Hi everybody!

[Guest guest]

Michele,

Yep, that same thing happened me. The oxygen is no respecter of body parts!

I really got smaller feet when I used the Body Wrap system on them. Life is

great, wouldn't you say?!

sincerely,

Tami

[Guest guest]

I'm doing pretty good here..14 days post-op now

(surgery June 15th). I've got good news and bad

news...but I need to be brief here.

The surgery ended up being worse than I expected. It

was 8 hours not 5 and they needed to take bone for the

fusion from my front hip area, which is what has been

causing me the most pain. I have three incisions that

are healing well. I ended up with a yeast infection

and oral thrush.

I had a terrible case of itching from the narcotics (I

think. I was spending hours scratching like a street

junkie you'd see in a bad TV movie. I don't think they

knew what to do for me. That first day and a half are

kind of a blur...I absolutely hated being in the ICU.

All I wanted to do was sleep which was impossible for

me in the ICU because it was so incredibly noisy. My

mom agreed with me so I don't think I imagined it. I

had a little screaming fit at one point and brought

out a few big nasty words about it being too noisy.

After that they finally slid the glass doors shut

which helped a bit.

I was much happier in a regular room and much happier

once off the pain pump which I think was the third

afternoon. I did better with the Oxycotin/Oxycodone

combination which I am still taking.

I had some big issues with the nursing care which I am

hesitant to write about here.

I think the surgery went well. I already can tell that

I am just as flexible as I was going in. I am walking

a bit...not as much as I would like to be walking,

but I'm starting to increase that and decrease the

pain meds.

My first week home from the hospital I slept. This was

great...but took some work (organizing my daughter,

hiding from the phone calls, etc.)

Hope all of you are doing well. Ann

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Ooh, Ann, it is soooooo good to hear from you! I should have told you. Any

time you know you are going to be taking antibiotics in any form you should

ingest a lot of yogurt or, in pill form, take acidolphilous. I'm not sure if

I spelled it right, but it has solved all the yeasty and some other problems

for me. I now take it daily, no matter what.

I am so glad that you are home and it is over. Isn't that the BEST?!!

I am so sorry to hear that you had any problems, and glad to hear that you

found your voice and yelled! I'll be eager to hear more from you.

My VERY best to you, to and to your mother,

Carole

[Guest guest]

Ann,

So good to hear from you! It's a relief to know that you're doing

well,

overall, but am sorry to hear you had more problems than you

anticipated. Will wait til you're up to a more detailed post about

your complications.

I was at NEBH on the 21st to give blood and spent a good deal of

time

trying to hunt you down. Turns out you had been recently discharged.

When are you going in for your second stage, or are you? I may be

getting you and Margaret's surgeries mixed up.

I'll be in Boston again next week and will probably stay overnight

in a hotel close by the hospital. I'm giving blood on the 6th and

having my preop testing the 7th. Testing starts at 7 a.m. and

finishes up around 4. This banking of blood once a week makes me

feel pretty tired the day of, so I figure I'll save myself the hour

or so drive and take it easy. Then I won't have to sweat getting up

so early the next day to make the drive again.

I'd love to stop in at some point for a quickie visit

if you're up to it, but totally understand if you're not. I could

pick up some take-out, bring you a movie or some books, or if

there's anything

else you need help with... anyway, you can email me directly at

Diannnes@..., and let me know.

Take it easy, Ann, take care of yourself, and stuff that phone in a

drawer or at the bottom of a brimming laundry basket! (Just had my

fusion class yesterday and learned of the no laundry, housework,

lifting or cooking for 4 to 6 weeks post-op. rule)

You're in my thoughts. All my best, Dianne

> I'm doing pretty good here..14 days post-op now

> (surgery June 15th). I've got good news and bad

> news...but I need to be brief here.

>

> The surgery ended up being worse than I expected. It

> was 8 hours not 5 and they needed to take bone for the

> fusion from my front hip area, which is what has been

> causing me the most pain. I have three incisions that

> are healing well. I ended up with a yeast infection

> and oral thrush.

