Aa
Its Over....Im Done!
I'm a genotype 3a IL28B CT who started TX 9/24/12. My baseline VL was 12 million. No fibrosis...just hepatic steatosis. Anyways...I went into treatment naive in more ways than one. I went with a dump truck infectious disease specialist which was a big no no. He had no idea what he was doing when treating me but on the plus side...he was open to what I wanted to do so in essence...thanks to this site I was able to treat myself. I never had a week 4 PCR so I will never know if I had an RVR. My first PCR was at week 5 in which I was UND. Because I am clinically considered an EVR along with the factors listed above I pushed my doc for longer treatment duration. He was good with it but insurance only gave me 28 weeks. (I wanted to do 36)
Anyways...Im done. And for those who know me...my treatment was no cake walk. I was diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis that may or may not go away. Its like someone said to me though in the beginning...its easier to replace a knee than a liver. That stuck with me and kept me from tapping out. I have been in a lot of pain throughout treatment but now its time to heal. I considered treatment in 2010 but was told by my doc that the new "miracle meds" would be here in a year....I waited to no avail. In that time period I developed severe abdominal pain and nausea. After a colonoscopy, 2 endoscopy's, a pill cam, MRI, CT, and ultrasound...my doc said it had to be the Hep causing my symptoms. I didnt believe it...I figured he was a bum and couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. Well...I just finished treatment and no more abdominal pain or nausea...maybe my doc wasnt a bum.
I only share this because many come here with symptoms they cant explain and the debate over extrahepatic manifestations of HCV have often been talked about. Yes Im walking away with new problems but In all fairness I shouldn't complain about them until I give them a chance to correct....I just finished TX about 3 hours ago.
Thank you to all those that have educated me and offered support.
I offer prayers to those still in treatment, waiting for transplants, relapsers, and those who achieved SVR. May God strengthen you on all your journeys.
Evan
Anyways...Im done. And for those who know me...my treatment was no cake walk. I was diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis that may or may not go away. Its like someone said to me though in the beginning...its easier to replace a knee than a liver. That stuck with me and kept me from tapping out. I have been in a lot of pain throughout treatment but now its time to heal. I considered treatment in 2010 but was told by my doc that the new "miracle meds" would be here in a year....I waited to no avail. In that time period I developed severe abdominal pain and nausea. After a colonoscopy, 2 endoscopy's, a pill cam, MRI, CT, and ultrasound...my doc said it had to be the Hep causing my symptoms. I didnt believe it...I figured he was a bum and couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. Well...I just finished treatment and no more abdominal pain or nausea...maybe my doc wasnt a bum.
I only share this because many come here with symptoms they cant explain and the debate over extrahepatic manifestations of HCV have often been talked about. Yes Im walking away with new problems but In all fairness I shouldn't complain about them until I give them a chance to correct....I just finished TX about 3 hours ago.
Thank you to all those that have educated me and offered support.
I offer prayers to those still in treatment, waiting for transplants, relapsers, and those who achieved SVR. May God strengthen you on all your journeys.
Evan
I just so happened to re-read your post and if you had not said you knew little about Hepatitis C I would never have believed it! You have learned so much in a short period. Plus as you see there is not a lot of experience on here with Genotype 3 and I have been glad there is finally someone who can share real life insight and experience.
Thank you Pooh...and thank you for always being there when I had a question. Ive learned an awful lot from you!
Congratulations on finishing Tx. I know treatment was no picnic for you but you stuck with it and never complained. Here's hoping that you attain the prize, SVR. You have learned a lot about Hep C and have helped many people. You are an asset to the forum and I hope you stick around too. Best of luck!
My last day of Riba was yesterday (Sunday) but I had my EOT labs on Friday because I didnt want to wait until Monday. I will definitely be posting my lab results as well as the 12 and 24 week post treatment labs....Im praying to join the SVR club!
I appreciate everything you had to say. I dont know if you remember or not but back in December I posted a thread about low ANC and rescue meds. I didnt know much about HCV at the time. Anyways, you responded to that thread and posted an excerpt from a Melissa Palmer M.D. book called "Hepatitis and Liver Disease". Anyways, I bought the book and it kicked off my desire to learn more about Hep C. It was....IS...a great book and I thank you for providing me with that info.
I appreciate everything you had to say. I dont know if you remember or not but back in December I posted a thread about low ANC and rescue meds. I didnt know much about HCV at the time. Anyways, you responded to that thread and posted an excerpt from a Melissa Palmer M.D. book called "Hepatitis and Liver Disease". Anyways, I bought the book and it kicked off my desire to learn more about Hep C. It was....IS...a great book and I thank you for providing me with that info.
Congratulations! I did not realize you were this far along.
Do you mean today is your last Riba and you have EOT labs?
I hope you stick around and keep us posted with your 12 & 24 week SVR labs. Plus as you probably have seen by now there are not many Geno 3s around here who know as much as you! You might have to change from Acting Brand New to Seasoned Vet :)
Best of luck :)
Do you mean today is your last Riba and you have EOT labs?
I hope you stick around and keep us posted with your 12 & 24 week SVR labs. Plus as you probably have seen by now there are not many Geno 3s around here who know as much as you! You might have to change from Acting Brand New to Seasoned Vet :)
Best of luck :)
can-do-man - Ive always appreciated your posts and have learned a lot from them...thank you for the feedback.
Reid - looking forward to lunch my friend
Kitty - Everything you just said to me...and saying back to you. Cant wait to read your EOT post!
Thank you all for the kind words...
Reid - looking forward to lunch my friend
Kitty - Everything you just said to me...and saying back to you. Cant wait to read your EOT post!
Thank you all for the kind words...
Congratulations on finishing tx and being your own advocate in essentially treating yourself. You've made it to the finish line and survived.
Thank you for the post. It gives ones like me hope while we are still undergoing our tx and makes putting up with sx a bit easier being reminded that there is an end in sight.
All the best to you and I look forward to post declaring you are SVR!
Thank you for the post. It gives ones like me hope while we are still undergoing our tx and makes putting up with sx a bit easier being reminded that there is an end in sight.
All the best to you and I look forward to post declaring you are SVR!
Congrats on finishing your tx! I hope you stick around and help others like you have in the past. Off to SVRland :)
Congrats and thank you for the information and support you've provided these past weeks. I'm looking forward to learning you are SVR!
I've been waiting for this. What a sport you are. With out you I might of folded during my weird week. You gave a lot to this forum. Im so happy for you!! I'm going to pray for all the rest of those side effects to be "gone". Congratulations again !!!!!! You'll always be in my heart!!!! Kitty
You made it! Not that I ever thought you'd quit. I'm really happy for you and thank you for all the support, knowledge, humor and inspiration you've shared with me and the forum.
The comment about the doc being a bum had me rolling. Looking forward to that lunch when we're both healed up. Reid
The comment about the doc being a bum had me rolling. Looking forward to that lunch when we're both healed up. Reid
Congrats on finishing, always been impressed on how you handled treatment and how fast you picked up on treating Hep C... I would also guess you were und at week 4 and them extra weeks was just a nail in the dragons heart........ We get a fair share of genotype 3's here, hope you stick around..... Best to you.
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Hepatitis Social Community
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Condoms are the most effective way to prevent HIV and STDs.
PrEP is used by people with high risk to prevent HIV infection.
