My Leg Is Now Officially a Pin Cushion ........... (and other posts)

Well, shot #2 is now officially part of me. Not too much new to report, though The Wife did suggest that I post these 'Before & After Starting Tx' links - with pictures and sound files of me. It may give good insight into some of the changes that may occur once tx begins:

<A HREF="http://home.comcast.net/~yankee_in_knoxville/dove_picture.jpg">Picture of TnHepGuy Pre-Tx</A>

<A HREF="http://home.comcast.net/~yankee_in_knoxville/Dove_wave.wav">Sounds of TnHepGuy Pre-Tx</A>

<A HREF="http://home.comcast.net/~yankee_in_knoxville/godzilla_picture.jpg">Picture of TnHepGuy After Starting Tx</A>

<A HREF="http://home.comcast.net/~yankee_in_knoxville/godzilla_wave.wav">Sounds of TnHepGuy After Starting Tx</A>


Hope this Monday finds everyone doing well!


TnHepGuy

[GreatBird]

<H2>:)</H2>

[Oldjogger]

Thanks, really scarry, and peaceful and....

[Oldjogger]

I'm waiting to begin pegetron treatment.  I must take 2 months of TB therapy before going on Pegetron and then take combination therapy of TB and Pegetron for 6 months and then one more month of TB therapy.  I am genotype 3a and have a viral load of 6,500,000, has anyone else taken this combination of therapy or have any comments?

[mikesimon]

Results from Jan 29 and still clear. Started Jan 20, 2003 and cleared at 13 weeks. I'm going till June 20, 2004. Mike

[harley dude]

Hey Dude that was quite innovative, but I look and sound just like you after I started TX.- we might be long lost twins-- See Ya -- HD

[Revenire]

HA HA HA GODZILLA !!!

You got a good attitude there buddy.

[OkieJim]

Way to go MIKE. I can't remember if you ever where undetectable or not it has been quite some time you have been battling this thing. My prayers are with you this time. I know the dragon has to be getting tired of living in you by now. I do my last copegus Thurs. night. Then the wait. Dr. wants to wait for 6 months post to do PCR I guess I'll wait. What the heck my body will need to recover anyway and if I relapse it won't matter if its one month or 6 I will need my body strength back before tying again anyway.

[honey1616]

Yaaaa Hooooo! haha I'm really excited for you and can't think of a more deserving person to have that nasty ole dragon out of him!  You are a pleasure to have on this board and I wish you the best of luck!

[raheem]

Way to go Mike. I know you've been through the mill, you deserve good news more than anyone.  Keep swinging away.

[layla]

That's great to hear! Are you staying on full doage the whole time? How much tx are you taking? My doc just told me if I do extended tx he recomneds 48 weeks from clearing. I had thought I was doing 60 weeks so this was a bit of a dissapointment. There was some confusion on my PCR clearing date. Did you ever have your riba dose upped or lowered? If so did you notice a difference in sx? I do hope your feeling ok and again congrats on being clear. I know it's been a long struggle for you. LL

[Foreign girl]

Hi Mike,

This is very good news! I know that it's still a long time until June, 2004 but it's really nothing in comparison to what you have already been through.

Foreign girl.

[katch20]

happy for you mike--  you're the MAN...50 GRAND!

[Revenire]

I'm happy for you friend.

[doll face]

Tnhepguy- I thought I saw godzilla going down I40 last week, was that just you ?  :)

MiksSimon-Congratulations on your test results, I couldn't have hand picked a more deserving person than you. You have given so much to this board, June is just around the corner now.

[mikesimon]

I'm taking 180 mcg. Pegasys and 1000 mg. ribavirin and have been throughout this course of tx. Previously I was on reduced dose of Pegintron and 800 mg. ribavirin. I did clear on that dose but relapsed shortly after discontinuing tx. I probably should have gone longer from clearance that course but the Pegintron was quite hard on me and I'd had enough of it. I was clear for 4 months when I quit and, as I said, that wasn't long enough in my opinion. Hopefully this time I'll have better results. I have suffered with hemolytic anemia which I treat with Epogen (Procrit) weekly and I think that as the ribavirin dose increases so too does the anemia. I've actually felt much better on full dose Pegasys than I did on reduced Pegintron so any side effect comparisons based on ribavirin dose would be hard to make as far as the way I feel(excepting the anemia). Good luck with your extended tx. We really are like lab rats in so many respects that we'll just have to wait and see as to the benefits of extending tx.

Everyone: Thanks so much for your support. It means a lot to me. I could have gotten the results to this test last week but I had a big approach avoidance conflict. I felt that I would still be clear but if I weren't I would have had to make some hard decisions that I really didn't want to make. So thanks everyone. Mike

[MajNeni]

Hi, Mike.  That's great.  Just keep it like that.  The warmth and the light are coming back to us.  A.

[BethUK]

Well done Mike!  You certainly deserve it, you've been through so much. Look forward to seeing you on this side of the fence later in the year!