>

> I had a terrible case of itching from the narcotics (I

> think. I was spending hours scratching like a street

> junkie you'd see in a bad TV movie. I don't think they

> knew what to do for me. That first day and a half are

> kind of a blur...I absolutely hated being in the ICU.

> All I wanted to do was sleep which was impossible for

> me in the ICU because it was so incredibly noisy. My

> mom agreed with me so I don't think I imagined it. I

> had a little screaming fit at one point and brought

> out a few big nasty words about it being too noisy.

> After that they finally slid the glass doors shut

> which helped a bit.

>

> I was much happier in a regular room and much happier

> once off the pain pump which I think was the third

> afternoon. I did better with the Oxycotin/Oxycodone

> combination which I am still taking.

>

> I had some big issues with the nursing care which I am

> hesitant to write about here.

>

> I think the surgery went well. I already can tell that

> I am just as flexible as I was going in. I am walking

> a bit...not as much as I would like to be walking,

> but I'm starting to increase that and decrease the

> pain meds.

>

> My first week home from the hospital I slept. This was

> great...but took some work (organizing my daughter,

> hiding from the phone calls, etc.)

>

> Hope all of you are doing well. Ann

>

> __________________________________________________

>

[Guest guest]

Ann,

It's so good to hear from you post op. I hope you start feeling better and

better.

I know what you mean about the ICU. I hated it and came to dread it

horrifically! I have mentioned some of my own " nursing care issues " in past

posts to this list. Maybe if enough of us inform hospitals about our problems

with the care in a constructive way, things can start to change. (I need to take

my own advice and return the patient-survey questionnaire they sent me after my

discharge.)

I also found the pain pump problematic. I could never stay awake long enough to

remember to dose myself (despite the irksome lack of any kind of restful

atmosphere). I did not get any narcotic-itches, but I sure got plenty of itches

during my weeks of endless allergic symptoms from vancomycin. I hope they gave

you something to counteract the itch.

My ICU experiences still seem like some kind of nightmare. I was actually kind

of terrified to have my fourth operation this year -- simply because I dreaded

the ICU, which gave me such a Hitchcock-Twilight Zone feeling. (I think we are

especially vulnerable to bad experiences when we are still dopey after general

anesthesia -- mundane nastiness and routine negligence can start to seem

" ominous " or " woo-woo-weird " when you are already struggglint to get all your

mental faculties up and running.)

Please take good care of yourself and do whatever you can for some genuine

enjoyment, whether that's reading a thriller or watching some great TV or

disconnecting your phone. Ask for the help you need, too -- don't be shy.

Especially make sure you do all you can to protect that new fusion. (I say this

ruefully, having somehow developed a hairline fracture without even knowing it,

precipitating my emergency fourth

operation. Luckily I managed to bypass the ICU for the first time -- what joy

to wake up in a regular hospital room, surrounded by family. Although I am told

I was a witch on wheels for the first 24 hours. " But don't worry, Mom, that's

just how you always are after your spinal fusions! " Thankfully, I have

near-total amnesia for the loud and crabby complaints I apparently dumped on my

loved ones pretty much nonstop until my head cleared.

Thanks so much for keeping us posted.

Best,

---- Original Message -----

From: Ann

Sent: Wednesday, June 30, 2004 12:08 PM

Subject: Re: Hi Everybody!

I'm doing pretty good here..14 days post-op now

(surgery June 15th). I've got good news and bad

news...but I need to be brief here.

The surgery ended up being worse than I expected. It

was 8 hours not 5 and they needed to take bone for the

fusion from my front hip area, which is what has been

causing me the most pain. I have three incisions that

are healing well. I ended up with a yeast infection

and oral thrush.

I had a terrible case of itching from the narcotics (I

think. I was spending hours scratching like a street

junkie you'd see in a bad TV movie. I don't think they

knew what to do for me. That first day and a half are

kind of a blur...I absolutely hated being in the ICU.

All I wanted to do was sleep which was impossible for

me in the ICU because it was so incredibly noisy. My

mom agreed with me so I don't think I imagined it. I

had a little screaming fit at one point and brought

out a few big nasty words about it being too noisy.

After that they finally slid the glass doors shut

which helped a bit.

