great day!
Judi

[mikesimon]

Judy, I'm sorry I neglected to congratulate you on your good news. I posted the recent article and plum forgot to say "great news". Mike
I'll post the article again in case it was missed. It's from Medscape which requires that you register. It's free and probably one of the best sites for real information.

See this article for a discussion of the future of hep c treatment

[simpleman]

Congratulations and enjoy the feeling. It is so great.

[DebbieDo]

Do, you have a link of the latest studies that have been done that says more aggressive tx with 72 weeks, better for 1 and 4's
I would appreciate this.......Going to GI on the 24, i want to be armed with questions.........Deb

[hepcgetlost]

Tnhepguy beat me to it. Good luck Debbie!!!!!!!
I'm also going to use those articles with my new doctor.

[TnHepGuy_]

Another recent study you could site is the <a href="http://www1.elsevier.com/gej-ng/10/26/38/99/49/43/abstract.html">Reduction of relapse rates by 18-month treatment in chronic hepatitis C. A Benelux randomized trial in 300 patients</a> - though the 'apples-to-apples' comparison isn't exact, since in this study pegylated interferon wasn't given to the patients who went 18 months - they were given the non-pegylated version of 3 million untis 3x/week with their ribavirin.

[TnHepGuy_]

The <a href="http://www.natap.org/2004/EASL/easl_06.htm">18 Months Therapy (Pegasys+Ribavirin): study found relapse rate reduced by 70%; viral response rate in genotype 1 increased by 50%</a> and the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=14999598">A 48-week duration of therapy with pegylated interferon alpha 2b plus ribavirin may be too short to maximize long-term response among patients infected with genotype-1 hepatitis C virus</a> are two that you could show your doc. They are the two that I am most relying on at the moment in my consideration of going extended.


TnHepGuy

[TnHepGuy_]

I forgot to mention this study to you:

<a href="http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/466007?">Low Daily Dosage of Interferon for 1 Year After HCV-Related End-Therapy Response. A Randomized-Controlled Study</a>

Though, in this study the patients on extended tx were given daily interferon with no ribavirin.


TnHepGuy