With the Possible Exception of Dr Dre…..
The meeting with my consultant happened as planned on Monday. It went well really and to cut to the chase I’m still on treatment and will have another PCR at 24 weeks, once we have the results of that we can move forward with one or two options already agreed. I suppose the main thing that came out of it is that it is very unlikely that I will treat for just 48 weeks, hopefully 72 weeks is likely but who knows maybe longer. Then again we could get to the 36 weekish mark and things, treatment wise, could look bleak. To be honest I don’t care where we are at that stage, I signed up for 48 weeks and thats the minimum I’ll do. I could give you some valid reasons for that but if truth be told its down to one thing only, pride.
In the cold light of day at stage 6 liver damage there really isn’t any downside to treatment, from both a health angle and from a financial one. Just a tip, if you can try and think in terms of financial benefit and can make a good case you may find “outside guideline” treatment easier to obtain….just sayin’
Without wanting to go into detail of the meeting its was if the good Doctor was reading from my own notes, he covered all the points I wanted to raise, discussed alternatives and showed that as long as I show the commitment and desire that he will match it. Another tip, find a good Doctor and put your trust in them, give the “relationship” 100%. A good way to check if you have reached the 100% is the sit down test, if the Doctor says sit down don’t even look for a chair 
[I'm only half joking].
Thats the boring bit out the way. Of real interest is that for the first time I went fully suited and booted, even wore a tie which is almost unheard of. Don’t get me wrong I’m always smart, if fact sharp would be more accurate :), but this was the first time that full force smartness came into play. If truth be told I don’t think it would make any difference with the Doctor or indeed my nurse but don’t take that as invitation to dress like a dosser, it did however make a difference to some “bystanders”.
So there I am walking down the corridor and some random Doctor looking geezer is coming the opposite way, he obviously catches sight of me out of the corner of his eye and gives the outfit a quick once over. You could almost see the mental calculations on his face as he checked out the style and after a millisecond he nodded to me as if we were old friends. I could see what he was thinking, he first thought was that I was a fellow Doctor but then he realised that no Doctor, with the possible exception of Dr Dre, has ever been this stylish. I must be somebody much more important he surmised.
Just after that the truly shocking moment arrived. I walked up to the receptionist and you will not believe this but on my life the miserable bitch actually looked up and then [steady yourself] smiled at me!
Life truly is full of surprises.
February 1st, 2006 at 4:08 pm
Don’t get too sharp there Hep c boyo..might cut yourself! Take care….Teddy
February 1st, 2006 at 5:30 pm
Ain’t that the truth teddy!
I expect my nurse is keeping a special eye on the old platelet level
February 1st, 2006 at 5:32 pm
well a good observation, but the facts are that in life sadly, that to get a fellow respect from the ACADEMIC EPIDEMIC CROWD , you do have to dress like them, and no doubt he took you far more seriously when you acted on their level, the other point is that it does show committment, by playing the game, i so hope that a 72 week course will pull you round, and i still maintain that reading through your site which has become a daily thing now, i have learnt so much more that the academic epidemic crowd ever told me, and gradually with all these tips i am foprming a plan to hopefully guide me safely throuhg this warzone just entered, and am preparin g myself for the treatment, rang england today to try to find out my genotype and got no where fast, as i did not have my actual hospital id number, HENCE THEY DID NOT KNOW I WAS ME(AS IF SOME ONE WILL CALL AND ASK GENOTYPE QUESTIONS FOR NO REASON) anyway i will try again tomorrow when my consultant is in and familiar with me maybe,
anyway have a good 24 hours and i will speak soon…
sanyassi
February 1st, 2006 at 6:31 pm
I think we need a pic hep c boy
February 2nd, 2006 at 11:05 am
Congratulations on staying the course. I was happy to hear you had a good result and that you have a doctor you trust. A good relationship with the doctor is very important. I will keep you in my prayers and be cheering you along from ringside as we kill virus together.
LAB RESULTS - Finally !!
The doctor said, “So far you have had a good response. As you stated, your baseline viral load was 6.7 million. By week 4 it had dropped to 303,000. The week 6 (January 27) results show that it is down to 2,300 copies.
While this is a good response, the ideal response would have been a negative viral count at week 4, which assures the higher likelihood of sustained response (virus remaining negative after discontinuation of therapy).
At the rate you are going, I predict you will become negative by week 8, which is not bad. Your body weight increases the chance that there may be a relapse after stopping the medications (Heavier patients usually have fatty liver and insulin resistance, two factors that work against the treatment)
At this point, if you do become negative by week 8, we are still looking at 24 weeks of therapy. If it takes longer than 8 weeks to become negative, I would propose that we do a total of 36 weeks of therapy to try to decrease the chance of relapse. In general, the longer we treat after a patient becomes negative, the lower the chance of relapse once therapy stops.
The blood tests also show that you have not developed any of the serious side effects of therapy (low blood counts) and as of Jan 13 your liver enzymes were almost normal. So we are making good progress.”
So I am happy to be improving and will continue the course.
Thanks again for the site it helps in ways you would never imagine…
Keeping the Faith !!
February 2nd, 2006 at 12:55 pm
cracking good news mate.
hope the hep does one as it is about time it got out of town you deserve it buddy.
i be buying some extra big plasters if your getting smiles from the desk mate that is a first..
take care give them a good kicking……
JJ.
February 3rd, 2006 at 7:24 am
>I think we need a pic hep c boy
OK Elizabeth Anne, here is a quick snap from this morning. Spending the day at home so haven’t made an effort at all, just to give you a rough idea
February 3rd, 2006 at 10:21 am
Are you a twin?
February 3rd, 2006 at 10:37 am
You are very pretty hepc boyo. You remind me of someone??
Hope your doing ok by the way.
February 3rd, 2006 at 7:31 pm
lol great picture Hep C Boy
Love those curls!