I was much happier in a regular room and much happier

once off the pain pump which I think was the third

afternoon. I did better with the Oxycotin/Oxycodone

combination which I am still taking.

I had some big issues with the nursing care which I am

hesitant to write about here.

I think the surgery went well. I already can tell that

I am just as flexible as I was going in. I am walking

a bit...not as much as I would like to be walking,

but I'm starting to increase that and decrease the

pain meds.

My first week home from the hospital I slept. This was

great...but took some work (organizing my daughter,

hiding from the phone calls, etc.)

Hope all of you are doing well. Ann

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Hi Ann!!! I am sooo happy to hear from you. I know you are so happy

to have it all over, but sorry to hear about the not so wonderful

nursing care. We all look forward to hearing more from you when you

are up to it. Baby yourself, try to let let everyone just take care

of you. Hope you are feeling better with each passing day. Keep us

updated!!

[Guest guest]

Hey, Ann,

The big picture is that I'm so glad to know that you are home, it is over,

and you survived! Don't you just hate hearing that? The problem is that it

is true. I know nothing about revision surgery of any kind, never having had

any. I do know that my new friend sounds feisty again! Keep it up! It is

OK to be weepy or whatever, as long as the meds take away the pain! Sounds to

me that you are being too hard on yourself! Little by little things will

get better. I do know that I have had lots of abdominal surgery (not anterior

back surgery) and although the pain is at first fierce, it also backs off

rather quickly.

So, my friend, hang in there! Have you been able to " do the steps " to get

out at all? When you can get out, I'll bet you'll feel better. Just don't go

down until you know you can get back up, right?

Please take care, be good to yourself, and know that we all are rooting for

you. I hope that you will be very happy that you had this done!

Sincerely,

Carole M. (the elder)

[Guest guest]

Yeah, Ann, what she said!

Re: Hi Everybody!

Hey, Ann,

The big picture is that I'm so glad to know that you are home, it is over,

and you survived! Don't you just hate hearing that? The problem is that it

is true. I know nothing about revision surgery of any kind, never having had

any. I do know that my new friend sounds feisty again! Keep it up! It is

OK to be weepy or whatever, as long as the meds take away the pain! Sounds

to

me that you are being too hard on yourself! Little by little things will

get better. I do know that I have had lots of abdominal surgery (not

anterior

back surgery) and although the pain is at first fierce, it also backs off

rather quickly.

So, my friend, hang in there! Have you been able to " do the steps " to get

out at all? When you can get out, I'll bet you'll feel better. Just don't

go

down until you know you can get back up, right?

Please take care, be good to yourself, and know that we all are rooting for

you. I hope that you will be very happy that you had this done!

Sincerely,

Carole M. (the elder)

[Guest guest]

Sharon,

You are so funny! LOL! LOL! I love your sense of humor!

Carole

[Guest guest]

Mike...

It's good to hear from you. Were you able to find a surgeon in the

referral section??? I believe Dr. Katz would be a good choice, and I'm

sure will chime in with the name of her surgeon!

I'm sorry you've been having so many problems with your " A " but I'm glad

to hear that you are finally ready to see a surgeon.

Take care and try not to be such a stranger...well I have been too, so I

understand.

Stay in touch and please keep us updated and you better let us know when

you get your surgery date!!!

Sandi

Hi everybody!

Remember me? Sorry I haven't been around lately. Been having a

tough time with A, work and school. I just pooped on to check the

referral section. It's time...... I'm aiming for right after the

semester ends to have my surgery. Guess I need to call a surgeon,

huh? LMAO OK, so anyway... I miss you all, it's been tooooo long.

I'll make it a point to be a more frequent visitor!

Love you all!

Mikey (insert witty phrase here)

[Guest guest]

Yes, yes....I'm chiming in. Dr. Fowler of NY Presbyterian. I like

him enough to recommend him. He's seems like a serious guy, but you

don't what a comedian doing your surgery anyway. He's a good surgeon

and you don't even have to ask to speak to one of his former patients

cuz you got one right here! I'm still doing very well and it's been

over 6 months. Actually, it's been a year since I've been diagnosed.

Funny to think of where I was a year ago....dreading the holidays.

