Aa
Is untreated HCV a death sentence?
I have read many posts from people that say if untreated you wll die of complicatons of HCV. That is not true. Only 5% get liver cancer and it's hard to tell the progression of cirrohsis especially if your lifestyle is healthy. I've had HCV for 40 yrs and only stopped etoh 2009. Stage 0-1. People are different. I work in a hosptal ICU, 8 years and have seen 1 liver cancer from HCV and the patient was a heavy drinker. All the HCV patients I see in the ICU with GI bleeds, cirr. are actively drinking heavily. I am not saying this virus is a good thing to have, I am treating currently. I just want people who want to wait for less toxic drugs not to bee so fearful if their liver can wait.
Whew, well .. 99 comments! How can I hold back and not be number 100? That's my comment and I'm sticking to it.
I also came on last nite - in a moment of just being angry at seeing my friend's suffering at the moment, and landed on this thread.
I'm not anti-treatment - which, it doesnt really matter if i was or not! - since i was not the one deciding whether to take the treatment.
It was hard for me to come online and search and search when i first heard about this treatment, and to find so much negativity as to "is it worth it?" (not on this site - all over the internet, before i came here) ... as far as "will it even CURE?" and "will this person even ever DIE of the HepC?" All i could do was talk to my loved one about it and make sure he felt that his doctor was making this decision at the right time.
He's going tomorrow to get medicines to help with all his side effects - so thanks for being here to let me vent.
I'm not anti-treatment - which, it doesnt really matter if i was or not! - since i was not the one deciding whether to take the treatment.
It was hard for me to come online and search and search when i first heard about this treatment, and to find so much negativity as to "is it worth it?" (not on this site - all over the internet, before i came here) ... as far as "will it even CURE?" and "will this person even ever DIE of the HepC?" All i could do was talk to my loved one about it and make sure he felt that his doctor was making this decision at the right time.
He's going tomorrow to get medicines to help with all his side effects - so thanks for being here to let me vent.
Cirrhosis is the primary cause of death related to Hepatitis C. I lived through my livers death, with a transplant in 2001. My doctor wanted me to wait to treat the Hep C, now they want me to treat, because my donor liver has been under attack from Hep C for 10 years and I have Cirrhosis again. Have not had any cancer or any events. I have yet to meet anyone that has had a transplant due to liver cancer, but have met many that had Hep C and Cirrhosis, that lead to transplant.
Dave,
A lynch mob? That's seems a bit over dramatic.
It's apparent from Judy's later posting that her intent was to tell others not to act out of fear, that she regrets having done so.
However, she never recants the original erroneous statement.
Personally, I'm fed up with whining.
But, no hard feelings towards anyone.
Treatment is tough. We all deserve a pass :)
Merry jingle bells and a happy SVR to us, one and all.
OH
A lynch mob? That's seems a bit over dramatic.
It's apparent from Judy's later posting that her intent was to tell others not to act out of fear, that she regrets having done so.
However, she never recants the original erroneous statement.
Personally, I'm fed up with whining.
But, no hard feelings towards anyone.
Treatment is tough. We all deserve a pass :)
Merry jingle bells and a happy SVR to us, one and all.
OH
No one need be sorry, and I know I don't expect apologies. This thread should NOT be about who's in what pain and how much... it should be about differing opinions (is hcv a death sentence and why...), how we arrived at them, and how they compare with each others' views versus the hard reality of accurate medical information.
You are right that we are all here to try and be supportive, but more important than that, at least to me, is that we learn from each other, and try to be as honest and truthful about hcv as possible. Personally, I have never have been challenged for commenting on this forum because of my own lack of experience with hcv, but there's always a first time :). I stand cautioned that some treaters don't find me qualified to comment.
I think one of the distinctions of this forum is that we try to better each other through self-moderation and education; when one of us, any of us, arrives with wrong or erroneous information, things are usually set right. Obviously, that isn't always the case, but we try. Or, at least, I tried.
My comments throughout were driven as much philosophically as emotionally, Dave... I thought it especially pertinent to try to disabuse the OP of her views on how an hcv patient might wind up in ICU -- or worse -- especially BECAUSE she works in the medical field. Perhaps I should have accorded more tolerance and understanding, particularly since she is in the only state in this country that won't pay for liver transplants, so her exposure and environment probably aren't conducive to a wider perspective.
~eureka
You are right that we are all here to try and be supportive, but more important than that, at least to me, is that we learn from each other, and try to be as honest and truthful about hcv as possible. Personally, I have never have been challenged for commenting on this forum because of my own lack of experience with hcv, but there's always a first time :). I stand cautioned that some treaters don't find me qualified to comment.
I think one of the distinctions of this forum is that we try to better each other through self-moderation and education; when one of us, any of us, arrives with wrong or erroneous information, things are usually set right. Obviously, that isn't always the case, but we try. Or, at least, I tried.
My comments throughout were driven as much philosophically as emotionally, Dave... I thought it especially pertinent to try to disabuse the OP of her views on how an hcv patient might wind up in ICU -- or worse -- especially BECAUSE she works in the medical field. Perhaps I should have accorded more tolerance and understanding, particularly since she is in the only state in this country that won't pay for liver transplants, so her exposure and environment probably aren't conducive to a wider perspective.
~eureka
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