Blood Work

[bob528]

Hi everyone, just got back from a new GI dr. with an attitude. My blood work showed that my alt and ast levels were in range. Out of range was my ammonia levels 89,MCH 34 high(whatever that means) IGG serum 1858(have no idea)high. He had an attitude when I wanted a copy of my bloodwork. I informed him that I was concerned because 2 years ago I had stage 3 fibosis and was woried about being cirhotic,that I had been treated and failed aafter 29 weeks of SOC before they stopped me because I didn't become undetectable.I was looking foward to try and go on the new triple therapy but het thinks I should wait till they come out with an interferon free treatment.Can I have cirhosis with these numbers. He said no. I thought that alt and ast numbers weren't true markers of how bad your liver really is. Any suggestions. How come Dr.s treat you like you have the plague when you telll them you have Hep C.

[bob528]

Thanks for the information. So if I'm out of range, Have high levels of igg and mch what exactly does that mean. I guess it's not a good thing. Keep me informed. Thank-You

                                                                                         Bob528

[cheesenrice]

easl - european association for the study of the liver - one of several yearly conferences worldwide

cco - clinical care options - www.clinicaloptions.com - at cco the easl and aasld are discussed at length

igg - immunoglobulin g antibodies - A group of antibodies against certain viral infections

mch - mean corpuscular hemoglobin - the average mass of hemoglobin per red blood cell in a sample of blood

that dr sounds like a duck - quack - quackpot

[bob528]

Hi Aarron,
                 Thanks for your advice, I'm kind of new at this so I'm a little confused. I did some homework and found from the HCV advocate that they are in clinical trials for a fast track for an interferon free treatment. I'm probably going to do some more testing to see if I could wait it out.Might go back to my previous GI Dr. who treated me or look for someone else. Unfortunately there are no hepatologists where I live so I might have to travel to get a good Dr. who treats many patients for Hep c. Also, what is the EASL 2011 and CCO and how do I log on to them? Do you also know what IGG serum is and MCH stands for? Keep in touch.

                                                                                  Bob

[Aaron57]

Hi Bob, Welcome to the forum,

Might be time to think about finding a different doc, since this one is new to you ... Good to get a second opinion anyways ... They should give you a copy of your CBC's if you request them ... some Docs have crappy attitudes & you sure wouldn't want to treat with someone like that,
Unless ... he is recognized as being a very well respected HepC doc who has treated 1000's of folks .. then bedside manner wouldn't be an issue .... for me ...

I don't know how he could be so sure your fibrosis has not progressed without more testing  ??  High ammonia levels now and Stage 3 fibrosis 2 years ago .. might warrant further liver diagnosis at this time, but as you must realize .. no one here is a doctor.

If I understand correctly, the new meds are Inf/Riba based .. good for Tx naive and relapsers, but for soc null responders they might not be the best choice ...
If you have time to wait for the next generation drugs .. maybe check your liver again and then make a decision ?

Also, if you look around here or at the EASL 2011 or CCO (Clinical Care Options - free registration) website you can find the Clinical Trial results for Telaprevir and Boceprevir .. There are many ... they will give the odds of success with the new meds that best fits your case.

Sorry to hear about your dilemma & Good luck! Aaron