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daughter's test

Hi Everyone,
I just went today to pick up the slip at my daughter's pediatrician's office to bring her to the lab for testing. I have a pit in my stomach. I know it's unlikely that she has it, but still I'm scared. I'm a little less depressed this week than last, but I still have my moments. Anybody know how long it'll be before I get the results?
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Avatar universal
ChevyGal55,
I guess your saying I should have them tested also. Well, that's a tough one. They are real perseptive and a lot smarter than me. I will talk to my wife about it and then decide.Thanks for the input.
Cigaso
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Avatar universal
Is it possible to pin point when you got HVC? Please tell me how.

To anyone: I have tested positive for HCV. My wife tested negative.I have been married 20 years. I do not know how I got it. Since my wife doesn't have it, should I have my kids tested? They are 12 and 15 years old, with no symptoms. I am trying to keep my kids from knowing about my dx.
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Avatar universal
You're right....it's kind of like an adoption...only nine months eariler!

The desire to have a family is so innate and so fundamental to most people.  It's also a very personal and complex matter, as Cao so eloquently pointed out.  Snap judgments and blanket statements that people with HCV are being selfish if they don't adopt an abused or unwanted child is off-base and offensively self-righteous.  I hope my frequent critic finally hears this loud and clear.

Susan
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Avatar universal
I guess that is kind of adopting a child...a child in the making, rather than a born one. I don't know the answer of what to do with the unwanted children, born or unborn, I guess those who can take any one of them, should, either by adoption or by foster care.
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Avatar universal
Very well put!!

Thank you for your comments.  This issue has really stuck in my craw because I've been criticized by a frequent poster for my "selfishness" in choosing IVF over adoption of an abused or unwanted child.  

However, this critic doesn't realize that my husband and I are using donated embryos ("leftover" from an IVF procedure by another couple). The only other options for these embryos are to destroy them or use them for stem cell research.  We feel like this is a win-win for everyone: the biological parents; the child; and my husband and I.

Like most people, we would love to have a child who is genetically related to us, but my recurrent miscarriages make that impossible.  If I didn't have the miscarriages, I would definitely attempt to have a child on my own (instead of using a gestational surrogate).  Unfortunately, adoption isn't something we can pursue, either. Our state doesn't allow people with HCV to adopt unless they've cleared the virus.

It's sad that there are people on this board (like the woman who has repeatedly criticized me) who jump to conclusions and judge harshly -- and inaccurately -- before they even know all the facts.  Here's my advice to my critic: Put your money where your mouth is and adopt an abused or unwanted child yourself.  Otherwise, quit offering your self-righteous comments about how others should live their lives.

Susan

  

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Avatar universal
Amanda was responding at the beginning...until after week 6...her VL went back up...We have since increased her frequency of the pegasys and will know if that has helped by the end of this week when we receive the vl results.. I will post a comment as soon as we know..

Thank you for all of your overwhelming support...It really has helped tremendously..

Happy New Year to all,
Jodi
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Avatar universal
cao
It seems to me that whether or not to become pregnant while HCV positive is an immensely personal decision, one that any woman of childbearing age (and her significant other) has to wrestle with on her own.  

While I respect this forum and everyone's ability and willingness to share their opinions so openly, it strikes me that perhaps blanket statements recommending women with HCV not conceive may minimize the complex series of issues on the table.  Pregnancy with HCV clearly brings with it an uncertain outcome.  Adoption brings with it many issues of uncertainty as well -- issues with birth parents, many overseas adoptions bring with them HCV, HIV and HBV, not to mention other health issues.  Furthermore, what are the adoption prospects for an HCV positive woman?  

I don't mean to attack anyone, but it does seem to me to be a terribly complicated and personal issue, one that is clearly more pressing and real for those of us of childbearing age, without complete families of our own.
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Avatar universal
Thanks for your concern but he's just a friend. I have a number of friends who are in that line of business and as a result of having spent a lot of time with them I never bet on sports - ever. I do play poker, black jack and craps but not too compulsively. Once or twice a year I'll go to Vegas for 3 or 4 days and that's plenty for me. I'm Jewish so I can tell this one story. My very good friend, also a bookie, was telling me the point spread on a Steeler game and it was like 7 1/2. I said "why the hell do you guys always have a half point in there"? He replied "a Jewish friend of mine told me that half point has burried more Jews than Hitler". The pearls of wisdom that I've gained from these guys! Mike
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Avatar universal
Your input is definetly needed, not as a negative, but as a way to balance the input given to the newbies. IF the reality exists, they need to know.

I thought Amanda was responding slowly to the new regimen, has she not clear the virus yet? Is she still on the new combo of meds?
Sorry if I missed any postings on this, I was away on vacation.
best to you both
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Avatar universal
Yep, Lucky for me I was one of the slim few who did get it from birth. Now I am 27 years old, stage 2/3 fibrosis, and on tx. Everyone says the chances are slim, but they are present. I sure can attest to that.
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Avatar universal
Yes, although the chances are very slim, they certainly aren't zero.  But can you imagine what the treatment options will be like 20 years from now if a young child is diagnosed with the disease today?  There will probably be a therapeutic vaccine or a single-dose pill that will clear it up in nothing flat.  Rearfang, whatever the outcome of the testing -- I really believe that you have very little to worry about.  Just ask Snook...he's lived a normal life all these 27 years and is still functioning very well while currently on treatment.  