Now, I'm worried about eating TOO much! Don't need the extra holiday

weight with me on my cruise this Dec...lol.

Anyway, good to hear from you Mikey. Sorry you're having a tough

time. " A " can get in the way of everything. Hopefully, this is the

kick in the butt you need to see a surgeon, even if it's just a

consultation. Please, find the time.

Check in more often mister!

in NYC (aka princapessa)

PS: I hope you didn't actually " poop " on the referral section and

that you popped in instead...lmao!

>

> Remember me? Sorry I haven't been around lately. Been having a

> tough time with A, work and school. I just pooped on to check the

> referral section. It's time...... I'm aiming for right after the

> semester ends to have my surgery. Guess I need to call a surgeon,

> huh? LMAO OK, so anyway... I miss you all, it's been tooooo

long.

> I'll make it a point to be a more frequent visitor!

>

> Love you all!

>

> Mikey (insert witty phrase here)

[Guest guest]

This chat group gives you a data base (it's stored in the main qxci-english home page), but you have to pull it all together yourself and as you have seen by reading these it is time consuming. Many of us have donated these protocols (once on the group they are open to the public).

As to the probes, these are relatively new, us dinosaurs only had the head harness to use and we put it on the area of concern. The attachments just give you more control over the area and reduce the inconvenience of moving the harness.

Yours in Health,

Kathy

Hi everybody!

Hi:

I am new to the group and just 2 months ago I bought my SCIO which I am still training to get the best of it and to be able to give the best to my clients.

I would like to suggest to create a Protocols data-base where we can share the ones that have been usefull and successfull in our experience.

I already found some for anxiety, depression... does someone has more? I need to treat my mother who is loosing his eye, due to a retine problem and I dont want to do something wrong.

Another client wants me to help her in all beauty aspects as face lift, breast enlargement, etc. Do I need the point probes to help her? If I dont have the point probes, will it help if I put the head strap around the body area to treat?

Thanks for your help and I am really excited to this new and wonderfull technology.

Best Regards

Corral

[Guest guest]

, Congratulations! You'll love Dr. A. and his entire team...They are wonderful as is the hospital...And you'll love the band... Just think, in just 6 days you'll cross over to the losing side...It's a great time in your life...Time to take control...It's such a great journey, one of learning...Feel free to ask any and all questions...We have some very wise folks on this site...If you feel something funny or different you can bet your paycheck someone else has already been there and done that... Take care and welcome to the losing side... Rena DOB: 9/26/06 204/163/135deckhand5305 <boomvang@...> wrote: Hello,My name is . I am a 52 year old man who is scheuaded for surgury onMonday the 26th of February with Dr. Aceves. I want to thank everyone inthis group for helping me make the decision to have the surgury, and,helping me decide on the right surgacal team to preform the operation. Iam still a little aprehensive, however thsat is normal I'm sure, I amconfident everything will go according to plan. I am looking forward togetting to know all of you as our journey continues.

Never miss an email again! Toolbar alerts you the instant new Mail arrives. Check it out.

[Guest guest]

Hey (((Gavi))) and (((Sharon))) and everyone else that I haven't seen posting in awhile! SO COOL! :-) As always, Gavriela has an excellent calm way of posting that helps clarify things and settle them down. I remember when this group was so out of control because there wasn't a moderator that people stopped coming except to argue and put obnoxious posts here that couldn't be deleted so I do hope that isn't going to happen anymore now that a moderator is back. Thank you Scarlet!

We all have our opinions and we should be able to share them like adults do :-) Here is my two cents! LOL

Treatment almost killed me in 1999. I wound up in intensive care for a month, on life support for 2 weeks, at week 17 and I now take a lot of herbs. (We didn't have access to Procrit or Neupogen back then or I might have stood a chance with it) Now that I have said that let me further clarify that I feel that the 17 weeks of treatment is part of the reason that I am even still here and would never discourage anyone from trying treatment! I already had cirrhosis by biopsy in 1997. While I firmly feel that some herbs do help the liver and take many myself, I am also not delusional enough to think that herbs are going to kill my Hepatitis C! Nothing is going to do that except interferon and ribavirin and I would always encourage anyone to seek their doctors advice and if treatment is even an option for them then they should seriously consider doing treatment! Some things like seizures, history of heart disease, lung problems and severe depression can keep you from even being a treatment candidate.

