Free at Last! Open thread

[donAlfonso]

I took my first injection on 1/2/04, viral load 2.3 million. I finally got my PCR results from bloods drawn 8/12, and it was UNDETECTABLE!!  Type 1a/b since 1970, cirrhosis found in biopsy in 1998. Progression was:
1/2       2,300,000
2/23         71,900
3/25         38,300
4/29         21,900
6/1             758
7/14            144
8/12             <5


It really seems surreal, I think I'm in shock.  It's a little hard to connect, because I've been feeling so tired and pained.  And of course my doc now wants me to hang in there for another year.  I'm going to give it my best shot, since that is my best hope for SVR.

Showboat, I was really sorry to read about your post-tx PCR.  You must be an incredibly strong person to have done this 3 times, and I will think of you and so many others here whenever I need inspiration over the next year.

Sorry to have used a new thread, but I admit I didn't want to bury this somewhere.  Today I'm proud of myself!

dA

[donAlfonso]

Simul-posting.  Thanks Sher, Chev, TnHep, Rev and Ring.

dA

[Indiana]

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......

[DownThisRoad]

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.

[Califia]

I hope this is the first of many such celebrations.   SVR!  SVR!

[MajNeni]

Congratulations!  I hope this news helps you to go forward through the next year.  See you on the SVR bus.
Maj Neni

[DoubleDose]

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!!!