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Pre-Treatment VL and Bloodwork 4 years 4 months ago #28403
Hello! I’m new to the forum and wanted to introduce myself and give a little background, post my VL and LFTs. I’m a 33 year old female, in the US. I was first alerted to the possibility of infection 5 years ago. I had some routine bloodwork done during a yearly well woman’s exam. My ALT was around 42 at the time, and the nurse practitioner (bless her) said that I should look into getting a Hep panel done. Even though it was only slightly elevated. I looked at her in astonishment and said “well didn’t they do that during my pregnancies (2)?” She shook her head no, and told me not unless I gave them reason to believe that they should. I didn’t divulge to my OBGYN that I had used drugs when I was 17 years old. It was embarrassing. I figured if anything was wrong, surely they’d catch it. Wrong. I went on to have the antibody test, and sure enough... tested positive. I was devastated. I had been living on the straight and narrow... moved away, turned my life around, got married, and had two beautiful children. My children!!! I panicked. Got them tested immediately and by the grace of God they were negative. My husband still hasn’t been tested, which scares me. Even though I know the odds are low, there were 5+ years of me NOT knowing and us sharing razors, and just not even thinking of the possible risks. I didn’t have insurance at the time, and couldn’t afford the RNA... so 5 years later, here I am. I am now fully insured (after being uninsured for 10 years) and told my brand new doctor EVERYTHING. He ran a full metabolic panel, CBC, and Quant RNA on me. Sadly, I am indeed infected with HCV and I have been living with this for 15 years at the minimum. Strangely, my bloodwork is perfect. From all appearances, everything looks good. Except for the viral load of over 3 million!!!! I wasn’t expecting that. I’ll go ahead and post the bloodwork and let you be the judge, because I’m freaking out at this point and would love any positive words: WBC Your Value 5.76 K/uL Standard Range 3.90 - 12.70 K/uL RBC Your Value 4.19 M/uL Standard Range 4.00 - 5.40 M/uL Hemoglobin Your Value 12.3 g/dL Standard Range 12.0 - 16.0 g/dL Hematocrit Your Value 40.4 % Standard Range 37.0 - 48.5 % Mean Corpuscular Volume Your Value 96 fL Standard Range 82 - 98 fL Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin Your Value 29.4 pg Standard Range 27.0 - 31.0 pg Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin Conc Your Value 30.4 g/dL Standard Range 32.0 - 36.0 g/dL RDW Your Value 12.2 % Standard Range 11.5 - 14.5 % Platelets Your Value 288 K/uL Standard Range 150 - 350 K/uL MPV Your Value 10.9 fL Standard Range 9.2 - 12.9 fL Immature Granulocytes Your Value 0.2 % Standard Range 0.0 - 0.5 % Gran # (ANC) Your Value 3.9 K/uL Standard Range 1.8 - 7.7 K/uL Immature Grans (Abs) Your Value 0.01 K/uL Standard Range 0.00 - 0.04 K/uL Lymph # Your Value 1.5 K/uL Standard Range 1.0 - 4.8 K/uL Mono # Your Value 0.3 K/uL Standard Range 0.3 - 1.0 K/uL Eos # Your Value 0.0 K/uL Standard Range 0.0 - 0.5 K/uL Baso # Your Value 0.03 K/uL Standard Range 0.00 - 0.20 K/uL nRBC Your Value 0 /100 WBC Standard Range 0 /100 WBC Gran% Your Value 68.1 % Standard Range 38.0 - 73.0 % Lymph% Your Value 25.3 % Standard Range 18.0 - 48.0 % Mono% Your Value 5.7 % Standard Range 4.0 - 15.0 % Eosinophil% Your Value 0.2 % Standard Range 0.0 - 8.0 % Basophil% Your Value 0.5 % Standard Range 0.0 - 1.9 % Sodium Your Value 136 mmol/L Standard Range 136 - 145 mmol/L Potassium Your Value 3.9 mmol/L Standard Range 3.5 - 5.1 mmol/L Chloride Your Value 101 mmol/L Standard Range 95 - 110 mmol/L CO2 Your Value 25 mmol/L Standard Range 23 - 29 mmol/L Glucose Your Value 77 mg/dL Standard Range 70 - 110 mg/dL BUN, Bld Your Value 10 mg/dL Standard Range 6 - 20 mg/dL Creatinine Your Value 0.8 mg/dL Standard Range 0.5 - 1.4 mg/dL Calcium Your Value 8.9 mg/dL Standard Range 8.7 - 10.5 mg/dL Total Protein Your Value 7.9 g/dL Standard Range 6.0 - 8.4 g/dL Albumin Your Value 3.6 g/dL Standard Range 3.5 - 5.2 g/dL Total Bilirubin Your Value 0.4 mg/dL Standard Range 0.1 - 1.0 mg/dL Alkaline Phosphatase Your Value 67 U/L Standard Range 55 - 135 U/L AST Your Value 20 U/L Standard Range 10 - 40 U/L ALT Your Value 28 U/L Standard Range 10 - 44 U/L Anion Gap Your Value 10 mmol/L Standard Range 8 - 16 mmol/L eGFR if African American Your Value >60.0 mL/min/1.73 m^2 Standard Range >60 mL/min/1.73 m^2 eGFR if non African American Your Value >60.0 mL/min/1.73 m^2 Standard Range >60 mL/min/1.73 m^2 Here’s where it gets a little hairy... HCV RNA Quant PCR Your Value 3,148,265 IU/mL Standard Range <12 IU/mL Yikes. So there it is, folks. I’m awaiting an appointment with gastroenterologist on the 19th and hope to celebrate 2020 on treatment. I have no idea what genotype, or what damage has been done over the past 15 years. I’m hopeful, and I’m forever grateful to have this forum to read success stories, and understand more about my new journey. Thank you for reading! | |
