Desperate for Hep C info for my mom

[YSEBOI]

I am here trying to find information on Hep C.  My mother has had Hep C since 1980 blood transfusion during child birth.  Was not found until late 90s.  Her health is declining.  She did not respond to treatment.  She has lost so much weight, is constantly tired, no appetite, has restless leg and is getting deeper into depression.  She is shuffled from 1 DR to another and 1 test to another.  Her Drs told her they need her to be even sicker than she already is for a transplant.  SERIOUSLY?? I am so beside myself and just want to find out everything and anything I can about this and anything that may help.  Please and thank you.
-Shawna

[eureka254]

I'm sorry to hear that your mother's health is suffering, but she is very lucky to have a daughter like you looking to help and advocate for her.  You mentioned that your mother did treatment but did not respond; how recent was her treatment?  New drugs have just been recently approved this year that have cured many that failed treatment in the past, so not responding to treatment once does not mean she never will.

The symptoms you mentioned, however, the weight loss, fatigue, loss of appetite are certainly concerning.  If your mother has continuing liver disease she should be under the care of a liver specialist, or hepatologist, and s/he should be made aware of the symptoms your mother is experiencing.  It is not uncommon for those with serious liver disease to also suffer from depression, and discussing your concerns about this with your mother and her providers might help pave the way for a solution.

It would be important to know if your mother's liver condition is stable or declining;  you did not mention if your mother has cirrhosis or not, but with long time knowledge of her hep c, she should have had a biopsy within the last five years to determine what her liver damage is.  And of course, NO alcohol whatsoever is important, as well as a healthy diet.

Liver transplantation is a life-saving measure -- because of the shortage of organs and the extraordinarily high numbers of people in need of livers, transplantation is not performed simply because someone is ill or feeling very bad -- transplant is reserved for those who would otherwise die in short order without a new liver.  My hope is that your mother is not so ill as to need transplantation, but if she is, remember that there is always the option of living donor as well as standard "listing."

Welcome to the community, Shawna.  Keep asking questions, and if you go with your mother to her doctor's appointments, it's a good idea to ask for copies of all her reports and lab results so that you can better understand and help her through the health care process.  Hope that helps. ~eureka

[curiouslady1]

Welcome to the web site Shawna.  I just wanted to welcome you and invite you to look at the entire site.  There are many helpful resources here which can help you, and your mom if she chooses to sign on, to make decisions about her health care.  Note that you have a private messager where you can send messages to some of us and receive messages from us at top left under "in box".  Note that you have an opportunity to post pictures, leave notes, create journals and read and comment on the journals of others.  Note that there are often links to other sites and often information on drugs in the pipeline, new treatments, new options.  Note that you can search the archives at top to find out everything that is already been posted (all that's fit to print LOL).  You can learn a lot from the site in general and so can mother.  Wishing you all the best.  

[1oftheclub222]

I am new here, and am not the most knowlegable person to be answering, but I would say the ones who do know enough to answer would probably need more information:

what type of hep C does she have?
was there a biopsy and what were the results?
How long ago did she do treatment?
If she is a type 1 has she considered the new triple therapy?