[britpeter]

Nice one, made me laugh and laughter is a great med!!!On the sounds front and I've recommended it before, if you're feeling low or like you can't take it no more try " Don't Give up " by Peter Gabriel. It gives me extra strength anyhow!

[reposyco]

THANKS MIKE THAT WAS FUNNY,TODAY IS SHOT DAY FOR ME 6/48 SO I NEEDED A LAUGH.....DELORES

[jg2001]

I think I've seen you post about Peter Gabriel before.  I love his Shaking the Tree CD!  The woman's voice in "Don't Give Up", adds a nice touch to that song.

Jamie

[ral]

Hi Michael

Great GREAT NEWS. Mike i was just wondering about you I am so glad you are clear.

GOD BLESS
Bob L

[DownThisRoad]

Mike, great news!!

You really deserve this. Keep the faith, you are WINNING!!

[DownThisRoad]

Pin cushion after 2 injections..............mhhhhhhhhhhhhh.......hang in there!!

[mikesimon]

Nope, I'm still on the ribavirin and will be throughout. Good luck to you. Mike

[CARUU]

Wonderful news!  I'm glad you are able to keep you tx going. caruu

[Ambush]

Mike, Congratulations on the "all clear" report.  You've sure done the long haul on this stuff and I'm so in hopes that this time will be the successful one for you!
ambush :)

[Martee]

Wonderful news Mike. Very happy to hear great news.
I also finish towards the end of June. It'll be # 53.
And I bet you didn't even eat those l2 grapes on New Years Eve I told you about. :)

[Martee]

Wonderful News !!!

I also finish towards the end of June. It'll be my 53 shot.
I'm really happy for you.
And I bet you didn't even eat those l2 grapes on New years eve I told you about. :)

[eyehavegr8life]

tnhepguy...It's good to see humor with all you are going through.
Mike...congrats on puttin the dragon fire out.
Positive thoughts your way, Annette

[harley dude]

All Righty Than- Great News, I will be finishing up right around the same time you'll be finishing- We will have to toast each other with a tall glass of bubbly "Grape Juice"- See Ya- HD

[simpleman]

Great news. Thanks for all the help from me and all the other people on the board.

[Oreos]

Mike, I'm thrilled for and praying you get the dragon once and for all!  Excellent news all around.  I'm a 39 year old female 1a on 14/48 on the Pegasys and cleared at 4 weeks (whoa).  One of the key reasons I chose Pegasys was your postings with your experience (I did Intron A/Rebetrol 3 years ago and had to stop due to severe sides).  I want to thank you for your support and inspiration.  Good luck and we'll be sending extra prayers your way!

Tn Guy, Got a kick out of your before and after.  Thanks for the laugh!  The shots will get easier...

All, I've been feeling a bit unsocial - imagine that.  The sides for the most part have been tolerable.  My platelets are back up, thank goodness.  Itching and dryness driving me nuts.  managing my massive freakouts with Ativan.  I was saddened to see my blond curls start to straighten and prefer the shower drain to my head.  Should be getting my 12 week pcr results back soon.  It's all worth it to get rid of this nasty bugger.    

Best wishes to all of you and keep up the fight!!!!!  

Gail

[willing]

congratulations Mike, it's getting closer and closer ( by 'hard decisions' do you mean you might have stayed on tx even if detectable?)

layla: groan..don't you just hate it when they gloss over the fine print? well at least 72 lets you compare your SVR odds directly with similar length trials (the SVR results of TERAVIC will be probably be presented at this summer's European liver conference).

Stay strong!

[mikesimon]

I would think some type of maintenance dosing would have had to have been considered. I really don't know what I would do if I  should relapse or break through but I feel that the virus may progress quite rapidly if left unchecked. This was my experience shortly after transplant but perhaps that was due in large part to my immunosuppresive dose which was much higher then than it is currently. It's a **** shoot and maybe I would just monitor it closely through biopsies etc. I know I would hate to face that scenario notwithstanding the fact that it is a distinct possibility. But for now I cling to the hope that things will go differently this time around. Mike

[n2cats15]

Thanks for the laugh!  You brightened my day.  Hang in there!

[layla]

Willing. I looked up this Teravic trial and see in their study they are only using 400 mg of riba. I have not seen one study on extended tx using the recommended dosing. If I had cleared at 12 weeks I doubt I would do this but I didn't and I am a G1. The currents odds just aren't good enough for me. I know in the past you have posted links on extended tx studies. If you have the info saved could you send me the links? I would like to have a copy but I wasn't thinking enough to save them at the time. I do hope you start feeling better soon. It sounds fustrating to be off tx and waiting for so long for the sx to go away.

Mike Since you mentioned maintenance dosing and I just read this I thought you might find it interesting (though you've probably seen it). It's an article on a study called  "consolidation therapy"?  http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/466007? I thought it was interesting. Hope your doing ok

LL

[mikesimon]

I hadn't seen the article and that surprised me greatly since I try to see all Medscape articles concerning Hep c and related subjects. Thanks a bunch for the information. You just had to go and give me something else to consider, didn't you? Now I'll be bugging my doctors about the advisability of doing this therapy too. Mike