Pre-Treatment VL and Bloodwork 4 years 4 months ago #28405
Hello joy2world, Welcome to the forum. Don’t sweat it. You are still early stage, there is no damage evident yet, and you will probably get 8 weeks Mavyret which is an awesome treatment. Your husband should get tested. Sexual transmission is just about impossible but the razor sharing is a real risk. If he’s infected he just needs treating. Either he is or he isn’t. Not testing won’t change that but will probably just remove the worry. Great news that the kids are fine. YMMV | |
Pre-Treatment VL and Bloodwork 4 years 3 months ago #28455
Quick update! Just had genotyping blood work come in, and prothrombin time labs. Results are as follows: Genotype 1a Viral load went down from 3 mill to 2.2 mill... I’m assuming it fluctuates. Prothrombin Time Your Value 9.7 sec Standard Range 9.0 - 12.5 sec INR Your Value 0.9 Standard Range 0.8 - 1.2 Have liver ultrasound scheduled on January 10th and am praying and hoping for the green light for treatment after that. | |
Pre-Treatment VL and Bloodwork 4 years 3 months ago #28458
Hello joy2world, 1a is the commonest genotype and 2-3 million is the average viral load... Yes viral load fluctuates a bit. YMMV | |
Pre-Treatment VL and Bloodwork 4 years 3 months ago #28484
More updates: Liver Ultrasound Study Result Impression Dilation of the common bile duct measuring up to 7.9 mm without intrahepatic biliary dilation. Etiology for this is unclear. No obstructing stone or other abnormality is seen. Please correlate with biliary indices. Further imaging can be performed as clinically indicated. Electronically signed by: Anshu Duggal, MD Date: 01/10/2020 Time: 10:01 Narrative EXAMINATION: US ABDOMEN LIMITED CLINICAL HISTORY: Chronic HCV, r/o liver cirrhosis; Chronic viral hepatitis C TECHNIQUE: Limited ultrasound of the right upper quadrant of the abdomen (including pancreas, liver, gallbladder, common bile duct, and spleen) was performed. COMPARISON: None. FINDINGS: Liver: Slightly increased in size, measuring 15.9 cm. Homogeneous echotexture. No focal hepatic lesions. Gallbladder: No calculi, wall thickening, or pericholecystic fluid. No sonographic Murphy's sign. Biliary system: The common measures 7.9 mm. No intrahepatic ductal dilatation. Spleen: Normal in size and echotexture, measuring 10.8 cm. Miscellaneous: No upper abdominal ascites. I’m assuming this is ok news? I’m unsure of what the common bile duct is... and homogeneous echotexture. Will be able to speak with my doctor this week hopefully! | |
Pre-Treatment VL and Bloodwork 4 years 3 months ago #28485
Hello joy2world The homogonous echo texture means your liver looks uniform (ie not very fibrotic/cirrhotic) Your liver makes bile which is a mixture of detergent to help digestion and waste products that end up in your stool. The hepatic ducts are in the liver and are joined by the cystic duct from the gall bladder (a storage reserviour for bile) to form the common bile duct. The common bile duct goes through your pancreas to get to your duodenum which is part of your gut tube. Anyway, your common bile duct is slightly larger than the usual 6 mm and this has been commented on. The reasons can include being born that way, having a stone in the duct blocking it, some medications, or a tumour. The "etiology (reason) for this is unclear" means that a stone can't be seen, a tumour can't be seen ie there is no obvious reason for it. The further imaging can be performed as clinically indicated is a standard clause so that the radiologist can blame the ordering doctor for not ordering more tests if it turns out that the cause was serious. It's probably nothing, but should be looked into/kept an eye on by your doctor. YMMV | |
Pre-Treatment VL and Bloodwork 4 years 3 months ago #28486
Thank you so much for your thorough answers!!! It definitely puts my mind at ease that my liver is not cirrhotic or damaged greatly. That was my greatest concern since finding out that have this virus. The next step is treatment, and I’m hopeful that insurance will cover a portion and hopefully can qualify for a copayment card through Mavyret. That’s been another fear is not being able to afford the treatment even with insurance. I’m grateful to have found this forum and know I will always have a backup option for treatment as well. You’ve been most helpful! | |
