Guest guest Posted February 23, 2003 Report Share Posted February 23, 2003 I'm so sorry to hear about your biopsy. Unfortunately there are many dr's who have no clue how to give one of these. I would suggest you get a copy of all your lab work and your biopsy report from Adolph and do a little Dr shopping. If you are only Stage 1 Grade 1, he is right in that you really don't need to do the treatment at this point. Interferon is all there is, and all there is going to be for at least 5 more years. Also, it looks like no matter what else they come up with down the road, interferon is going to the included in the treatment. While the side can be debilitating, not everyone has real bad ones. The only way you have of knowing is to go on the treatment and see what happens. It takes approx 20 years for most people to get into any real serious liver damage. Many people never get any further than some fibrosis, Stage 3. This is a very slow moving disease in most cases. You need to find out what your Genotype is. That may help you decide on treatment or not. Genotype 1 does not respond well to the treatment but Genotype 2 and 3 seem to do great. Treatment has been shown to reverse some liver damage but at this stage you don't have any. HepC is a virus, and they have never cured a virus to date. The treatment can put the virus into remission for up to 5 yrs, if not longer. None of the tests for the virus go all the way down to zero so the best we can hope for is an Undetected viral load. The newest Pegalated treatments seem to have a better response rate than any of the others. It would help if you had a Viral Load test done. (HCV RNA PCR QUANTITATIVE) This will give you a starting point and will tell you how much virus is in your system. Contact your insurance company and ask them to give you some more options in the way of a liver specialist. They usually carry more than one on their lists so they may be able to help you find a better dr. As for the beers... The researchers don't know how much alcohol is TOO much so they recommend that we just do not drink at all. Alcohol to HepC is like gasoline is to fire. You have no liver damage at this time, so why risk causing any? There are non-alcoholic beers out there that you may want to try, but even those have a small amount of alcohol. Don't take the meds you have unless you plan to continue with the 24 month regime. Also, don't do treatment without the full consent and knowledge of a dr. You need lab work to monitor how the treatment is going. Your wife has tested negative and that is wonderful. She will not need further testing, but you need to take some precautions. If you cut yourself, cover the injury completely with a bandaid until it is fully healed. If you drip blood onto a surface, clean it up with bleach. Some say diluting the bleach is a good idea, but why risk it? I use pure bleach to be certain it has killed any virus that may be on the counter. As long as you and your wife do not have blood to blood contact of any kind, she will not require constant testing and it isn't recommended. I hope all this info helps you. If you need help finding a new dr in your area let me know where your area is and I'll see what I can come up with! LeighAnn http://www.geocities.com/1Leighann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 23, 2003 Report Share Posted February 23, 2003 Izzy, Milk thistle does nothing for the HepC or for the liver damage. It has been shown to keep the liver enzymes in a normal range and many people with HepC take it. As for the silver - hoax. This is a virus. There are no cures for any viruses out there. Herbal remedies are very questionable and can be very dangerous to the liver. None of them have EVER been proven to erradicate the virus or reverse liver damage. Lots of people take them to help with symptoms. If you choose this route, be SURE you know what you are taking and that your dr knows as well. The depression is normal. We all go through our own type of grieving process with this disease. Guilt, depression, denial, then finally anger and acceptance. Once you hit anger...you are on the home stretch to acceptance and ready to tackle this thing!! Hope this helps! LeighAnn http://www.geocities.com/1Leighann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 1, 2009 Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 Izzy, I also read your letter on your stress test day.? For some to go through that it would have been extreamly stressful but it sounds like you handled it very well and with minimal stress.? Certainly it was a long day for you and I am glad it is behind you and that you are moving on. I hope you get your results soon.? The wait after the test is difficult when it takes them a while to get back with you.? Thank you for taking the time to write about your experience. Veri & Jaye 15 poly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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