Treatment

[Chugen]

I was diagnosed 3 years ago. I am 55 and healthy other than this. My viral lode count is 800.000. I take care of my 90 year old mother and have read alot about treatment. My plan was to ride out this disease but I am starting to consider treatment. Dr. wants to do colonoscopy and endoscophy next week. I have been stalling, buying time, borrowing time. Please advise! Susan

[Trish77]

Hi Chugen, glad you found the forum and welcome.  No, you don't sound naive.  You sound like a loving, caring daughter.  Get your tests as the others have suggested - don't let the doc make you feel rushed into treatment, get your tests done and get all the facts and make the decision that's best for you based on all that.  Good luck with  this.

[fretboard]

I suggest you take your time and learn everything you can about  HepC such as the bloodwork, biopsy, the meds and the possible side effects and anything else you can think of that has to do with tx.  Tx is not something you want to rush into at all.  You can read all about it here on this forum and ask questions until you get familiar with everything HepC.  good luck

[paen53]

You most likely won't have to "rush" into treatment, but getting follow-up labs and tests in a timely fashion will certainly give you more information to base any decisions upon down the line. Your Dr. may be including the endoscopy with a routine/baseline colonscopy since you do have HCV and are considering the possibilty of tx. easier and more economical to get them done at the same time.

Get the facts and then decide from there based on your liver health. One step at a time....

[Diane12855]

I'm your age and I can tell you that at our age we don't need to ignore the preventative tests that they recommend because things start going south much faster than they did even 5 years ago but if we catch things early they can be taken care of.

It is great that you are taking care of your mother, but you have to remember that you will have a life after she is gone and your health then could be good or bad depending on how well you take care of yourself now.

I'm a little over half way through treatment and have every intention of living a long, healthy life after I get done. It is hard right now, and life basically *****, but it is worth it to save my liver and the rest of my life.

Diane

[HectorSF]

Do I sound naive? No. Scared? Yes we all were when we learned with had hepatitis. It is normal to be frightened. But don't let it stop you from taking care of your health.

You can know your prognosis without having to start treatment.
But by putting off being fully diagnosed with a prognosis it is possible you may be hurting yourself. You do realize that liver disease can progress to a point where it can be reversed?
Luckily progression of liver disease is slow until the last stage. So a matter of months shouldn't make any difference.

Glad you are there for your mom.
Please make sure you also take care of yourself by finding out what condition you are in. Liver disease usually has no symptoms until it has progressed to the final stage where the damage is irreversible. This happened to me. Don't let it happen to you.

Best-
Hectorsf

[Chugen]

Hey everybody, I will watch and read and follow your comments. At least I know you are out there. I will see Dr. gastro next week (I've put this off); proceed to gather information and stats on my hep C. I appreciate ya'll!

[HectorSF]

Welcome to the forum.

What do you mean by "ride out this disease"?
Why does your doctor want to do a colonoscopy and endoscopy? If this is being done to determine how advanced your liver disease is?
What is your diagnosis? Hepatitis C? What is the degree of liver damage. Biopsy report information?

The more information you can provide the more we can assist you.

Cheers!
Hectorsf

[Chugen]

  Thank you for talking to me. Dr. seemed to rush me into treatment. Yes, what I am reading here is frightening. I am thinking about putting this off until Mom passes away or until there is a better medicine approved. Do I sound naive?

[babs824]

if you have never had a liver biopsy u might add it to your tests. this will give u invaluable information as to treatment. you also want to find out your geno type if you dont know. treatment is a big decision and should be thought through carefully. information is power. read more on this site but take some of the dramatic side effects stories with some grain of salt as we dont all get the worst ones. many continue their lives and work while on treatment. best, babs