Treatment

[Yellowfin]

Is the treatment for Hepatitis C similar to chemotherapy?  Is it a type of chemo?  Obviously I am concerned about getting the biopsy and then possibly treament.  The only thing I know right now is that about one year ago my ?? count was 19,000,000.  I don't even know if that is seriously high or low or what.  It sounds high???

Thanks for everything

[Bill1954]

Oops, I posted this to your lower thread as well...
~~~~~~~~~~~

Hmmm… it’s hard to get anywhere from Brookings!

Regarding locating a treatment doc; I assume you were diagnosed by your Primary Care Physician? Has he offered you a referral yet? That would be my first suggestion. You’ll want to schedule a consult with either a Gastroenterologist of a Hepatologist, who will guide you through this process.

If neither of those specialties are available in Brookings, and they may not be, you might have to go over the hill to Portland or Eugene. Another option would be to contact the University of Oregon, Eugene, and ask for Gastroenterology. See if they have a Hepatologist that would be willing to sign on as your treatment doctor “remotely”; overseeing the nuts and bolts of treatment, with a local physician coordinating the labs, and providing local support.

As for as obtaining life insurance at this point, you will probably experience difficulty. Additionally, if you’re solely concerned about you’re wife’s welfare, you’re probably getting ahead of yourself. This disease is only fatal for a small percentage of patients, and you don’t have enough info yet to determine if you even need to undergo treatment.

You might also try my doctor’s office in San Francisco, and see if they would consider “remote” treatment. They are a cutting-edge treatment and transplant facility; they also have outreach offices throughout Northern California, including, I believe, Redding.

Here is their contact number in SF:

California Pacific Medical Center
[phone]
http://www.cpmc.org/advanced/liver/

Additionally, review the following site; this will give you an excellent overview of this disease. Just scroll down and click on any item of interest in the blue box:

http://www.janis7hepc.com/

Best of luck to you in your travels; read and educate yourself prior to making any decisions regarding the management of this disease.

Take care,

Bill

[jdwithhcv]

Treatment of Hep C is a type of chemotherapy (defined as the treatment of disease by chemical agents).  It is similar to cancer chemo in its harshness and side effects, however the Hep C chemo is of comparative long duration.  Its also a bit different in that there is NO down time in this tx.

I underwent 2 rounds of chemo for colon cancer (together with radiation and several surgeries).  The first chemo was for 6 weeks, continuous infusion of a single drug 24 hrs/5 days per week (I was hooked up to a pump via a portacath) with weekends off.  This was done with daily radiation tx.  My second chemo was an infusion (4 hours duration) every 3 weeks, coupled with a second drug in pill form.  I took the pills 2 weeks out of 3, and had one week off in each 3 week cycle.

The cancer chemo drugs were similarly harsh, but at least my body got some time off during tx, weekends the first time and one week in three the second round.  I am delighted to be cancer free 3 years post tx.

This peginteron/ribivarin treatment is the longest I've ever received chemo without any breaks.  I'm in week 18 and scheduled to go 48 weeks total.  This fourm helps a lot with information and support.  The treatment is harsh, I'm just glad it doesn't include radiation (which is the worst thing I've ever experienced).

Sorry, I no longer know anybody in Grants Pass or Medford.  Good luck and keep posting, you'll get lots of help and support here.

JD

[Yellowfin]

Below is the first mesage that I posted.  Maybe you have some suggestions of how or who to find as a doctor.  One problem I have is the lack of life insurance for my wife and it will be difficult to take long terms off work.  Therefore, I have been putting off doing anything, but the fatigue is getting worse now.  We do have good health insurance so no problems there.  



I am in Brookings Oregon.  About 5 – 6 years ago I went to give blood and was later told they were not able to accept my blood donation because it tested positive for Hepatitis C.  I went to my local family doctor and was told to not worry about it as lots of people have hepatitis and never have complications.  About a year ago I went back to him because I feeling fatigued and just not normal.  When he did not find anything wrong I asked again about the hepatitis C (keep in mind I knew nothing about the disease then) and I had to remind him of our discussion a few years back.  He did not recollect the discussion but was seriously concerned and told me many people end up with liver infectious and possibly could be fatal.  I went through the blood test and the meantime began reading about the disease.  The result was that it was positive and had a count of 19,000,000 whatever.  At the time there was some changes going on in my life and chose to ignore the problem.  I have continued to live a normal live since.

Now the fatigue is getting worst and I think I may have no choice to get it taken care of.  I have little trust in my local doctor for serious medical advice.  Medford, Grants Pass, Coos Bay or Roseburg are the closest medical communities.  Does anyone have any suggestion on where to go or someone in southern Oregon I can contact to ask?

[Bill1954]

****** = assess, or evaluate, LOL! I guess the filters here don't like the word assess spelled without the fourth 's'.

[Bill1954]

Brookings, OR, eh? I’ve done some work in Brookings, as well as Gold Beach.

The administration of interferon/ribavirin treatment differs from cancer chemo, but the side effects are managed in much the same way. As in chemo, some of us require the use of Procrit, Neupogen, and other meds to maintain full dose HCV meds for the prescribed duration of the treatment protocol.

If your doctor has recommended a biopsy, I would seriously consider the procedure. Although it sounds rather, uh, stone age; the operation is done in an outpatient setting, and is generally not as painful as it sounds. It is really the best way to ***** your current degree of liver disease progression; viral load (19,000,000) measurements are useful for measuring the response to treatment meds, but do not correlate with the degree of scarring (fibrosis). Your viral load is considered high, by the way, but don’t let that deter you from treatment. There are other factors that influence the outcome of HCV that are more important than viral load.

If the results of the biopsy show little scarring, it may be that you decide to postpone treatment for the time being; however, the biopsy is needed to determine whether this strategy is appropriate for you.

Welcome to the discussion group, by the way; feel free to continue to ask questions as they arise.

Best of luck to you,

Bill