The statistic I have always read is that about 30% clear on there own - not 50%. While the CDC site might be good for SOME information it is not the perfect place to go either. I have been writing them for the past 6 years and recently got the FAIR Foundation involved (www.FAIRFoundation.org ) in trying to get them to change the area where they say we can't be organ donors because we CAN! Please sign your organ donor cards. I don't feel we should expect to get a liver if we aren't willing to share our organs (again, my two cents). They only give our organs to Hep C positive people if our organs are still usable. The FAIR site is a great place to see where the federal dollars are spent on each disease. The Newsletter is free! Please go to the site and sign up and tell them that PeachStatePam sent you. For every 100 people that sign up - the nonprofit I am affiliated with gets a small donation (THANKS!) www.HEALSoftheSouth.org

Now back to hepatitis C! LOL Our ALT's and AST's will fluctuate ALL THE TIME and have not the least bit of bearing on whether damage is being done to the liver or whether an *herbal supplement* is helping or not helping. Recently a study was published about maintenance therapy that commented that while most patient's liver enzymes normalized *they* no longer felt that maintenance was of any value in slowing down the progression despite the fact that the liver enzymes were normalized. Maintenance therapy is smaller doses of interferon (and sometimes riba) for cirrhotic patients with few other options. Also our viral loads will fluctuate all the time and have not the least bit of bearing on whether damage is being done to the liver. It is only an important number when starting treatment, at 12 weeks to see if treatment is working, and then at 3 months post to see if the virus stayed DEAD! I am so sorry to hear that Gavi didn't stay cleared :-( Talk about giving it the old college try! 72 weeks is a long time and my hat is off to you for hanging in there!

Some people firmly feel that liver flushes make them feel better and if something makes you feel better I am all for it - but even my very progressive hepatologist at Emory (who loves that I take herbs) warns that people with cirrhotic livers should never do a liver flush. Sometimes they can actually do more harm than good despite the fact they are "natural". As with everything, one should do a lot of research, ask a lot of questions and then decide on what is best for yourself. I have friends that do colloidal silver and drink their first morning urine! That isn't something I would ever do! My friend that made his own colloidal silver and used it for several years looked like the walking dead but he was determined he was killing his Hep C. He was starting to get a tinge to his skin (though not like the blue man that rubbed it onto his skin) and finally stopped after 2 years and now he looks GREAT! Says he felt good on the colloidal silver but admits he feels better now that he has stopped taking it. There was a paper done by a Dr. Berkson about triple antioxidant therapy that utilizes a combination of alpha lipoic acid (thioctic acid), silymarin, and selenium. Turns out I can't use ALA as I break out in a rash but I do use Milk Thistle and Selenium. Which brings me to *blends* My hepatologist cautioned me about taking blends of anything as you might have a reaction to just one ingredient (like I did with the ALA) and then you wouldn't know which one it was. So things like Liv52, Hepatico, etc are not good things to take. Start herbs slowly, one at a time, adding a new one after a couple of weeks making sure that none makes you sick, causes rashes, etc and if the newest one does - you will know what to NOT take. Always start with small amounts (milk thistle 175-240mg. not milk thistle 1000mg. thinking more is better). There is a good online book about Hep C Choices at www.hepcchallenge.org that discusses many treatment "options" but again, even the man who was the impetus for that nonprofit finally broke down and did interferon and ribavirin and CLEARED his virus! Please stay away from true quacks! I will openly say that Lloyd is one of them! Steer clear of his idiotic you tube videos and non medical based so called advice. He is downright scary!!

There is also a good online book about Hepatitis C at: http://www.healsofthesouth.org/Hep_C_Handbook.html that can answer many questions for *newbies*.

