Post Treatment & My Continued Story....

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Continued....

Considering Hepatitis C Treatment / Re: My M.E.L.D. score, Diagnosis's & Hep.C Approved Treatment & My Story

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: Approved for Harvoni, waiting...END OF TREATMENT-RESULTS ARE IN

[WelcomeHome1]

And I’m back to give you all an update on my conquest to conquer the beast with in. I was approved back in Oct.2015 and started taking Harvoni & Ribavirin as prescribed 12 weeks in Nov.2015. So here all this time, going through this particular ride with everything that comes with it. So let me fast forward and now it’s mid Feb.2016 and during one of just my visits, I decided to get my previous two week bloodwork on Jan.28th2016. So I scanned through it, then came to the real-time RNA/PCR: Not Detected. I sat down to register that a bit. So on my next visit, I ask my doc, and she informs me that during my treatment that after the first month of taking Harvoni that I was cleared back in Dec.2015. Yeah I was excited but still trying to contain that emotion because I’m still very cautious and don’t want to let my guard down. It would be devastating to find out after the first 3-6 months post treatment Feb.24th2016 that it came back. But on this I will remain positively optimistic, I refuse to die with out a fight. I had asked my doc what about my lingering conditions now with my liver, portal hypertension and U.G.I., like I wanted some definite answer. But she informed me that they didn’t go by percentages because everyone’s situation is different but that if I continued the same instructions and diet with medications that things can improve and have. Now I’m at M.E.L.D. 6 what that represents is just a number apparently because I can’t get a definite answer but my research has lead me to conclude that without a sliver of doubt my liver and my body will heal and improve to optimal overall health. Please feel free as I’m free! But yeah I appreciate it, a second chance if you will when really it’s just one of  many, come so far, just to lose it all, it’s very humbling. Thank you all, thank you Gilead.

HCV RNA QN REAL-TIME PCR 01/28/2016
HCV QUANT LOG: Not Detected
HCV QUANT: Not Detected
Diagnosed: CURED, that’s right!
M.E.L.D. score: 6
AST: 33
ALT: 25

Hey if you can be helpful with feedback and give me some more knowledge & insight about liver and portal hypertension healing, regeneration times.

[Lynn K]

Hi

We all are really in undiscovered territory we are the pioneers. There have never before been so many who were so ill that now are being cured bu Harvoni and the other new meds.

There is hope or livers may improve with time but there is not much date. We do know that we won't get any worse. We will still need to be monitored for HCC liver cancer every 6 months with abdominal ultrasounds and AFP blood tests as we are at increased risk because of our cirrhosis but even that risk is reduced with cure. Also the rish of esophageal bleeding is also reduced.

I knew I had hep c since 1989 and have been monitored closely. I treated with the old interferon based treatments 3 times but was a null responder.

Meanwhile having liver biopsies every 5 years and watching my liver get worse with each one till I was finally diagnosed with cirrhosis in Jan 2008. I was checked for esophageal varicies and after being checked in 2008 grade 1 , 2010 grade 2 and 2011 grade 3 so I had them banded over 4 months to prevent a bleed like you had that must have been terrifying.

There is some evidence that we may have improvement with our cirrhosis with time but only time will tell

Congrats on being cured!
Lynn

[WelcomeHome1]

As always you're greatly appreciated Lynn K and again thank you all and yes there is a God somewhere. To think of all those that have and are still suffering or died, I'm very humbled and blessed, even if it's just a matter of time, but to have this life...my life. I better get busy living for something or die for nothing because ultimately you have to look at yourself as being ashes to ashes and dust to dust, so you better enjoy what you’re doing and do it for the right reason, because at some point it’s not going to matter to anyone else. So I’m going to be me, I’m going to do what I do, and whatever that gets me I’ll take, good or bad. And, you know, the bad ain’t that bad. The good’s been pretty good, though. On my grave stone it'll read..."I have nothing to fear, and here my story ends. My troubles are all over, and I am home at last." Some people think happiness is just right on the other side? Well people, news flash! It's all some fucked up ride, lmao!!! Gotta love Bill Hicks man. Much love and I be back with my updates, Get busy living or get busy dieing! Peace!