the good the bad and the ugly-Ultra sound is useless

[merryBe]

mild vent, and chance to hear other warnings, horrors, or get aquainted tales.

even though my enymes were "slightly elevated for years, and I had  exaustion, fatigue, sweats, brain fog, and R. Quadrant pain my doc did not test for Hep C for years, and argued with me repeatedly that I was fine because "your ultra sound showed nothing.:

be  persistant.  after 7 years of fatigue fevers and pain, could I get an "I'm sorry". NOPE.
It took a different doctor with a BRAIN to see the most common blood disease.

my biopsy came back- grade 1 stage 3/4....spleen/liver both enflamed/enlarged-.Viral load 1.4 mil.

DON"T settle for ultra sound, or even Cat scan, or "well, lots of things can cause elevated enymes and a brush off".
get a biopsy and the right blood work AND the right doctor.

I'm 2 weeks into treatment and so all this has me really peeved right now.
Don't want it happening to anyone else.

does anyone else have a major warning for newbies.

[Myown]

hardy -har harrrrrrr..

[mikesimon]

Thanks dad. Mike

[Myown]

I'm using collidal silver now anyhow. Maybe I'll try images or visions or whatever you call it. And maybe yoga too. I heard hep c virons hate yoga. Maybe I'll svr in the middle of a yoga class.

[Myown]

I was going to say that about myself, but I wanted to let you say it cause I know how you like to say things like that. I forgive you my son.

[mikesimon]

You are one to talk with that tiny little treatment you did. Not a lot of perseverance there. Practice what you preach. Mike

[Myown]

I should have said "patience" not perserverence,,,but both actually fit.

[Myown]

Perserverence is all over the bible isn't it? What about Job? I like the way you say Amen. I think you are finding God.

[mikesimon]

It couldn't have been the 4.5 years of treatment I endured. If prayer was that powerful you'd think I might have cleared just a tad earlier. Amen and Amen! .Mike

[Tallahassee]

So interesting...  I remember seeing once in our local newspaper "Tallahassee Democrat" a story about one Family Doctor... the photo was taken in front of her office with framed message on it ... something about "the power of prayer"...  I could not believe my eyes!  If people desire to pray they go to a church, not to a Dr.!

Yes, we need to write a book ... it should be fascinating!!

[Myown]

Boy, did I set myself up for that one :)
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Yes ya sure did. LOL

[Myown]

Anyway, the next day this doctor came into my hospital room and asked me and my Father to join hands with him and he began to pray for me.
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And you are SVR also,,I had the non -praying techs and doctors and I am not SVR..soooooo there.

[mikesimon]

I can beat that. When I bled out the first time my absolute idiot of a doctor diagnosed me as having alcoholic cirrhosis. He didn't even look at my blood work.  All he heard from me was that I drank 4 beers a day. Anyway, the next day this doctor came into my hospital room and asked me and my Father to join hands with him and he began to pray for me. My Father was a doctor and the look he gave me spoke volumes and every word screamed out "we need another doctor now!" I got another one who did read the blood work and diagnosed me as having HCV. I was uninitiated into the world of malpractice before that time but I got educated quickly. So techs aren't the only ones we have to be careful about. Mike

[Myown]

I still called you "Willing"  LOL

[Myown]

I like Willowys50 though so I may just call ya that. LOL

[Myown]

LOL sorry for calling you "Willing50."  yeah I'm real good at remembering what the doc said - I can't even remember a members name - sorry.

CDC called you 8 months later - unreal!

We should all write a book.

[jmjm530]

Boy, did I set myself up for that one :)

[Myown]

That's nothing. I had tech "bless" me or something after a scan. LOL.
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LOL The blessing worked though,,You are SVR!  

[Willy50]

Myown wrote; " ....well their slightly raised but I don't think its anything to worry about."  I played that part of the tape over and over one day for a little while wishing it were true. Thank God I pressed for the Hep C test. "
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That same exact thing happened to me.  I was approved for life insurance, but at a higher rate due to elevated liver enzymes.  When I went to the doctor to find out and to get a HCV test they pooh-poohed me but agreed to it even though it wasn't likely.  The only problems was that they then also neglected to tell me about the results.  The CDC called me about 8 months later with the news. : (

I've had mixed results with these doctor types.  : )

By the way..... I seem to have become an amalgam of a few other members.  : )  In another thread today Willing and Willows were confused with one another.  Next possibility is "Willyows"; sounds like a breakfast cereal.

Willy

[jmjm530]

That's nothing. I had tech "bless" me or something after a scan. LOL.

[Myown]

I agree with everything you said. But even if we have a bit of an understanding - the remembering is still hard. I bring my husband into the room with me for an extra pair of ears but the only thing he knows about hep c is that his wife has it and not to use my toothbush,,,so having him as an extra set of ears doesn't help. My ex holistic doc tells every patient to bring copies of the labs that she has and to also never show up without a tape recorder. I liked that cause I would go home a listen to everything she said and look up stuff on the computer to get a better understanding. The crazy part is that she was the doctor I was seeing when I was trying to figure out why I had some symptoms going on - prior to hep dx. When my liver enzymes came back slighly elevated on 2 occasions she said " well their slightly raised but I don't think its anything to worry about."  I played that part of the tape over and over one day for a little while wishing it were true. Thank God I pressed for the Hep C test.

[Willy50]

I can't remember the percentage (LOL!!) but I've heard that a large percentage of what doctors tell us (or the average patient) during our meetings with them goes in one ear and out the other.  It's not true for all of us but it occurs for a variety of reasons; doctors are in a hurry, use big words, we are in pain, fearful, and perhaps still back on the last sentance trying to decipher what they meant when they are laying some other new bit of info on us that we may also only partially understand.

Even if we had transcripts we still might need clarifications and explanations.  I think if we go in there understanding what they are doing, why, and what the possible outcomes and implications of what they will tell us we have a far better chance of understanding and recalling the info.  I think when we are just so ignorant that they don't have the time to explain it all they just shift to; "just do this, you don't need to understand why."  

We also have some obligation to attempt to learn about our disease, symptoms, and treatments.  They don't have time to tell us everything; that's not their job.  

best,
willy

[Myown]

I have several of these stories. I think we all do, but the latest is a tech that told me my liver looks great (Ultra Sound) but then told me I should put myself on a liver transplant list because I might need a transplant in 20 years if I don't clear the virus. Last year he told me my liver looks great and that I should go get tested to see if I still have hepatitus rather than go thru tx by mistake.  

[mikesimon]

Your post demonstrates why I advise people to never ask a question of a tech or listen to them or even study their expression when they are administering a test. I once had a tech comment that there might be something wrong with my bile duct. I was crazy for 4 days until my Sister, who is in the field, admonished me never to listen to a tech and to put anything she said out of my mind. I saw my surgeon a few days later and he said that my bile ducts were fine - there was no evidence of anything amiss on any of the tests. That did it for me. I won't even ask the radiologist anything about the biopsy sample aside from whether it is of adequate sample size. I have learned through all of the procedures I have had  - always wait for the expert to tell you what's going on and don't listen to anyone else and if a tech blurts something out simply ignore it completely - even if it sounds good. The trouble with technicians is that they don't know what they don't know - that's why they're techs. Mike

[nygirl7]

My doctor made me have both tests.  Unfortunately when the tech told me my ultrasound was "perfect" I MISUNDERSTOOD what that meant and thought i was just fine with no fibrosis. I've seen MANY other people make that same mistake...and refuse the fact that they then needed to followup with a biopsy.

I think doctors need to explain this better - they are different things completely.