I wanted to further say that it is all right to be on more than one group. I am on about 50 of them. While I would encourage to stay here I would also suggest that he consider joining HepCingles2 too as many there are currently going through treatment and sharing advice and tips with each other on how to cope. There are also a lot of info posts there that I haven't posted here in years. Another good place for treatment tips is http://www.hepcsurvivalguide.org/

In genotypes 1 and 4 you have about a 50% chance of being a sustained viral responder/SVR. In genos 2 and 3 it is about 80% When the protease inhibitors are added it doubles your chances but right now you would have to find a clinical trial. Hopefully they will be FDA approved in about a year. To keep up with medications in clinical trials you can go to http://www.hcvadvocate.org/hepatitis/hepC/HCVDrugs.html and read all about them.

Now raise your hand if you understand why I don't post much! ROFLOL Sometimes they just get WAY TOO LONG! Sorry.

Peace

Pam

RE: [ ] Re: Liver Flush

Perhaps this isn’t the support group for me; while I am open to alternative medicine, most simply do not work and can cause more harm than good.

I would try acupuncture; there are studies that show it can be effective, but I can’t afford it. I can’t afford to chase after every pie-in-the-sky, either.

I know how desperate people can be to find a magic cure, but God created the Universe operates according to natural laws; these are rarely suspended.

m

[Guest guest]

Hi Pam, I remember those countless hours on the computer with everyone during treatment; I remember that we almost lost you : ( HepC central was my lifeline during that awful period. I don't know what I would have done without everybody. If your on treatment then you really need support. Forgive me if I was not doing my part.

I think treatment is great for certain genotypes. I have two hepC friends genotype 3. 6 months!!! And it is gone. What a blessing. One of them won't go on treatment. I keep telling her not to wait.

I do want to share a vital herb for you all. The combo treatment messed me up pretty bad. Before the treatment I was a vital young woman, an athlete. Now I have fibromyalgia, I wasn't able to walk a block. Then Jay, my Hep friend discovered Cordyceps. I started taking 3 grams a day, started to run a mile a day, I can now run 2 miles a day. At 52, that is not too bad!! Cordyceps has given me my life back. I can scuba dive, fish, hike, bike now. I still have pain, but the fatigue is gone.

I'll post some good articles on it. Managing HepC symptoms is doable. Having a quality life if doable. Blessing to you all; I have my devotions to attend to. Sharon

-- [ ] Hi everybody!

Hey (((Gavi))) and (((Sharon))) and everyone else that I haven't seen posting in awhile! SO COOL! :-) As always, Gavriela has an excellent calm way of posting that helps clarify things and settle them down. I remember when this group was so out of control because there wasn't a moderator that people stopped coming except to argue and put obnoxious posts here that couldn't be deleted so I do hope that isn't going to happen anymore now that a moderator is back. Thank you Scarlet!

We all have our opinions and we should be able to share them like adults do :-) Here is my two cents! LOL

Treatment almost killed me in 1999. I wound up in intensive care for a month, on life support for 2 weeks, at week 17 and I now take a lot of herbs. (We didn't have access to Procrit or Neupogen back then or I might have stood a chance with it) Now that I have said that let me further clarify that I feel that the 17 weeks of treatment is part of the reason that I am even still here and would never discourage anyone from trying treatment! I already had cirrhosis by biopsy in 1997. While I firmly feel that some herbs do help the liver and take many myself, I am also not delusional enough to think that herbs are going to kill my Hepatitis C! Nothing is going to do that except interferon and ribavirin and I would always encourage anyone to seek their doctors advice and if treatment is even an option for them then they should seriously consider doing treatment! Some things like seizures, history of heart disease, lung problems and severe depression can keep you from even being a treatment candidate.

The statistic I have always read is that about 30% clear on there own - not 50%. While the CDC site might be good for SOME information it is not the perfect place to go either. I have been writing them for the past 6 years and recently got the FAIR Foundation involved (www.FAIRFoundation.org ) in trying to get them to change the area where they say we can't be organ donors because we CAN! Please sign your organ donor cards. I don't feel we should expect to get a liver if we aren't willing to share our organs (again, my two cents). They only give our organs to Hep C positive people if our organs are still usable. The FAIR site is a great place to see where the federal dollars are spent on each disease. The Newsletter is free! Please go to the site and sign up and tell them that PeachStatePam sent you. For every 100 people that sign up - the nonprofit I am affiliated with gets a small donation (THANKS!) www.HEALSoftheSouth.org

