Hard to get a second opinion in Tucson

[Upbeat]

Called around to a few liver docs and none of them were accepting new patients. I asked why and they said because of the time involved with hep c patients.  It seems the only way you can get an appointment with any liver doc is a direct referal from your doctor. Anyone else run into this?
                                                        Ron

[jmjm530]

That's a good idea to get a PCR the day of the first shot. Just make sure the nurse takes the blood *before* the shot. The biggest drop in viral load is often in the first 24-hours after the first shot -- so even taking blood an hour later could skew the results. And don't forget your Teddy Bear to help you through the day :)

-- jim

[johnisme]

ty, im suppose to start shootin and poppin next week, but the drs. office has not called me back yet..Grrrr..

And if i might add your quite a gal... Saw your pic. there on that other site....VA VA VA VOOM

[Forseegood]

great story!!! well, for us, maybe not the fireman...what are your stats now, if you don't mind..if you do, that's okay too. Scary stuff huh...we'll get through this.

[johnisme]

Yeah i remember that post of yours, so sad. Really if you think about it not much difference between your kids and your pets. Glad you got you another dog. A rottie and a lab mix huh. Then you name him after part of the rat pak.

Sweetie, that reminds me of a true story, a few years ago there was this house fire in my neighborhood. And this house was really cooking. This guy there is screaming at the firemen, my sweetie is in there. You got to get my sweetie out of there. Well there was like 6 firemen going nuts searching this house, they were on their hands and knees, screaming for help. When after a while one of the firemen runs up to the guy in a panic telling him they searched everywhere and can't find her. Well this guys holding this little dog in his arms and tells him thats ok he found her she was in the backyard. I thought them firemen was going to kill him as they thought it was is wife in there. Anytime i see those firemen i yell my sweetie, my sweetie.........Stay well....John

[Forseegood]

Hey thanks John! A...how shall we put it..."mature" woman of my age can use a compliment now and then, especially if lately I've been thinking I look like a bellybutton. Anyway, please let us know how things go. I'm still waiting on a few things, but maybe I'll be right behind you, if my doc can't line something else up...and he's working on it.

I have to change that picture I guess, my poor little doggie Sweetie died, I talked about it here. I am fostering a new little boy, Rottie and Lab mix...he's a real sweetheart, rescued from Katrina. I'm calling him "Frankie" after Frank Sinatra cause he's so skinny. He seems to appreciate the LA sunshine though. Betcha he's got some tales to tell. Please be patient with us childless old rockers, we tend to make our pets our kids...

[johnisme]

Don't mind at all

Geno 1a
stage 4/4 grade 3
viral load as of 6 months ago 10,700,000
Doc's gonna do a new pcr test the day i go in for my first shot
50 years young, male, 5ft 10in weigh around 200 (hope to lose about 25 lbs through tx.)

THINK i got this from blood trans. when i was younger, never did iv-drugs ( Have always been a big baby when it comes to shots and needles, totally freeks me out ) no tattos, although i did do some snortin of the cola back in the good ole days.

When i got out of high school i moved to south fla. to work for my uncle who owned a const. company, one day as a ironworker i got cut pretty good with a rusty piece of iron so my uncle hauls me to the clinic, well they tell me they have to give me a tetanus shot and sew me up. Here i am 5ft10 175 lbs no fat, young, and im begging and pleading with them not to give me a shot and no stitches. Well they won, i lost and my a-hole uncle gets back to the job site and tells all the guys about how big a baby i was. I didn't live that down for a long time.

[Forseegood]

Hey Goof, the minute you said NorCal I knew it was some chi chi island off of San Francisco. I know Mill Valley a bit, know Berkeley a lot better though. That place, Village Music still there? Only adds to your mystique my friend. I hope youre doing okay and feeling well today.

Johniswho?
Thanks for the funnies, we all need a laugh! You are such a guy!!!Youre not on treatment, right? It's hard to keep track

[GoofyDad]

5 mg for me. As I said, it don't knock me out cold, but it does the job pretty nicely.

[NYgirl]

I have found Ambien to be a real life saver.  It is gentle and you fall asleep in like an hour.  

I am on 10mgs I think  of the stuff.  It's enough just to help you knock out. And THAT is worth anything.

I hope you got the script!

[cuteus]

They definetely made some money in my case. Even though I saw the PA or NP more so than Dr very important, I had to go in EVERY single month. It was about an hr or two round trip so I asked if I could come every three months like some here did, and he said NO! Monthly visits or no tx! Granted he was doing the mini Beck mental inventory at each visit since I was not on ADs, but once you are into 5-6 months of tx and pretty much stable, they did not need to see my face every four wks.  That was a good chunk of money for a yr and a half, plus, being a research hospital, they get gifts from the drug companies also.

[MrsOckert]

I was starting to get perturbed about the care I was getting from my dr, but it sounds like most everyone is in the same boat.

I also don't understand why a dr would turn someone down for Hep C.  I've seen my dr twice.  Once for the initial visit & schedule the biopsy.  The second time for results & begin Tx.  I don't see him again till week 10.  I got my labs paperwork for the whole year at once.  

Weird.

[azgrl]

Karen it's only open to professionals.  However she said she will give me a copy of the presentation after she delivers it.  When I go in to see her she will give it to me.  I can pass it along once I get it if you would like.

I really like her.  She has all the patience in the world to be able to deal with me.  lol.

deb in az

[FlGuy]

" Whatever houses I may visit, I will come for the benefit of the sick, remaining free of all intentional injustice,"  An excerpt from the Hippocartic Oath.  Wonder if docs still raise their hands to this?