Susan
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Avatar universal
I have a bookie friend that was in the hospital for a heart cath. The doctor told him there was only a 5% chance of any complications. His reply "hey doc, I'm a bookie and I've gotten burried by that 5% way too many times to get any comfort from those odds." Mike
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Avatar universal
You say: "No one would have the right to recommend ANYONE becoming pregnant while HCV positive."

Did I miss something?  Who is recommending that someone with HCV become pregnant?  Just curious.  Also, how many of your children are adopted?  You speak so passionately and so often about adopting unwanted children, so I assume that you are intimately familiar with this path?

BTW, my husband and I are using a gestational surrogate to avoid the possibility of transfering the virus.  Just wanted to clear that up in case your comments were directed at me.

Have a great day!
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Avatar universal
Wasn't going to post, but decided it would be best to share a negative experience as well..the possibility definitely exists of passing the virus to a child during birth...My daughter, now 16 (almost 17), was born with hcv..(c-section baby) she did very well until the age of 11 when things began to progress (still don't know why), she now has stage 4 cirrhosis and we are devastated.. I am not writting this to scare you but for people to be aware that although the odds are low, they do exist...and although most kids do fairly well, there are those few who do progress...so please, every parent should definitely have their children checked...

My daughter has been on treatment on and off since she was 14 and has not fully responded to anything yet..we are now looking into a new approach (just not sure what yet)...Any help would be great...

Good luck with the results, and as many said your chances are good that she will be fine, but there definitely is that small chance of vertical transmission....Good luck.

Jodi
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Avatar universal
Bookie friend?!?! Mike, this is no way to plan for you and your family's future and retirement. If you do find the need to associate with such personnel, might I suggest an escort instead - where at least if you must throw your money out the window, you will get some form of guaranteed return.


Best to you on your upcoming test results and soon-to-be SVR.


TnHepGuy
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Avatar universal
I had my kids tested last month the results came back in less then a week, both were negative.  I know the anxiety of waiting, just try to think of the peace of mind you'll have once the results are negative.
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Avatar universal
I definitely know how this does scare you but honestly,,,I don't think you have anything to worry about.  My hubby and I both have it and I had 3 daughters C-secion.  I was petrified when they had to be tested,,,,All were clear!  This is just not common to see it passed through birth.  Good Luck and let us know!
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Avatar universal
cao
Please do keep us posted.  You'll be in my thoughts, as will your kiddo:)  I promise you that even if you contracted HCV by no "wrongdoing" of your own, you don't feel any less horribly about possibly passing it to your child....and I really do believe deep in my heart that even with a positive diagnosis, things can be just fine:)  As someone infected at birth (transfusion due to blood disorder), I have never once thought that I would have prefered not to have been born!  HCV is just one more challenge that I've been presented with and it has not made my life any less wonderful, fulfilling or worthwhile.  Even if your child's test comes back positive, which is very, very unlikely, it will be okay:)
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Avatar universal
Thank you all. I need to keep hearing these positive experiences. I am also having all those thoughts --the what-ifs. I think the hardest part of this diagnosis is that feeling that I've failed my daughter, that stupid behaviors I left behind twenty years ago have come back to haunt me and put my child in jeopardy. I'll let you all know what the results are, and hope I'll be telling you what you've been telling me.
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9648 tn?1290091207
Both my kids were c-section and neither of them have it. Hang tight. I know the waiting is painful.
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Avatar universal
cao
I feel your pain -- I had my son (now 2) tested about six months ago and in the realm of all things hepatitis that I've experienced -- waiting for my son's (negative) test results was the most stressful thing I've ever endured.  The odds, the reassurance of others -- none of it could completely take away my anxiety.  My mind projected far into the future (him hating me,  him being sick, etc) and I think maybe now in retrospect that my mind just had to go to all those places, scary as they were, as it worked through what might be.  It's such an immense thing -- to have a child and to be responsible for it's health and safety -- and to feel as though you might have had a hand in making their life imperfect is so hard to face.  It took a lot of processing for me to personally get to the point where I was prepared to deal with whatever the results were.  To accept that I had given him a good start at life, regardless of the results, and that I couldn't promise him imperfection.  Still, hard to accept, but it's getting easier:)
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Avatar universal
Oh, you don't know how good that is to hear. I am about to tell my son that he needs to be tested because of the possibility that I gave him hepc through birth. I am so glad that the odds are against him having gotten it. Good luck with your daughter and yourself....keep fighting!!!!
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Avatar universal
Thanks for the encouraging words.
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Avatar universal
The statistics are definitely in your daughter's favor.  Less than 5 percent of babies in utero contract HCV from their mothers.  She has better than a 95% chance of dodging this bullet. But even if she does test positive (which I highly doubt she will), your daught will live a very normal life.  Children with HCV tend to progress very slowly.  The chances are excellent that much better treatments would be available by the time she even needed to be treated.  

Don't sweat this too much.  I'm putting my money on her being NEGATIVE.

Best wishes to you...

Susan
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