Came back here for the first time in ages to see how everyone is doing. How time flies! Such an exciting time Coral.. thinking of you and can’t wait to hear the upcoming good news
Will you check VL @ week 4 or wait until week 12?
xx

Wonderful, I have passed on information about the ILC 2016 presentation, fixhepc, REDEMPTION and http://gepatitka.ru/
She is going to share this with her colleagues!

I passed my SVR12 today!! illy:' /> illy:' /> illy:' /> illy:' />

I was sooooo nervous in the waiting room, I felt like I was going to pass out. I was literally shaking! I just kept imaging the moment – if it was bad news – over and over and imagining what that would feel like. I think I didn’t want to get my hopes up because that’s when you get screwed over. I remember when I was diagnosed it was such a shock, I did not expect it at all and I still have flashbacks of that moment in the doctor’s office being told… he was just looking at the screen for ages, trying to figure out how to tell me. And just that feeling of WHY ME? So unlucky. I knew it was going to be a long road. And especially because at the time of course my options were a) interferon and b) interferon. I wanted to get treatment right away, didn’t want to live with this thing for one more day, but my specialist told me it was probably the best option to wait for the new drugs which “could be here in a couple of years”. Gah!

Which was good in theory, but I didn’t have the “symptom-less” kind of HCV (does that even exist?). I felt like death warmed over. My skin was almost see through, I picked up a different flu each month, constant aching everywhere, sleeping all day, I just felt horrible. This might sound weird, but I feel like it even changed my vision. I didn’t want to tell my friends what was wrong so I had to hide it too. Couldn’t have a social drink. I think the isolation was easily one of the worse things.

So I waited and waited and finally was able to go on the medication. I remember the first day I got the pills and carrying them home in their little paper bag. I was so excited! I immediately started googling, obsessively reading studies and trial data (I did this every day for 3 months). On the very first day I came across Greg Jeffreys blog and I remember binge reading it for 3 days straight. It was so incredibly inspiring. But I tell you, had I come across it before March 2016 I would have definitely, definitely gone on the generics. No question!

By the way, 2 months ago I went to get my “poor man’s SVR” LFTs at week 4 and went to a local GP I had never been to before to get the form. I told him I had just gone through the new treatments and was feeling fine and he said, “Oh those treatments are really intense and even a man in his 20s struggles with it”. I said, “I was fine, I went on the new treatments, not interferon”. And he just didn’t get it! He had no idea. And that really upsets me because what if someone goes in there and discovers they have HCV? He’s not going to be able to give them good information about how easy it is to treat. Needless to say I didn’t end up going back.

Anyway, I haven’t really posted on the forums here much, but I have been reading it for months and I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that posts. You have all helped me get through this in one way or the other. Every success has been mine, and with any relapse that happens it brings tears to my eyes. All I have in this are you and my closest family members. Imagine if people with cancer were treated like us? It’s disgusting, which is why it’s so important to support each other. Because we’re not getting it from society at large. I’m hopeful that will change as this thing becomes easier to eradicate. I certainly will do everything in my power to spread the word.

Congratulations!!

Yes! I believe it’s capped. And from what I can remember, the Australian Government managed to pay around the same price as they have been paying for interferon based treatments (please correct me if I’m wrong).
I found this on Greg Jeffrey’s blog, “the Australian government has budgeted for 6,500 treatments per year over the next five years ( the current treatment rate over the past four years has not been above 4,000 per year using the Interferon Simprevir Ribavirin treatments)
The drug companies appear to have agreed that if more than 6,500 people require Hep C treatment in any given year then they will supply the medication free to treat them. This means that if 10,000 people with Hep C seek treatment next year the drug companies will give the medicine free to the last 3,500.”

Don’t worry, I’m freaking out as well. I know exactly how you feel.

Sorry you have to go through this Coral. Thank goodness we all have knowledge of and access to this place and the new generics!