Finding the right team of docs is important.  Serveal people have commented about how little they see their hep doc.  I'm in week 22 and have not seen him since before TX started.  I stay in touch by phone every once in a while the hemotologist forwards lab results to the GI for those infrequent phone calls.  Other here stay in touch by e-mail.  HCV, for many docs, is not labor intensive except for some who may have multiple serious XS.  Don't be too concerned about traveling a distance to see a hep doc - just make sure you have easy access to a lab and whoever will review/supply/RX as a results of your bloodwork.

[Karay]

Wow am I amazed some of your comments.  I'm somewhat new to this forum - on week 14, daily shots & rib and very happy to report that I'm doing great (undetected @ week 12) However, I feel extremely bad for those of you with these horrid doctors.  I've been lucky - my doctor has done 3 liver bios - all at my request and my appointments have all been with him - no nurse.  They generally are 20 - 30 minutes of us just talking about the meds/side effects, etc.  My next appt is in 2 weeks and I'm going to thank him after reading your posts for being such a wonderful doctor!  To those of you who have one of these sorely lacking doctors, I hope you'll be able to find someone else soon.  Tx is hard enough w/o having the support of your doctor!  Mine actually hugged me when my results came in...its nice not to do this alone!

[GoofyDad]

I posted few weeks ago that it's hard for me to see how the docs keep the lights on treating HCV. I'm probably higher maintenance than most pts - but my docs are forever reviewing blood work, ordering new labs, modifying RX's, and yesterday adding a Folate supplement. Since I don't go in to be seen for all this - they don't bill a dime. Just one office visit every 8 weeks.

[sailinlady]

That would be great.  Thank you!

[FlGuy]

You wrote about Ambien a few days back. I'm going to PCP tomorrow for an Rx - exhaustion getting to me.  What dosage do you use and do you find that the need is related to IFN day?  My sleep is worse in the few days following shot nite - not the entire TX week.
Coug: Thanks for you input.

[vegas777]

hey big guy!

Hey goofers:

I haven't been around here much lately..I have been involved in real life things...My husband just became a "grandpa", not so sure I like that idea, never slept with a grandpa before  hehehe...

I think you are one of the few very lucky ones that has a Doctor and his staff to actually care about a patient!  I hope you're feeling better these days...

Also, Jim hope you're doing good, you must be in the countdown mode now...Pretty soon you can say g'bye to all those poisons and get on with you life...

Deb - Only a few more days and you go under the knife...I'll be thinking of ya!!  Best of luck and I am sure you will feel sooooooo much better once it is out!!

*dip a dee do dah*

[cougareyes]

Some doctors may not make that much money treating HCV, but mine does off of me. I pay him $30 for 5 min, and my insurance co. gives him another $165. I'm not sure if they get drug money kick back, I make a co-pay to my insurance co; the total amount of drugs that I'm on is billed for over $5000/mo. Do they get kick backs for test, In the beginning I can't even fathom the thousands of dollars of test he ordered, ultrasound, biopsy, upper Gi that he performed himself, bloods, bloods, and more bloods. Then very frequent to monthly blood work now. For someone he has very little contact with, I'm generating alot of commerce.      Peace

[sailinlady]

Deb,
I am in the Phx area as well.  Is that presentation open to the public or for patients only?  I know my doctor did not attend the conference because I saw him that week.  He was real hard to get any answers from in the beginning but has warmed up.  Although, it's still 5 to 10 minutes max and you are out the door.

Any info is appreciated.

Thanks,
Karen

[GoofyDad]

That kind of makes the point I was trying to get to. Someone is looking at those lab results. Someone has responsibility for your well-being. Someone is making decisions, even if the decision is keep-on with what we're doing. Yet there are few appts. And appts are what generate income. A med practice is an expensive ship to keep afloat. Work and responsibility without income doesn't sound too good to me.

[cougareyes]

The insomia came on me after about 10 or so weeks, and then got so bad my girlfriend couldn't even sleep in the same bed with me. After my shot I have more body aches than usual, but I've kind of evened out into a constant restless zombie like state.
I'm takin 10mg, but if you are concerned; break in in half. With a whole one man I tell you "I am Out". I need it so bad, I'm happy with taking 10mg.     Peace

[friole]

WHat are you going to do?  do you have enough meds to get through until you can find someone - and is there someone to find?  I think I may be on the verge of being fired for being a pain in the butt too.  I have had to really back off.  If I get my CBC's thru the GI it takes 5 days to get the results.  I used to camp at his office and bug the girls.  He was supposed to send directions to the lab for me to get all my results directly but never did.  He even passed off ordering a PCR (to the hemo doc) because he was going out of town (couldn't even tell the office help to write it out?).   The hemo doc couldn't even get the CBC results from him to monitor my whites and reds.

If the problem is they are not getting paid enough, I wish they would bill me for calling.  I wouldn't mind them charging me a co-pay for my calls to the nurse.  They do spend a lot of time going over things for which they don't charge.  Same at the hemo doc's office.  I consult with the nurse a lot and don't get charged. Like Goof says, they all need to pay the bills.
friole

[GoofyDad]

I don't know what my prescription is - I'm pretty sure it's the smaller dose. Little brick colored things - look like a big grain of rice. I don't have them here to check.

They work just well enough for me. I take them 1-2 a week now. They help get me to sleep, but wouldn't make it so I could not stay awake if I wanted (I'm guessing there). They would not work if I was like teeth clenching wiredly wide-awake.