Post Transplant HCV

I am new to this site.  I am 5 months post transplant and have had a biopsy confirming reinfection.  All I know right now is that my bilirubin level is 6, which is higher than the pre transplant level of 2+, although malignant tumors were present.  I start treatment as soon as meds arrive.  I hope anyone in the same situation posts their progress so I'll know what to expect.  I will be on interferon/Ribivarin.  I'm already taking iron for anemia and have been told that I can get procrit (couldn't before).  I kept having to stop treatment because of anemia.  I was dismissed with a, "Call if you need us."  How would I know?  My MD found another Hep doctor who made sure I got proper care and kept up the labs.  He referred me to a transplant hospital and I was put on the list.  Now this.  My genotype is 1A, aparently the difficult one to clear.  But I have gotten back off the floor and am ready to fight, however much I dread it.  I'm no longer working because I was sent for a "fit for duty" evaluation by management.  I was hurt and angry about having my job taken, but I guess everything is working out for my best.  I have been reading all the archives and they are really helpful.  My best to everyone--oanyway

[nitramog]

how soon after treatment wear you up and about  wat or hows qwalaty of life, if you have time for along story,,,,eny one else out ther weth transplant story before and after does the pains go away, is it magic our just alive!,,,im not nocking just alive!

[mikesimon]

I was transplanted June 2000. I am 57 year old male type 1b. I started treatment(TX)shortly after surgery with low dose ribavirin and regular interferon. I treated for one year and did not reach undetectable. I waited 6 months and treated with Peg-Intron and 600-800 mg ribavirin for 53 weeks. I cleared late and relapsed immediately after stopping TX. I started my 3rd treatment 6 weeks later with Pegasys and 1000 mg ribavirin. I became undetectable at 12 weeks into TX and treated for a total of 73 weeks at full dose. I remain serum undetectable and I stopped TX June 2004. It can be done but it's not easy. My experience is that Pegasys is significantly easier to tolerate that Peg-Intron though some people would disagree. There is a very recent report which suggests that Pegasys may be associated with fewer or less severe neuropsychiatric events than Peg-Intron but it was a small study and is definitely not conclusive.
See:Final ID: 393 A Prospective, Double-Blinded Neuropsychiatric Comparison of Pegylated Interferons Alfa-2a and Alfa-2b
D. Sylvestre; 1, 2; A. Smith; 2; L. Barrett; 2; D. Greene; 2;
1. University of CA, San Francisco, Oakland, CA, USA.
2. OASIS, Oakland, CA, USA.
Good luck. Mike

[mikesimon]

My experience probably isn't typical. I was home within 5 days of surgery. I was at work 9 days from my surgery but I do have a desk job. A lesion was seen on a routine annual scan and the transplant team suspected that it was cancerous. So, though I was very low on the transplant list I was done within 1 month of that scan because of the lesion. As it turned out there was no cancer in my liver. I was riding my motorcycle days befor my surgery with a vibrating beeper down the front of my jeans - I wasn't nearly as sick as the other patients that were transplanted around my time. This was before the MELD scoring too. I still have some mild pain along my incision line but it has lessened considerably in the last 2 years. For a while it was quite painful and I explored the advisability of getting opened back up to correct whatever was wrong. After some lengthy discussion another surgery seemed like a bad idea. I must have either gotten used to the pain or the nerves have healed and the line got less painful. As I said, I treated for a long time and that wasn't much fun, as anyone with or without a transplanted liver can attest to. My quality of life has been very good considering my situation and I'm thrilled to be alive and in relatively good health. I did become diabetic either as a result of the transplant or as a result of 2 or 3 steroid intravenous injections to stop rejection episodes. It's strange to say this but I really can't remember if it was 2 or 3 rejections. But those bolus treatments due often result in diabetes so that may very well be the cause. Other than all that I'm doing fine. I hope you begin to feel better and better as time passes. Good luck. Mike