My M.E.L.D. score, Diagnosis's & Hep.C #'s, Approved Treatment & MyStory

[WelcomeHome1]

First, I just want to say thanks to this website and to all that's been strong enough to stand, fight for your lives because we have so much more than we could imagine to keep living for, there is a purpose and one is helping each other.

Well I'm in my 40's and thought for years that I was in relatively in good health with no pre-existing health conditions at all until Spring of this year 2015. I experienced an emergency admittance at a local hospital where they diagnosed me with five illnesses, one illness that set off the others. Hep.C. So the emergency was a Upper Gastric Intestinal Bleed, I had hemorrhaged that dreadful day, once during the day around noon, and was at home alone, wife and kids went to the store. While they were gone I became nauseated, didn't know why and went to the restroom and right before I could make it to the toilet to vomit, I threw up blood, lots of it, got light headed and fell to the floor, abdomen was in a little pain and crawled outta the restroom through my room to the couch to get my cell phone, just barely made it and just as I started to call my wife instead of 911, I heard the garage door open up. So before they all come upstairs to our bedroom, I yelled out to my wife that only she come upstairs, reason being is I didn't want my teenage daughters to see me in that condition and all the blood, because it probably would have traumatized them seeing me and I would know because I've seen it all, hell I feel desensitized as it is when I see shit. I have mixed feelings and compassion but seeing gruesome things sometimes doesn't have an effect on me as much these days. So when she saw me she freaked out but I calmed her as I was calm and so me being a stubborn man and with quite a few past family experiences at hospitals, I wasn't quite fond of them because I seen some bad things happen to loved ones and some didn't come outta those places. Even though I know there are miracle workers there too, hell I was born at one, lol. So I told my wife to help me in the bathtub, shower on, cold water, clothes and all so I could sit there for a minute and gain my composure, rinse, and get a sense of just what happened. Got cleaned up, and just told my kids I had got sick, didn't want to freak them out because at that time I didn't even know. So the day goes by and I haven't eaten and was hungry and it's the evening now and my wife decides to go out to get some fast food, and let me tell you, whoever put the " S " in fast food is a genius because it should be called fat food, lol, not that I'm over weight but yeah I have a crazy sense of humor. But anyways back to my story, so she goes with my oldest daughter, nephew and niece of who are all young adults, old enough to know about my situation of what just happened but not our twin teenage daughters just yet of who we decide to stay with me just incase something happens to me so they could call 911 or my wife while they go out to bring something back to eat. So while they're out, I'm resting on my couch and they're on their cell phones. Well it's coming, I start to get that feeling again of nausea but this time with having to take a shit too, so I go in the restroom and don't lock the door, and decide to get a plastic bag incase I throw up, go to sit on the toilet and just right before I sit down, I hemorrhage again fall to the floor, miss the toilet and black stool shit and bloods everywhere and a loud thump to the floor my girls heard. They called out, dad! I could barely talk my abdomen hurt so bad this time and couldn't move for nothing, scary nasty looking scene, yuck. So I tell them, " don't open the door and call your mom". Luckily again she just arrived, she got up there, told the girls to go downstairs and when she opened that door, a blood curdling scream came out. I told her call 911. The first time, blood had got all over the carpet we had in the restroom so I ripped it out for her to throw away that day so there was those tacky nail boards on the sides that hold down carpet, well when I fell my face was on one of those and could barely tell her while we were waiting for the Whambulance to arrive, to lift my head off of it and put a sheet under my head and over part of my lower body, that hurt, lol. Then when the EMT's got there, our restroom was too small for them to get in and remove me so they wanted to take my door off it's hinges and I said in my head, wtf? if they do that, that's just something else I'll have to fix around the house, lol, so I told the EMT, " wait, I want to try and get up " he said, " you want to see if you can get up? are you sure you can buddy? " and I said, " I'm wanna try ", so I mustered up all the strength I could, staggered up to get over to this gurney chair they had to strap me to, my wife said I looked like death was coming over me cause my eyes were rolling back. Well long story short, lol, yeah I know, right, I hear ya, " great story bro, now tell it to some one who cares, " lol, well guys and gals this story is just one page from a chapter of my book of life I'm going through that can probably relate to most.
And so finally made it to the hospital, diagnosed with the U.G.I. Bleed that Hep.C. caused as well as preDiabetes or Type 2, Edema, and just fucking great, yea! Fuck me, by no ones fault but my own, Cirrhosis of the Liver or as they said Chronic Liver Disease. I don't care for judgements but tattoos are the result of my Hep.C. Me and some friends messing around with tattooing back more than 20 years ago and I didn't make some good decisions with choosing to think about the most important hygienic part of it. But what's done is done and it had to have within a couple of years decide to raise it's ugly head I guess. I say this because I've been to the doctors for blood tests just for health checks. Hell my wife made me go take a blood test just to make sure everything was okay with me before we got serious in our relationship, so that is why I said in the beginning of my story as that I thought I was in good health. So after all this I've been going to my doctor appointments for blood work and my Viral Load was checked during this time at around 800,000 being low and Genotype 1a. Been to have a CAT Scan and thank God, no cancer, went to see my G.I./Liver Specialist and she said my M.E.L.D. (Model For End Stage Liver Disease) score is at 7 and said my liver has a little scarring with fibrosis but is functioning relatively well. And to me, the way I have taken on all of my health conditions is to be strong and proactive as much as I can, with research, taking my meds, trying to stay on a diet, which is a bit hard because they want me on a no sugar, no salt diet and with exercise is a bit hard because of my conditions but I try, it's all I can do until I'm able to feel better to push myself more and more and here recently just got prequalified through Gilead for Harvoni and my doctor said with Ribavirin I will have to take. I'm just waiting to my doctor to call me any day now to talk to me about how to take them, side effects and how long but with all the research I've done and this website here with you guys I pretty much know already what to expect. I'm so thankful, grateful and appreciative of it all of where we have come so far with the technological medicinal advances during my time in life. Because I know of all the people in the past who had died, suffered, endured the pain, and struggled to live through it all to get where we're at. Yeah, you can bet, reality set in again for me, I had been through some tough times but not like this when I was diagnosed, it still keeps me humble at times. Without God nothing is possible, or whatever it is that you believe in, your beliefs, Gods, spirituality or science. But with God everything is possible. Because there has to be an almighty creator of all we know, see, hear, feel. I think we can all attest to that. For anybody that can help me help others please feel free to start a converse here and let's all keep the faith, stay strong and we'll get through the hurdles and dark tunnel to see the light on the other side, keep ya heads up, thanks for your valued time here, peace.


