6 mos SVR

6 mos post tx - NO Hep C
My transplant visit went well and I got that call! I remember my first happy dance with UND call in August '11.
I browsed old posts and kinda relived our journey. I still see a lot of folks names. Got me weepy. Some things never change. Like great friends who stick together through a hard time.

hgb is 13.7 with NO procrit. lol
plt is 63 but clotting time is good
alt 30
ast 37
A few things are low like wbc etc. But I only had 5 that were hi or lo. A far cry from 6 mos ago.

I transferred to a smaller rural school system..... near the 3 acre farm I share with my husband!! Yes, I married that sweet guy who stayed with me through treatment! I had to wait and see if I lived. Really. After my bleedout and seeing him sitting there in ICU, I knew if I made it, he was the one.
To encourage newbies starting, I made it through 45 weeks (or maybe 43?) before a varices bleed. Lots of transfusions and rescue drugs throughout triple therapy w/ Incivik.
End stage liver disease upon diagnosis. I'm still being seen every 6 months by transplant team, but they say I won't need one unless I just give up on healthy lifestyle and nutrition.
Good luck to everyone who is in treatment now, or hoping to treat. For those of us on the other side.... we freaking did it!!!
Still doing the happy dance. Got me some new hot pink high heels!
Karen :)
P.S. "Walked" another 5 K yesterday. 48 minutes. That's what I'm talking about. Napped today. haha!

[hdkash]

You are an inspiration! Congratulations!

[coeric]

thanks so much for sharing your great news, both the SVR and the wedding. !!! how great is that!!!
i am almost 9 weeks post treatment.  
blessings
eric

[Dawn703]

Wow I love hearing these types of stories. CONGRATS!

[James10500]

Like

[rivll]

What a wonderful ending to your suffering. I have often thought about you and wondered how you were doing.
This is the best news ever!
I am so happy for you. Now you have the life you so well deserve.
Hugs to you!

[orphanedhawk]

Thank you for posting. I recall what a rough time you had yet stayed upbeat through it all.
Hurray, you did it !
Congrats and oceans of hugs/

[hrsepwrguy]

Congrats Karen, all great news !!!!

Wishing you all the best
Keith

[can-do-man]

Congrats all around, when the going got tough, well you got tougher.

[Advocate1955]

So happy for you!  Enjoy!
Advocate1955

[BoceprevirGal]

  Whew-hooo!!  You were amazingly brave during your Tx difficulty, and I had such a strong feeling you would clear and achieve SVR...you did it!  Also congrats on your new marriage, job, and farm-house :)

[pooh55811]

Congratulations, Karen!  I am so happy for you. Enjoy every minute of your new Hep C free life.

This quote describes your attitude, perseverance, and determination:

"When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  

I think you have a few hundred knots in your rope, maybe a few thousand.  Despite  major medical complications and side effects, you fought tooth and nail to stay on treatment and to successfully complete treatment. Every time you had another setback or another complication, you just tied more knots in your rope and hung on. You are truly an inspiration to all of us.

Wishing you the very best.

[HectorSF]

Hey... congrats on the marriage. :-)

Congratulations on your SVR!
Boy if anyone paid their dues, you did. Your anemia and platelet counts were brutal. So glad you were able to beat the virus when you did. That was close and scary. Glad you can still hang on to the liver you were born with. I am hoping to hear your liver disease is improving over time now that the hep C is it injuring your liver any more.

Plenty of platelets as you said, and good INR/PT you should be fine. I have had platelets under 70,000 since 2007. With good clotting factors. No problema.
[Although I just found out that on my current treatment with GS-7977 + ribavirin my platelet count has gone from 57,000 to 89,000! Wow. This treatment actually raises platelet count? Who would have thunk it? How bizarre. Many cirrhotics like yourself need Promacta (Eltrombopag) or transfusions with current treatments when their already low platelet counts get rocked by peg-INF.]

Remember to be good to your liver and watch the portal hypertension. Remember you still have cirrhosis so don't do any Olympic weight lifting. ;-)

Much healing to you!
Fanfreakentastic!!!

凸 (^_^)  凸

H

[flcyclist]

Yeah Karen!!! Isn't life grand?  You bring big smiles with this great news.  You've had such a tough journey and always kept such a positive attitude.   Enjoy each day to its fullest with your hubby.  So happy for you.  Take care my friend.  

[belle19]

karen, you had such a difficult time while on tx.  i'm so happy for you!!!  you totally deserve it.  enjoy your new hep c free life as well as your new husband.  best wishes.  belle

[kittyluvr420]

Congratulations!

[GINGERPAL]

Wonderful news.  Congratulations on your new life !   I wish you all the best....gingerpal

[working dog]

nice work karen!

[Diana66]

Congratulations on both SVR and your marriage !!! Fantastic news, what else is possible!!!

[gene53]

Glad to hear this Karen, Congrats
Gene

[willbb]

Congrats Karen! Stay well..

Will

[srw920]

Congratulations!  This is wonderful news.

[Jillybean65]

Wow!!!!  I'm so incredibly happy reading all of this.  What a total inspiration you have been.  

Enjoy your new found life and best wishes to the both of you!

Jill

[1swimmer]

So good, to hear the good news.
Have a happy life and thanx for sharing the results.
She battled and she won, whooo-hooo!
C

[crossroadsec]

Wow. Seeing all your names makes me want to surf and read YOUR updates. Idk if any of you had struggles post tx. I've had my share. My daughter was exhausted w/ me. We're mending. I was a lot of work. My body is stronger in many ways. New aches and pains to deal with tho.
I assume many of you are experiencing the same. The tx itself taught us to "tie a knot" though. Thanks pooh and all of you. Some of you had it really rough and I truly hope you're seeing some relief.
My thought of the day:
We are the sky
endlessly blue w/ the sun shining.
Everything else?
It's just the weather.
We've all seen, and are living with the horrible effects of a monstrous disease. But above all of that is our hopeful heart, looking to hang onto this precious life.
I love you. Karen :)

[frijole]

What an uplifting post, Karen.  I often marveled that you persisted but you did and the results are wonderful to hear.  I do hope the liver continues to improve.

Getting married and changing to a rural school. Those both sound like life-changing decisions and stress reducers.  (well, marriage can be a stress inducer, but he sounds like a keeper)

I am in the process of updating statistics but have not posted them in my profile yet.  Still trying to get some more info but hope to update them maybe this weekend.

take care, bean

[his3707]

You Did it!  Yes you sure did!  Congratulations to you and wishing you a happy wonderful future!

[Ironpony]

Karen readng this put the biggest smile on my face! So very happy for you, congratulations!

Laura