Jim,
I'm sorry to hear that the treatment has not worked for you.
My partner, Mike, failed at treatement in 2003 -- Ribivarin and Interferon. He was sick as a dog and a beast to live with during those months.
He contracted Hep C, he is pretty sure, in 1969. Never diagnosed til way into the disease progression. Has been clean since then, but continued to drink until fall 2010.
By then he was Stage 4, in End Stage Liver Disease with decompensated liver. He was really sick.
With the Hep C, Meld in the 20's they wanted him to consider transplantation, but he had to be sober for 6 months before getting on a list. He also developed Heptocellular Carcinoma, which is not unusual for those with liver disease.
He was sucessfully transplanted almost 11 months ago, but his Hep C is still active. High Viral Load.
He was told in 2003 never to do an Interferon based regime again. So he is dead set against it. And to be truthful, the last year wiht him near death was about
the same as he was on treatment. He was really ill and was a miserable grumpy old goat.
His transplant center isn't chasing him about
doing another treatment. His new liver is working well and his Liver Function TEsts have never been better in the 32 years we have been together. They have told us that so long as the LFTs are good and there is no rejection problem, they going to wait and see. TheY point out that if everyone crashed and burned who had underlying Hep C after transplant crashed and burned quickly, their hospital would have every bed filled! Which is not the case. Mike was 40 years getting sick and abusing his body every day wiTH alcohol and for years cigarettes. Now is he a clean, sober, non smoker who will be a really old man if he makes 30 or 40 years with this new liver..
Mike is 62 years young and doing quite well.
HanG in there, Jim,
Carol
Post Edited (MamaLama) : 3/22/2012 2:39:36 PM (GMT-6)