Start treatment and have surgery

[Faithdove]

My husband is seeing doc next week to hopefully start treatment with the newly approved Sofo with RBV and INF. he has issues with his shoulder and thinks he can get surgery for that while starting this treatment. I do not know yet if his doc will prescribe this regimen and even if his insurance will cover it. (Express scripts). From all I have read, for his Hep C genotype 1a, he is going to have to get the INF regardless. Sooooo.....what do you all think. I am so worried about him, when he had is liver biopsy it said he was at a 3/4 ?? Not sure what that means.he has a lot of sensitivity in the area of his liver, and to me, has also appears to have fluid buildup. He looks 8 months pregnant to me, and the way his stomach bulges, i can't believe it is just fat. If it were you would you attempt shoulder surgery while on treatment. When he had his other shoulder done a few years ago, it was a living hell....please please ....tell me what you think. I can't stand to see him in all this pain. He also has much fatigue and sleepless nights and joint pain in general, I try to watch how much Advil he takes, because I know that is not good for the liver.

[Faithdove]

Hello, I already have a pill container for him that gets filled up once for the week. We used it when he was on 7 medications after his accident. Lol, I would fill it up for him: Morning, Noon, Dinner time and Bedtime and he was a compliant patient. I myself am on so many meds, plus a daily subcutaneous injection for my MS, that his regimen for 12 weeks will be manageable. Thank you for your support ;)

[Faithdove]

For his prescription plan, my husband has Express Scripts, I think they were Medco and now Express Scripts. His copayment will be $50 for a 90 day supply. The prescription plan is not the same as his health insurance, that is United Healthcare. What prescription plan do you have? You can call them to be sure it is covered.

[ceanothus]

I am very impressed. It sounds like your gastroenterologist is both smart and caring, really far more on the ball than most are. He's handling things pretty much perfectly so far and that means a great deal when it comes to your husband's odds of success. Just make sure your husband follows all the rules of treatment. The treatments are rough but effective if done right, and its a massive waste of energy and money to do them half-heartedly. My personal best guess for the timing of the shoulder surgery would be to wait six months after treatment, but maybe this short 12 week tx will have him recovered enough to do it a month or two later if all goes well. The HCV is life-threatening, so give it top priority in tx. Best wishes!

[Advocate1955]

You will probably have a co-pay for both the Interferon and the Ribavirin as well, but it will probably be similar if the co-pay for Sovaldi is $50 per month. I'm glad to hear that your hepa said no to surgery while on treatment and I'm also glad he's willing to recommend starting an anti depressant ahead of time.
Good luck and keep us posted.
Advocate1955

[WyoSue]

If you don't mind my asking, what insurance do you have? I hope it's Blue Cross and they'll cover my treatment, too.

[ppmguy]

       great news!!!  i started zoloft when i treated last time.  it took 16 days to kick in, but when it did i did settle down.  it caused a little anxiety while waiting for it to work, but was worth it. your copays sound right to me.  
barry