Gaj said:

“Having said that I also believe we all need to be mindful of our health going forward and have follow ups as necessary taking into account our HCV medical history particularly if we had high fibrosis/cirrhosis. And if we have health issues that don’t correlate with our peers in the general population then we should investigate those as and when they occur.”

I think our expectations of a better life increase with the UND that comes so quickly on these drugs. Mine has too in many ways, but what the surgeon that chopped out segment 5 of my liver told me is that a HCC is like a carcinoma – cut one off your left arm and maybe you still get one on your right – it is just as sun damaged as the left.

I personally went into this DAA stuff for the following reasons:

a) I was getting high AFP levels indicating HCC or Chronic HCV. The specialist was sure the later, but acknowledged the previous time they were up, a dirty big HCC was inhabiting my liver. Now the AFP levels are down and while I have tests and a scan due …., it still has reduced the worry.

b) I figured that my liver was damaged enough so I didn’t want to wreck it more warehousing myself and hasten another HCC.

c) Maybe, possibly, having the bug piss off may let the liver fix itself and the right arm part no longer resemble the left arm.

So, what I have now halfway through 24 weeks is a lack of the previous fatigue (I am pretty sure of this) and a big hope that the DAA’s have given me and family a better time till the next HCC if this is to be the outcome.

a., b., and c. still make sense to me and reading this thread I would openly say, that everyone is right. The only way I would feel 100% about HCV is if I had never had it. That I have means I take every positive change as a plus. For me, it is a good as it is ever going to get, and for that I am grateful (to the usual suspects and not Gilead Sciences).

Yours

J.

“The sx seemed to have waned and I am enjoying the Great Eastern Drive. Spent two exquisite days hiking in Freycinet and now in Bicheno waiting for the penguin tour to start. Everything seems pretty normal, sometimes I feel I have more clarity but hard to measure”.

Hard not to feel good down that neck of the woods. My first time there was in 1985 after a motorcycle rally somewhere else in Tassie. Road into Freycinet was dirt from memory (last time I was that way was 2003 and its upmarket a bit now). Managed to balance a slab of BOAGS on the fuel tank quite nicely and I remember the possums ripping into our tents but we were feeling too good around the fire beer in hand to worry.

On reflection I think the fanging on the roads was a bit over the top and I am lucky that I came out alive so I could go onto greater things (factoring out getting Hep C).

Beautiful place to be and a good place to get better from HCV.

All the best

J.

Great to hear. And another one UND!

yours

J.

Congratulations!

Your post reminds me of an article in a Sydney newspaper in the 1990’s, titled ‘The ABC of Hepatitis C’ – but with a different twist.

A. One month one week ago – “I usually get my blood checked every year or so and my numbers are pretty good and my VL goes between 8,000,000 and 350,000. I let 4 years go by and in July of 2015 I asked my GP for an LFT and VL test. My VL was 37,000,000. It scared the heck out of me and I thought I was in deep trouble. I scheduled a re-test and in August it went down to 11,000,000”.

B. started Sof/Dac 12th Jan.

C. 8 hours ago – “Today I got my 4 week VL test results. <15".

Yours

J.

“I was the one feeling guilty after finding out that I was hepC positive & had been a blood donor for the past 20 yrs.
Yes, I was working in the psychiatric medical field for 45 yrs”.

Interesting the similarities we find in each other on this site. We have worked in similar areas and if it was not for updated blood screening I would have happily passed on my problems to someone else too. As said previously, I think their screening was none to good anyway.

What I like about this forum is the new ‘stories’ being made for us as witnessed in the signatures. The rest of the comments are great and often, in many ways, the best entertainment as well. I felt here, even if people agree or disagree, I am understood. Can’t get better then that.

I was/am so pissed off with Hep C, I will be happy to see just one of us get rid of it for good. Keep us updated with your progress.

Yours

J.

Found this post on a site when researching getting battery storage for my solar panels:

USD3000 in USA and $15000 here [Australia]. Someone is kidding – or making a killing. I suspect reverse calculated what the market could bear off our high electricity prices rather than actual costs and margins. If greed doesnt get in the way this will be the future at some point – but as an engineer I will wait a few product cycles to get this all sorted , safe and reliable – and properly priced with competition.

Suc is life said a more honest man…

J.

I think the chance of not getting a SVR is a real concern for us all – AND would be if we were taking Gilead’s products as well.

What I am seeing in the signatures though, is ‘so far so good‘.

I remember people worrying about VR=UND and expect as treatment ends, there will be a focus on SVR and we will hear more from people around the SVR testing dates.

My own storey to date is all good and I hope it stays that way.

Some things cross my mind:

a) My liver was f….’ed over big time prior to treatment
b) the generic DAA’s over three and a bit months have been a dream ride compared to the one month or so of crap endured with interferon etc.
c) if the generics fail, then they have bought me quality time with my family and daughter.
d) refer to a. above – prior to generic DAA’s I was running out of time. MY specialist told me “the next stop for you maybe a transplant’.
e) refer to c. above

As for this forum, never met a better bunch, it’s just a pain that adversity brought us together.

Yours

J.

Hi Arial,

I am also going through self examination and cathartic purges of relationships that were less than ideal, my mood is easily triggered by small things which take me to significant life events that I thought I had dealt with.

Maybe having a second chance at being healthy for while made me feel like this too.

One of the few privileges having had this terrible virus has bestowed on me (us?).

I am sure you will come through your period of self examination liking what you see.

Yours

J.