Genotype 1a
Infected: mid 90's
Diagnosed: 2015
M.E.L.D. score: 7
Viral Load: 759,125
AST: 71
ALT: 64
Gilead: Prequalified for Harvoni, waiting...

[Scoutdoy]

Welcome to the forum Welcome....I got Hep c the same way you did ....tattoo when I was young and dumb. First thing you should do is go to your profile on this page and put your numbers down so people won't continuously ask you what they are.  You could kind of do it like mine.... look at the bottom of this conversation.  I just finished with her Harvoniy and I feel fantastic and I am undetected! don't worry ...go through the treatment ....talk to people on this forum ...and you will do just fine! Good luck


Go Royals
Scout

[WelcomeHome1]

Appreciate it Scout, and I will sure as try to post up my numbers here on my profile now, thanks and enjoy the series.

[BillT]

Hi Welcome,
                After reading your story all I can say is be thankful you made it this far,and it gets better now.This is going to be a piece of cake considering what you just did.Pace yourself and take it slow.These new meds are nothing short of amazing and the cure rates are fantastic.You'll get through this so just take it one day at a time.GL

[WelcomeHome1]

Appreciate ya Bill, you said it will be a piece of cake but looking over at some of the post treatment stories of a few has me a little worried. I would be devastated if after being cured and it comes back with a vengeance, hell that sounds like if it was just in remission. I have a little scarring and hopefully none of the virus is hiding anywhere and the treatment combo kills all the virus before it kills me.

Hey anybody here know about that if after being cured, other effected conditions start to improve or return to normal. Like hypertention, portal vein, like my g.i. bleed varices veins that i'm taking meds for, or type 2 diabetes? I read that most people after they been cured that their other conditions improved with keeping up their diet and exercise too. Well I hope to hear from any of ya'll with some useful info that would be greatly appreciated, peace.

Oh and does your hemoglobin and red blood cells return to normal levels too?

[WelcomeHome1]

I'm so grateful I just started the Harvoni & Ribavirin on 12/03/2015    Now I'm anticipating what my future holds.    I sure hope I'm strong enough to whether this storm...

[beto]

  welcome wrote ;  "Hey anybody here know about that if after being cured, other effected conditions start to improve or return to normal. Like hypertention, portal vein, like my g.i. bleed varices veins that i'm taking meds for, or type 2 diabetes? I read that most people after they been cured that their other conditions improved with keeping up their diet and exercise too. Well I hope to hear from any of ya'll with some useful info that would be greatly appreciated, peace. "

Oh and does your hemoglobin and red blood cells return to normal levels too?

