Harvoni treatment atlast after living with C for 45 years

[Rickta53]

Hi everyone,

I'm a 63 year old, recently retired, that has been living with Hepatitis for 45 years now. Early on it was not diagnosed as C but that came soon after. I first contacted in the early 70's and after having a negative biopsy and getting over hepatitis I lived a pretty normal life for many years, worked 40 plus years, married, had kids and now grand kids etc. Then about 15 to 20 years ago during a blood test it came back positive for Hep C. Ten years ago I consulted with a doctor on the interferon treatment and decided to wait and pray something better would come along. For the past few years my doctor would order a hep panel blood test and ultra sound of liver. Recently my enzymes and other negative results have been skyrocketing and prompted another consult with the same doctor. Both doctors agreed I would be an excellent candidate for the new Hep C drug Harvoni.
My medical insurance is an HMO and I stressed out big time expecting to be turned down due to the expense. I received a robo call (I couldn't believe it) two days after the script was submitted to insurance company that said "the prescription exceeded policy limits, however it has been approved". I listened to that message ten times and then cried at the prospect of ridding myself of this disease as well as the stigma associated with it. The total cost to me is three co pays of $20 dollars and I have been on the "Harvoni High" since that call.
I'm six day's into my 12 week treatment and seven days without a beer. Although I stopped drinking hard booze months ago (should have stopped years ago) I would still have a beer or two thinking it was ok but that's a topic for another thread. Just happy to find myself not alone on this this journey and so far I have been doing all my normal activities with some minor side effects, but that's a topic for another thread also.
If you took the time to read all this I thank you for your time and concern and hope we can all get this disease behind us. Thank God we now have a cure for most but not all of us. Thanks for allowing me to share my story.

Rick

patient naïve
original hepatitis diagnosis 1971
Geno Type 1a
8/31/2016 results
Fibroscan ACT grade A3, ACT score .8 (.63-1.0 severe)
AFP tumor marker 6.9
ALT 130
AST 146
GGT 197
A1 192
ALPHA 2 (351)
VL UND

[FutureThinker]

Hi Rickta53 and welcome to the forum! Thanks for sharing your journey to this point, and I am so glad you are now on the path to SVR and a life w/o HCV. I had HCV for over 40 years myself, and finished my 12-wk Harvoni treatment in May. It was a very easy, uneventful course and the time flew by. I hope your ride on the Harvoni Train is as smooth and enjoyable as was mine.

Keep us posted and remember -- the future is bright! FT

[andrew j]

Congratulations, Rick.

Yes - I reckon you're doing the right thing leaving that alcohol alone.

... Like, forever, if you can?

[bharrisrn]

Welcome to the forum Rick and I wish you well with your treatment. I am 61 and have probably have had HepC 40+ years. I failed Interferon several years ago and coasted through until the newest treatments became available. I have three days left of a relatively uneventful 12 week Harvoni course. First viral load after 4 weeks of treatment was undetectable. Next check is January 1, 2017 and undetectable is what I am aiming for. Again, wishing you well and hoping that all of us baby boomers (we make up the largest population of HCV in the US) and others will be cured!

[Roger]

Hi Rick,
I too lived with Hep C for 45 years.  After reading about the ways insurance companies "decline" Harvoni, I helped my doc's people put together a good "pre-appeal".  We covered all bases on the firsts attempt, as I was running out of time before Medicare would begin.  I think the thing that pushed my case for was that I went from Stage 2 to Stage 3 pretty quickly.

I ended Harvoni treatment 1.5 years ago (I got it when it first came out) and get my blood checked every 6 mos.  It was an easy treatment, and so far so good!