You finally got the last of the troops! Allelluia.
happy for ya.
Cudos! never be sorry for proclaiming what we are all striving for. This is something we all want to hear. if it were me: prime rib, Club soda with TWO limes, ahh the hell with it, Potatoes! (sorry Dan Quail's spelling) good for you man! Other than tx. do you believe that anything else you did assited you with the results: diet, vits anything. Maybe I missed it by what geno type?
Lou
Wow Thats so GREAT DON! Whewwwwww......BREATHHHHHHH
Cuteus Please email me and read the thread below to worried! Thanks
That is <b>ABSOLUTELY GREAT NEWS!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!</b>
Given that it has taken this long to reach clearance - and the negative SVR predictors going in of cirrhosis, high viral load and genotype 1 - I think your doc is right on the money about extending. Also, the extra time on the interferon could spell great relief for your liver - possibly halting or even reversing some progression.
Now, <b>ON TO SVR!!!</b>
TnHepGuy
Thanks Lou. 2 limes sounds a little scary, ha! Boy how times have changed.
As for your questions, my doc says Geno 1a, the transplant team says 1b, so take your pick. My diet has never been particularly healthy, and since I started tx I've lost 10 to 15 pounds (varies a bit week to week). And I'm a pretty good cook! Just not much appetite. I'm wary of supplements, because my blood counts are so screwy, I'm afraid I'll just make it worse (vitamin e/low platelets, eg). I do try to eat enough salad (my wife makes great salads) and veggies, not much red meat. I have forced myself to maintain an exercise regimen, crunches, push-ups, hand weights, and I live in a brownstone so I climb 3 flights of stairs many times a day, and get exhausted each time. Hmm, potato(e)s sound good.
dA
absolutely wonderful news...don't apoligise for starting a new thread for something so very important...YIPEEEEEE i say..celebrate celebrate.....i see gummie bears and pepsi....oh wait, thats my dinner!!!
hugs and well wishes
Simul-posting. Thanks Sher, Chev, TnHep, Rev and Ring.
dA
ALLRIGHTY THEN!! AWSOME NEWS!! THATS THE KIND OF INSPIRATION WE ALL NEED HERE!
NO apology is ever necessary when we tell the others we are winning the war!
Your stats are good. I am VERY happy to see that your doc is paying attention and having you continue on past the "cookie cutter" 48 week mark. You were not clear at 12 or 24 weeks, so you need that extra TX time to be successful.
I'm thinkin of starting a special "tx extenders" section on the SVR bus for folks like you, Rev, Cuteus, and Mikesimon. Folks that REALLY extended. We need to keep an "eye" on you all. Hahahahahaha
Keep the faith baby!!! We're all here pullin for ya......
WONDERFUL NEWS....... you deserve it! ! I also had to extend my tx. I'm 1a and did 56 weeks. I didn't clear at my 12 weeks but did clear the virus at my 16th week. OH, what a feeling.
Jump up on cloud 9 for awhile and just stay there as long as you want. Keep moving forward...you are winning. Ah yes, you are winning the battle. !!
~dtr.
I hope this is the first of many such celebrations. SVR! SVR!
Congratulations! I hope this news helps you to go forward through the next year. See you on the SVR bus.
Maj Neni
Don,
Fantastic News! Please do follow your doctor's recommendation, and go the additional year. If you can stay undetected throughout the remainder of therapy, you have very high odds of getting the SVR. I was a 1-B, and had to do 72 weeks, at high dosages also, since I first went undetected at week 19, almost 5 months into tx. Your curve of viral decline is a little slower, and the extended tx is intended to get those remaining virions that continue to reproduce, as the overall number decline. Kind of like getting all the floating particles of dirt out of aquarium water, using a filter. It may look clean, but the minute amounts are there, for a long, long time. At some point in the process, you finally overtake the reproduction curve, and you get that last remaining virus particle. You CAN DO THIS!!!
And in the process, as mentionned above, you will also continue reversing the cirrhosis/fibrosis as you go. By the time you get your SVR, you will be ready to have a healthy life again.
My very best wishes to you, and continued strength during the remainder of tx. You will adjust to all of it, over time!!!
Congratulations......what a wonderful feeling, ey??
You deserve to be proud....this can be a difficult endeavor and to clear is such a blessing.
Congratulations to you!!! I am extremely happy for you. I think extending is a great plan. I hope that you reach SVR. Thank you for your well wishes and thoughts to me. I will not give up my fight either!!! :>) May your extended year be sx free...or at the least, very minimal. Keep up the good fight.
great news my brother i guess now you can sing "I'm free" from the top floor and have a glass of cranberry juice to celebrate real happy for you
Hey Don, great news. Maybe you'll have a bit easier time now that you have some hard evidence there may be light at the end of this dark tunnel.
Here's a link to a new drug that just completed phase 1:
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=131556&p=irol-newsArticle&t=Regular&id=594696&
Mike
my husband has hep c and we went through all the blood work and some high and some normal. the viral load was like yours 2 milion and he has stage 1 grade 1 and he also has genotype 1-1b. and now we have to take the peg/intron and rebetol. what stage and grade was your liver biopsy? the gastro also said that there was only a little bit of virus in his liver. my husband is 32 yrs old he has a whole life ahead of him. i want to know do u think he has a good chance of getting rid of the virus like you did. you give us hope and i hope you stay clean of the virus.
Ok, spit it out. How is Billy doing?
Jamie
Sorry, I can't tell you stage/grade info, as I'm afraid I would have to dig through a lot of old files to find my biopsy report from 1998 which has been in a box somewhere in the basement since I moved in 2001. I think it actually said fibrosis, but MRI reports since then say "the liver is cirrhotic."
As for the decision to treat or not, all I can say is that if there had been diagnosis/treatment available when I was 32, with the kind of success rate now being reported, I would have done it. And studies have shown that the older the infection, the more difficult it is to treat. I'm 55, infected since 1970. If I didn't think there was a chance of success, I wouldn't be doing this. From what you've said, I would think your husband's odds are better than mine. BUT...it is a big decision, and only you can make it. Sounds like you are on the right track, talking with each other, the doc, and looking for info on the web (and this is a great site for support and resource info). Whatever you decide, I wish you and your husband very very long, happy lives.
dA
Many, many congratulations, what great news "clear"!*! Another year of tx? Wow! You are a very brave and determined man. very best of luck to you..
Different Don. Still, thanks for the thoughts. I am done next week and keeping my fingers crossed.
Sorry for the mix up. Done next week, how fantastic for you. Exciting but a bit scary too I imagine? You'll be done before you know it but in the meantime, I'm wishing you SVR and a total and complete recovery from tx sx.
Have a great weekend:).
HI JAMIE, He isn't starting until he returns from Louisiana. Tomorrow....and ummmm I think you have some things to tell me MISSY! I'll E you in a little while. Hugg