afp marker

also fatty liver.Also plumonary hypertension which makes it very hard to lose weight. any anyway I need to know has any one had there afp jump from 8.4 I think but it was in the 8's now it's in the 50's I don't trust my Dr I'm trying to get it approved to go to tampa If any one can respond It would be great.I'm stressed to no end. I'm a 1A with some cirrohis.

[Laika]

I'm sorry, don't know anything about this stuff--I've just started treatment, myself, week 3/24.

I wanted to say that I am in the (extended) Tampa Bay area, and looked for drs in Tampa, didn't get lucky with one there who was right for me.  I ended up with a referral from this forum and am very happy with my current dr so far.  I have not presented much of a challenge to him so far--I'm stage 2, geno 2b, in pretty good health and haven't had very bad sides to deal with...so far.  He is an "old time" dr in the sense that he cares about his patients, his office is patient-friendly, and he is not in the pocket of the insurance or drug companies to the extent that he places them ahead of your needs.  He seems to be "on the same page" with me as far as treatment is concerned, and has always been amendable to my requests regarding testing and treatment so far.  He has specialized in hepC for many years and has a sizeable hepC patient load.  You may want to have a consult with him and see what you think:  James H Johnson MD 863 688-0540 in Lakeland.  The people who referred me to him had much more serious problems with their hepC than I do--at least one had cirrohsis.

One of the drs I investigated in Tampa was a hepatologist.  He was very patient UNfriendly--very little contact, would not answer your questions and didn't care what you thought about anything. I recently heard he's leaving town...no loss there, but I don't know if there are any hepatologists in this area now.  Dr Johnson is a gastro.  Personally, I feel that the quality of the doctor as a person is more important than how highly specialized the focus of his education.  Dr J has many years of "hands on" specializing in this disease and seems to be up on the latest as far as I am able to tell.

Good luck.

[TnHepGuy_]

The main reason I began tx last year was that in the prior year - for the first time ever - my AFP went (and stayed) above normal range - eventually topping out at 21. I was told that in Hep C patients it can be an indicator of increased inflammatory activity when at levels of 50 and below. I was also told that at levels above 50 it becomes important for a Hep C patient - particularly one with advanced liver damage - to have a complete work-up to rule out the possibility of HCC (i.e. - liver cancer).


Here are a few sites with some information on Hep C and AFP:

<a href="http://janis7hepc.com/liver_cancer.htm#tocg">How is HCC diagnosed? - Blood tests</a>

<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=9860408">Serum alpha-fetoprotein levels and liver histology in patients with chronic hepatitis C</a>

<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15128351">Clinical significance of elevated alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) in patients with chronic hepatitis C, but not hepatocellular carcinoma</a>

<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11246354">Clinical, virologic, and pathologic significance of elevated serum alpha-fetoprotein levels in patients with chronic hepatitis C</a>


May God's blessings and mercy be upon you.


TnHepGuy

[md1johnson]

I remember you when I was on the site before.I had to go in the hospital last april to find out I had pulmonary hypertension.by the time I felt like getting back on the site I forgoet mynivk name.(nowheretoturn). You where one of many that help me understand alots of things. Thank you for your kindness.