fascinating

[MissAntithesis]

check this out... the swimming part surprised me.

Do not eat raw oysters, clams, or any raw or undercooked fish, such as sushi or sashimi.

Never swim in, wade into, or enter warm coastal waters (such as the Gulf of Mexico) when you have sores, cuts, open wounds, or burns.

http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/idcu/disease/hepatitis/hepatitis_c/overview/raw_oysters/

[ohgreat]

Yea, the good thing about not being able to eat raw oysters is that I really only enjoyed them..and I really enjoyed them.. with beer.  Skip the beer and I'm not into 'em.

The sushi part sucks but it will save me $ for meds.

As far as the open wounds while swimming in the Gulf, I would be more concerned with attracting hammer heads and other shark variety with open wounds and swimming.

neat stuff.

[MissAntithesis]

i'm with you... sushi and kirin sushi was my favorite night out!

look out for the jellyfish =)

[ohgreat]

Gosh! I hate when those things wash up on the shore in Galveston!

Hey, you know what is really good for your Hep C?  Go down to the Sea Turtle rescue center and check out the little damaged/marooned baby sea turtles they that release back into the Gulf at South Padre Island.  Truly a wonderful god thing minus the sermon.  

They also have large turtles that have missing flippers.  some swim in the tanks in circles, but they manage to get where they are going by decreasing/increasing their strokes to form different size circles.

Kind of reminds me of all of us, and how we are hurtin' but where still hanging in there.

A friend of mine with Hep C tells me that Hep C saved his life.  Without Hep C he wouldnt have stopped drinking and he wouldnt have the daily love of life that he has now.  Thats kind of making sense to me now.

I still am having a hard time with the shellfish thing though.  Does this mean I should lay off the Lobster?

[mikesimon]

You might be right but I never stopped eating shellfish, even right after transplant. I was told to avoid raw seafoof because of the risk of bacterial infection but I can't recall anything about cooked shellfish. I know it's full of cholesterol but I ate it in moderation. If you know something about it that I don't please let me know. Mike

[mikesimon]

I eat shellfish whenever I want - at least once a week - and unless you tell me something new I intend to keep eating it. Mike

[FlGuy]

Make that 'because I forgot to go get my VIRUS-FREE blood taken..
It's gone by now.

[Shanaenae]

it didn't, the article just said DO NOT EAT RAW shellfish. I always eat sushi, but it is always cooked cause i don't like raw fish anyways. But as long as it is cooked thouroghly, it sounds like it is okay.....

[FlGuy]

Platelets seem to get a lot of blame in hcv. My doc says that one of the prelim indicators of having cirrhosis was a persistent (below normal range) platelet level along with the spider nevi. Recently my plates (post tx) finally got up to the low levels, but in range. So now I'm confused. Doc also concerned about plates before bx and upcoming scopes.  He ordered I think a PTT or PPT which I assume is related to plates so I don't bleed out.  On tx plates averaged around 60's , way above danger levels of 30 or so. Someone (amommy?) had the opposite problem, plates too high. Talked to the Univ this am, nothing going on for me in either ifn/riba or VX950.  As she explained it, they go after Geno1 mostly but she and VRTX both said today that'll they'll be looking at relapser late 2006, early 2007.  Too late for me to wait.  Made an appt with new hepatologist this am and a third opinion in June. Still expect to re-board the bus August.  Til then, will enjoy the kids and summer then back to shcool for all of us.

[mikesimon]

Ptt is probably "patial thromboplastin time" wich measures clotting ability and is a common test ordered with a low platelet count. With HCV it's generally not that the bone marrow isn't making adequate platelets but rather that they are getting sequestered in the spleen due to cirrhosis. That explains the enlarged spleen so many of us are diagnosed with. Mine was so big that when I went to the dentist he would remark on it and even when I took my dog to the vet one time the vet looked at me and said " hey fellow, you've got a pretty big spleen on you". Mike

[mikesimon]

I had my Akita and her spleen was normal size and healthy. Mike

[FlGuy]

Thanks again for your insight. 'Spleen' is added as another topic for the doc in two weeks. That might explain a note on a lab cbc report from a year ago 'unable to obtain valid result due to significant platelet clumping'.  I had assumed they left the sample out too long when they went to lunch. But the report did add 'platelets clumped, appear adequate'

[mikesimon]

I don't know if there is an association between HCV and clumping platelets but I too am known as a "clumper" by the tech at Quest Diagnostics and she always uses a blue top vial - I believe it's blue but it is not the color that is generally used so if they generally use blue it would be pink but I think the blue top is the one you want. She says that"once a clumper always a clumper" but I never researched it to know for sure. I don't take a chance and she always uses the right vial for the platelet count. I wouldn't be surprised if the clumping isn't realted to HCV or enlarged spleen but I don't know. I once had a notation on my labs "rare gigantic platelet". I never asked about it but I didn't like seeing that on my report one bit. Karen and I laughed about it but it was that nervous kind of laughing that I'm sure we've all done when we're a bit uneasy. Mike

[beamishboy]

nice turtle tale,thanks...i do my own personal turtle rescue locally-move wandering roadside mommas to safe havens,often on my property-folks think i'm startin a turtle farm!we use to eat big snapping turtles,but now worried about their survival..they are such incredible old species..i want to do a turtle watch/rescue someday-maybe in costa rica?....

[timedog]

Sorry where in the article did it say not to eat any shell food. I thought I read no raw clams and oysters?

[FlGuy]

ironically, I can't stand to see a needle in me and watch them draw blood any more. But before I turn my eyes away I always say 'don't forget to freeze the pcr sample'.  I'd hate to wait a week just to have a do-over. But the folks at my local Quest Blood Bar seem to be pretty sharp, in more ways than one.

[mikesimon]

I love to watch but I get labs a lot so I have become numb to the whole procedure. When I go to transplant clinic there are 5 or 6 technicians all lined up for us and it's nonstop over there. I have seen veteran transplant recipients pass out while watching. I have seen people taken to radiology to have their legs cut to get blood there. I'm lucky that I have big veins - well now I only have one big one in my left arm. My right arm vein disappeared sometime during my hopsitalization for my bike wreck. I miss that vein, especially now that I have to have labs every other week because of a major anti-rejection dose reduction. Mike

[ohgreat]

why do you have to be so shellfish!  (har har)

[beamishboy]

hey how goes that anti-rejection drug reduction?geeze i had trouble writing thatall out..hope that proves a major QAL improvemnt for you...yu Big clumper

[mikesimon]

Thanks you guys. The reduction seems to be okay - my enzymes are normal and my dose is 33% of what it was February 10 of this year. While the drug (Prograf) is crucial, it is nephrotoxic- is that a word? - or in plain terms, bad for the kidneys, so the less the better as long as I'm not rejecting. This clumper is out. Mike

[GoofyDad]

it was that nervous kind of laughing that I'm sure we've all done when we're a bit uneasy.

Un-huh. Hint: Don't 'hook up' with tourist chicks in Mexico when suffering from Montezuma's revenge. Inopportune splotching and nervous laughter will inevitably ensue.

FLguy: Were platelets low normal pre-tx?

[FlGuy]

Yeah, pre-tx plates were in the 130's, about where they are now 6 months post.