Pre-Treatment VL and Bloodwork 4 years 1 month ago #28574
Today is my first day of treatment! Insurance approved 8 weeks of Mavyret and my copay was only $5 thankfully. I’m so ready to tackle this beast and will be reading about the side effects on the forum! I’m so nervous. Thank you so much for your help, Dr. James! | |
Pre-Treatment VL and Bloodwork 4 years 1 month ago #28581
That's fantastic news joy2world. Maviret is great with very little in the way of side effects so don't sweat it too much. Get a glass of water, swallow the first 3 pills, do that every day and it will be over almost before you notice. YMMV | |
Pre-Treatment VL and Bloodwork 4 years 1 month ago #28595
Three weeks into treatment and I feel great! No side effects whatsoever! I am a little worried with covid-19 going around. My family and I have done our part by staying home, and only leaving when absolutely necessary to buy food or supplies. I have an appointment April 2nd to check viral load, but am unsure if that is even possible with the onslaught of serious respiratory cases. Am I considered high risk due to HCV status? Would Mavyret make me more or less susceptible to acquiring this virus? So many unknowns at the moment, and I don’t expect a response... just thinking out loud. | |
Pre-Treatment VL and Bloodwork 4 years 1 month ago #28609
Hi joy2world, Congratulations on starting your treatment. It's great to hear that you have no side effects. I have just started 14 days isolation after arriving back from Europe yesterday so I understand the worry of it all. I suspect when my 14 days is up everyone will be on tighter restrictions. I feel well and after getting rid of Hep C a few years ago (through fixHepC) I would be pretty unhappy about picking up another virus. I'm not sure about the increased risk factor but sounds like you are doing your best to isolate yourself and your family to keep yourself well. Good luck with the rest of your treatment. Coral G1a probably early 1980's, Biopsy F1(2010), F2-F3(2015). VL 5+mill; 2+mill (2014) Tx naive. Accessed Sof/Led through Dr Freeman at GP2U and Buyers Club (lifesavers!!!) Commenced tx 12/11/15. 9 wk: VL <15 Detected but LFT = Normal 12 week results: UND (Yay!) Due to slow response commenced Sof/Dac 4 Feb for 12 weeks. EOT @ 24 weeks 27 April 2016. (With thanks to Dr Freeman et al). SVR11 result: VL 1,950,000. It's back! New tx 030916 (Viekira Pak, Solvadi, Ribavirin UND @ 111116. EOT 170217. SVR12 and SVR 24 | |
Pre-Treatment VL and Bloodwork 4 years 1 month ago #28611
Thank you, Coral! We are all in this together. You are correct, we have been self isolating and only leave the house once per week to make the daunting trip for supplies. I’ll be happy to not be afraid anymore to run simple errands! I’m taking this threat very seriously, as we all should! We all know how tricky viruses are. I received word from my gastroenterologist that they are not doing bloodwork at this time so all labs have to be postponed! I was due for bloodwork on April 2nd (1 month into treatment) and will complete treatment on April 28th! My only concern is not knowing if the treatment is working or not. I can’t do anything other than just continue and hope that it is working! I hope everyone is taking care of themselves during this crazy time. We will get through this together. ❤️ | |
Pre-Treatment VL and Bloodwork 4 years 4 weeks ago #28619
Hi Joy2world, you can be 97% certain that the medication is doing its job, that's the cure rate for Mavyret. In your case since you don't have severe liver damage, that certainty is almost 100%. The tests done during treatment are not essential, the only important test is done 12 weeks after finishing treatment. Of course it would be nice to learn that you're responding well to the medication during treatment, but if that's not possible due to the current circumstances, don't sweat it. | |
Pre-Treatment VL and Bloodwork 3 years 11 months ago #28692
I’m a little discouraged today. I finally was able to get my EOT labs drawn and am still showing DETECTED. Viral load is under <12 and unable to be measured but the qualitative still shows detected. I ended treatment April 28th and had labs drawn May 5th, so was only a week after EOT. I’m thrilled to see my viral load go from 3 million to <12... but man. I was so hoping for it to be completely undetected. Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated, as I feel so defeated at the moment. | |
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