Dr Appt. today

[truredhead]

Ok I went to this gastro doc that just HAD to do an endoscopy when I first seen him a few months ago. He said since I only have medicare and medicaid that the only thing I could approved was the solvaldii with inteferon for 6 months and that is with doing the injections. Not 12 weeks, the double that 6 months. He said just come back in three months and we will see if anything new is approved. Does that sound right? I am 1A and 5 yrs ago my biopsy was 1-2. I had no varices and no tumor marker, it was 5. should I wait or find another doctor? Thks for all feedback. The procedure he done cost 6000 dollars which 300 was my payment on it. That hurts financially.

[HectorSF]

Find another doctor that knows the proper treatment protocols for hepatitis C. This gastro is wasting both your time and money. If you can, find a gastroenterology department at a nearby major hospital. They should be aware of all of the quickly changing treatment protocols for hepatitis C.

Good luck!
Hector

[truredhead]

Hector thank you so much for replying to my post. You know so much about this terrible disease and I always read your replys to posts. I feel the same way about this doctor. I called my office where my first doc that moved out of state was and they told me that there is a doc who took her place. She is an infection disease doctor and the office is in a hospital. It is not a teaching hospital but I live in a smaller place in NW Indiana. Chicago is 50 miles from me and the traffic in and out on I-94 is horrible. Anyway the new doc is nice and I like her except she wants another liver biopsy since it has been 5 years but I went and done some blood work for her yesterday. I think that medicare with a Humana drug supplement should get me the meds, if not I will just wait until Northwestern Hospital in Chicago has some new trials, right now they do not have any going on, I am not looking forward to a biopsy because the last one was hard on me, but I can handle it to get this hep c treated and defeated!

[GrammyA]

How far are you from Champaign Illinois???  My Dr. here is the absolute BEST - he goes to symposiums all over the world staying on top of all the new treatments and knows Hep C inside and out.  I have had this disease all my life and he was a God send when I found him.  For ANY of you needing top notch treatment please consider Dr. Batey in Champaign IL.  He is a true Hepatologist and has patients driving from Chicago to see him!

[truredhead]

I am way to far from Champaign, I knew that sounded familiar so I looked and I go through there when I go home to Tulsa. It is West and South from here, I am right up in the NW corner of Indiana. Thanks anyway! I am trying to get back to Tulsa to live which is a much bigger place than where I live now, They have a good Teaching hospital there which is affiliated with Oklahoma State University. Guess while I am here I will see an infectious disease doctor. I am hoping to somehow get the money to move home to Tulsa. I want to get treated so badly because I just turned 60 and I would like to get some energy to have a better life! You have to watch out for some of the doctors I guess I feel this gastro doc was not in my corner. I think the recomended treatment for 1A is 12 weeks with the three meds. And not 6 months with injections but I may be wrong.

[nan535]

You are right - unless you are interferon ineligible - the correct treatment for geno1A is sovaldi-interferon-ribavirin for 12 weeks. This is according to the new HCV guidelines. update 3/21/14
http://www.hcvguidelines.org/fullreport  page 31

Best of luck to you.
Nan

[truredhead]

I knew that the doctor was telling me wrong. I guess he does not want to mess with a medicaid/medicare patient. I feel like calling his nurse back and tell her that I found out different. I have this new infectious disease doc but she wants another biopsy done. I will have to think about this. I may be able to wait for newer meds but being on medicare that may not be a fast approval anyway so maybe I should go for the 12 week treatment. I have so little energy now. I do not know it it is from the fibro or hep c. And sometimes I think maybe it is all hep c? I was dx with both around the same time. I have had to have the hep 20 years or more. Thks for your feedback and you all are awesome!