Welcome, Welcome...

I read about your ordeal back when you posted and I am surprised I did not comment.  First, wow!  On this forum, you hear a lot of folks discussing having lived and known about having the virus and all of the fear and anticipation living with it for years even decades.  Then there are the folks like you who don't know and a dark reality hits you over the head with a harrowing experience.

I've known for 25 year that I was chronic and have been infected at least forty years.  Of course the cirrhosis was a shock when I heard last June, however, one that I anticipated.  Now for some good news.

In my case and in many others we have witnessed liver improvment  (I have also seen many positive studies)  My liver appears to have greatly reversed from a Fibroscan score of 14.5 to 6.1 in about 5 months.  So, barring any technical flaws by the technition or the equipment, one could say a minor miracle has transpired.  Of course I will wait and see.  With respect to any advanced situations (portal vein issues, etc) best wait for a LynnK or reasonable facsimile  to chime in...but have heard anecdotal reports that were favorable.

As for other improvements, by observations on this forum...slow recovery for platelets, hemoglobin, RBC and other like markers.  The liver function markers show immediate improvement (alt/ast) across the board as well as a plummeting viral load, just a few weeks into tx.   There is a clinical and anecdotal consensus that most issues at least do not get worse and slowly get better.  Although, there are many examples of rapid improvements.

I have also read (and have heard accounts) of cognition returning and in some cases dramatically.  That would include a lifting of the "fog" so to speak.  Now there are also lots of reports regarding post therapy issues.  Understand that we likely hear more of the negatives in that respect (if if bleeds it leads).

Bottom line is, when your body stops fighting a virus that makes a trillion copies of itself a day 24/7 and then you remove it, one could comfortably speculate that you now have the full force of the immune system and the bodies homeostasis assisting residual issues.

I have great hope for a wonderful recovery for you my friend.  Hang out with us and let us hear all about it.

[Lynn K]

Hi WelcomeHome1 and welcome to the forum

I didn't have a bleed but I did have esophageal varicies that progress to grade 3 so I had several banding procedures to eradicate them. I could not take beta blockers because my heart rate is too slow at around 60 BPM and the idea with the beta blockers is to reduce the HR to around 60 BPM. My MELD was 8 before treatment now it is 7.

I cleared Hep c and am now more than 24 weeks virus free.

My hemoglobin was down on treatment a side effect of ribavirin but is now in normal range the only lab test I have out of normal is my platelet count at 90 with min normal of 150 but that is due to portal hypertension.

As far as improving portal hypertension and cirrhosis in general there have been some studies that say in may be possible but really only time will tell.

The important thing is that with cure of hep c our livers won't be getting anymore damage from hep c and our risk of HCC (liver cancer) is also greatly reduced.

So as long as we are careful, abstain from all alcohol and are checked every 6 months for liver cancer with abdominal ultra sounds and a blood test called AFP we can anticipate living a normal life span. Plus for you and me having upper endoscopies as recommended by our liver specialist to check for varicies. I have an upper endo every year to check for reoccurance.

Best of luck to you and don't hesitate to ask any question we will do our best to answer.

Lynn

[WelcomeHome1]

Hey beto and Lynn K, I appreciate the both of you for your replies with your helpful knowledge and may the both of you stay blessed, healthier and happy in life. Your testimonies of your experiences of what ya'll endured through the sicknesses and scourge and the treatments that killed to cure them as well is overwhelming to amazing, simply blessed. I've got more of my medical test result numbers I will post soon and since I just started I will post those continued results as well. All I have is time, my strength so far so hopefully through it all I won't let it bend my will because with God, my spirituality, science, love and the support of my family and all you here I'm very blessed. However I respond with what I mean with words, it seems sometimes words can't explain how I truly feel, fact is, just explaining it all to some who can't fathom, know, or just ignorant is very tiring wasting the energy and oxygen I really need to stay sane through it all, sometimes my patience wears thin, uhhg... Don't you hate it when people ask you all kinds of questions, that you know the answers too but just don't feel like answering to them, because it's all available to them if they would just apply themselves to do the dam research, especially when they have a freakin fancy cell phone with internet capabilities in their freakin hands! Grrrr..., lol  Well thanks again peeps, enjoy life if you can, stay humble and grateful, peace.

[WelcomeHome1]

Uhhh...yeah like I just did, I could've looked up what I wanted to know and have a lot, a ton of it, which I just wanted some comparisons in relating to and others opinions here. I started to think about what I had said, lol, it's just tiring, ya'll get it, until next time, thanks again, peace.