Now back to hepatitis C! LOL Our ALT's and AST's will fluctuate ALL THE TIME and have not the least bit of bearing on whether damage is being done to the liver or whether an *herbal supplement* is helping or not helping. Recently a study was published about maintenance therapy that commented that while most patient's liver enzymes normalized *they* no longer felt that maintenance was of any value in slowing down the progression despite the fact that the liver enzymes were normalized. Maintenance therapy is smaller doses of interferon (and sometimes riba) for cirrhotic patients with few other options. Also our viral loads will fluctuate all the time and have not the least bit of bearing on whether damage is being done to the liver. It is only an important number when starting treatment, at 12 weeks to see if treatment is working, and then at 3 months post to see if the virus stayed DEAD! I am so sorry to hear that Gavi didn't stay cleared :-( Talk about giving it the old college try! 72 weeks is a long time and my hat is off to you for hanging in there!

Some people firmly feel that liver flushes make them feel better and if something makes you feel better I am all for it - but even my very progressive hepatologist at Emory (who loves that I take herbs) warns that people with cirrhotic livers should never do a liver flush. Sometimes they can actually do more harm than good despite the fact they are "natural". As with everything, one should do a lot of research, ask a lot of questions and then decide on what is best for yourself. I have friends that do colloidal silver and drink their first morning urine! That isn't something I would ever do! My friend that made his own colloidal silver and used it for several years looked like the walking dead but he was determined he was killing his Hep C. He was starting to get a tinge to his skin (though not like the blue man that rubbed it onto his skin) and finally stopped after 2 years and now he looks GREAT! Says he felt good on the colloidal silver but admits he feels better now that he has stopped taking it. There was a paper done by a Dr. Berkson about triple antioxidant therapy that utilizes a combination of alpha lipoic acid (thioctic acid), silymarin, and selenium. Turns out I can't use ALA as I break out in a rash but I do use Milk Thistle and Selenium. Which brings me to *blends* My hepatologist cautioned me about taking blends of anything as you might have a reaction to just one ingredient (like I did with the ALA) and then you wouldn't know which one it was. So things like Liv52, Hepatico, etc are not good things to take. Start herbs slowly, one at a time, adding a new one after a couple of weeks making sure that none makes you sick, causes rashes, etc and if the newest one does - you will know what to NOT take. Always start with small amounts (milk thistle 175-240mg. not milk thistle 1000mg. thinking more is better). There is a good online book about Hep C Choices at www.hepcchallenge.org that discusses many treatment "options" but again, even the man who was the impetus for that nonprofit finally broke down and did interferon and ribavirin and CLEARED his virus! Please stay away from true quacks! I will openly say that Lloyd is one of them! Steer clear of his idiotic you tube videos and non medical based so called advice. He is downright scary!!

There is also a good online book about Hepatitis C at: http://www.healsofthesouth.org/Hep_C_Handbook.html that can answer many questions for *newbies*.

I wanted to further say that it is all right to be on more than one group. I am on about 50 of them. While I would encourage to stay here I would also suggest that he consider joining HepCingles2 too as many there are currently going through treatment and sharing advice and tips with each other on how to cope. There are also a lot of info posts there that I haven't posted here in years. Another good place for treatment tips is http://www.hepcsurvivalguide.org/

In genotypes 1 and 4 you have about a 50% chance of being a sustained viral responder/SVR. In genos 2 and 3 it is about 80% When the protease inhibitors are added it doubles your chances but right now you would have to find a clinical trial. Hopefully they will be FDA approved in about a year. To keep up with medications in clinical trials you can go to http://www.hcvadvocate.org/hepatitis/hepC/HCVDrugs.html and read all about them.

Now raise your hand if you understand why I don't post much! ROFLOL Sometimes they just get WAY TOO LONG! Sorry.

Peace

Pam

RE: [ ] Re: Liver Flush

Perhaps this isn’t the support group for me; while I am open to alternative medicine, most simply do not work and can cause more harm than good.

