Guest guest Posted January 22, 2004 Report Share Posted January 22, 2004 Hi I am new to this group. I was wondering whether I should start the standard treatment for hep C now or wait until I finish chemotherapy for another cancer. My viral load was 14,000 when they caught it, two months later it was 44,000 and four months later it was 200,000. That last test was done three months ago. I finish chemo in March. I am a genotype 1b. The level of scarring is anywhere between a 1 - 3, with two of my doctors agreeing to accept it at 2. My ALT and AST levels have ranged from 2 to 10 times normal since April while on the chemo, more so on the lower end of the scale. I have been told that I should wait until after the chemo to begin treatment. One of the doctors told me that I had acute and should start treatment now. The other doctors agreed that I should wait to treat one terminal illness at a time. My question is: I am nearing the end of the chemotherapy -- come mid march I will be finished. I have a feeling that the viral load will be exponentially worse in two months and hence harder to clear. I have to get rid of this in order to be more agressive with my cancer, which, has not grown back, but it will--it is just a matter of time. What opinions are there for treating now vs in three months? Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 22, 2004 Report Share Posted January 22, 2004 Hi I am new to this group. I was wondering whether I should start the standard treatment for hep C now or wait until I finish chemotherapy for another cancer. My viral load was 14,000 when they caught it, two months later it was 44,000 and four months later it was 200,000. That last test was done three months ago. I finish chemo in March. I am a genotype 1b. The level of scarring is anywhere between a 1 - 3, with two of my doctors agreeing to accept it at 2. My ALT and AST levels have ranged from 2 to 10 times normal since April while on the chemo, more so on the lower end of the scale. I have been told that I should wait until after the chemo to begin treatment. One of the doctors told me that I had acute and should start treatment now. The other doctors agreed that I should wait to treat one terminal illness at a time. My question is: I am nearing the end of the chemotherapy -- come mid march I will be finished. I have a feeling that the viral load will be exponentially worse in two months and hence harder to clear. I have to get rid of this in order to be more agressive with my cancer, which, has not grown back, but it will--it is just a matter of time. What opinions are there for treating now vs in three months? Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 23, 2004 Report Share Posted January 23, 2004 Claudine says it MUCH better than I do. No I'm not with any company, I'm just giving an opinion based on my experiences. The sheet of paper that I got for trials for MY cancer said I could not have any other concurrent conditions. This may be different in your case. I do not know. I'm not familiar with your type of cancer, but many people have battled worse and lived. I'm not gonna sugar coat my answers for you. Cancer doesn't let me do that. I think you've found a good list for hep C, but there's a lot of work ahead of you finding the right specialists and all that jazz. Maybe it would make more sense if you asked yourself if you would do two chemo treatments at the same time? If it were me, I'd be figuring my time... a year at least to recouperate after chemo, a year (49 weeks) of hep c treatment, plus 6 months after completing treatment to see if I am a sustained responder and the viral load is still undetected, so that's approximately 2 1/2 years, then at least 6 months more to recouperate from the hep c treatment (cuz I wasn't in the best of health when I started, remember), so there's 3 years. If I'm clear, then start a trial. If I'm not, then what? Read it one way, it sounds like doom. Read it another way, it sounds like hope. The biggest thing cancer did for me was wake me up. Time was both my enemy and my friend. Find the right doctors, ones that will work with you toward what you want. Then map out a plan with your doctors. Take it one step at a time, one day at a time and don't waste one minute of it. Sorry you think it's all doom and gloom. I'll keep my mouth shut now. Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 23, 2004 Report Share Posted January 23, 2004 Claudine says it MUCH better than I do. No I'm not with any company, I'm just giving an opinion based on my experiences. The sheet of paper that I got for trials for MY cancer said I could not have any other concurrent conditions. This may be different in your case. I do not know. I'm not familiar with your type of cancer, but many people have battled worse and lived. I'm not gonna sugar coat my answers for you. Cancer doesn't let me do that. I think you've found a good list for hep C, but there's a lot of work ahead of you finding the right specialists and all that jazz. Maybe it would make more sense if you asked yourself if you would do two chemo treatments at the same time? If it were me, I'd be figuring my time... a year at least to recouperate after chemo, a year (49 weeks) of hep c treatment, plus 6 months after completing treatment to see if I am a sustained responder and the viral load is still undetected, so that's approximately 2 1/2 years, then at least 6 months more to recouperate from the hep c treatment (cuz I wasn't in the best of health when I started, remember), so there's 3 years. If I'm clear, then start a trial. If I'm not, then what? Read it one way, it sounds like doom. Read it another way, it sounds like hope. The biggest thing cancer did for me was wake me up. Time was both my enemy and my friend. Find the right doctors, ones that will work with you toward what you want. Then map out a plan with your doctors. Take it one step at a time, one day at a time and don't waste one minute of it. Sorry you think it's all doom and gloom. I'll keep my mouth shut now. Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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