I would try acupuncture; there are studies that show it can be effective, but I can’t afford it. I can’t afford to chase after every pie-in-the-sky, either.

I know how desperate people can be to find a magic cure, but God created the Universe operates according to natural laws; these are rarely suspended.

m

[Guest guest]

From:

[mailto: ] On

Behalf Of PeachStatePam

Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2009 4:56 PM

Subject: [ ] Hi everybody!

Some

people firmly feel that liver flushes make them feel better and if something

makes you feel better I am all for it - but even my very progressive

hepatologist at Emory (who loves that I take herbs) warns that people with

cirrhotic livers should never do a liver flush. Sometimes they can

actually do more harm than good despite the fact they are

" natural " .

[

replied:] Good point. As long as it does no harm, giving someone a sense

of empowerment is important. The Placebo effect is very real.

I

wanted to further say that it is all right to be on more than one

group. I am on about 50 of them. While I would encourage

to stay here I would also suggest that he consider joining HepCingles2

too as many there are currently going through treatment and sharing advice

and tips with each other on how to cope. There are also a lot of

info posts there that I haven't posted here in years. Another

good place for treatment tips is http://www.hepcsurvivalguide.org/

[

replied:] Don’t think my wife would like me to join Hep C Singles.

8-)

I

am on many support groups for several issues. As someone in anonymous 12

Step recovery, I have a group HCVA, a Recovering Couples Anonymous group

and several Hep C groups. I also belong to a local face-to-face Adult

Children of Alcoholics group. I don’t think I have the energy for

much more at this time.

m

[Guest guest]

Hi Marina Your story is inspiring. Our son had to be taken out of his 1st cast because of pneumonia. He won't be recasted until its cleared-july 13th is the tentative date. I am interested in hearing more about cranial therapy. I have never heard about it. Can you email me with some info about it?Thanks Keeley Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheldFrom: Marina De Long <math_pro_1105@...>Sender: infantile scoliosis treatment Date: Wed, 01 Jun 2011 00:34:21 +0000<infantile scoliosis treatment >Reply infantile scoliosis treatment Subject: Hi everybody! Hi everybody! I just joined this group and the reason for that is that I need to share how my baby girl went from 50 degrees to 12 degrees in less then a year. I feel the obligation to tell about it because a year ago, in August I was the devastated parent myself, when the initial X-Ray showed that my daughter, who was not even 1 y old at the time, has an aggressive infantile scoliosis of 40 degrees and she was progressing at a rate of 5 degrees per month. We were sent to two hospitals - Shriners and Children Memorial - both in Chicago. Childrens Memorial had the first appointment 6(!) months away from then, which we could not wait for. Shriners took us right away and we had our first cast on my baby's first birthday in October. Three months passed and then we went for our second cast - despite of being in cast and going through everything all our children are going through, when they are in cast, she progressed to 50 degrees. We all were devastated. And through that grief i had to start thinking about why it did not work. I need to say I have a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering, so i started to approach the issue from that point. I During the first appointment i did not think about it much - she was in the cast and the doc did what he could. However, as soon as we took the cast number 2 off, the very next day we went to the cranial doctor again for adjustment already without cast. A week later we went for the cast number 3 - and Valentine, my daughter was ONLY 23 degrees. We were so happy, but not for long. The very next day after the casting, she got pneumonia and we spent some time at the hospital. Long story short- we had to take the cast number 3 of on March 29, three weeks after it was put on. She is out of cast still, but I kept going to that cranial doctor, paying $260 per sessions and hoping for improvement. On May 25th we went to Shriners because they were worried about us being out of cast for that long, we did X-Ray, Valentine is 12 degrees only. Shriners doctor wants to make sure we do not loose our success and wants us to put the brace on. However, him and others were very suprised, that we IMPROVEWhat I'm trying to say, that cranial therapy is such a valid addition to anything that is being done to stop scoliosis, that I can not understand of why nobody talks about it, at least I had to break this wall with my own brain, not that i've heard it from any health professional. That's why I joined this group, I hope that what we achieved can help others who is facing the same condition. If anybody has questions - you are welcome to ask me, i'll answer. Thanks for reading this long posting!