Hi Maggie, It's Carol from Florida.
YOu can click on the mamalama in the blue column and get to my old posts if you want to read a story through. I've told it several times.
But here goes the abridged version.
Mike got Hep C as a druggie as a teen. He's been clean since 1970. He got really sick in 1981 with his first active Hep C episode. The diagnosed him with Epstein Barr and Mono. He got better, returned to work, carried on. He gave blood one year and the RedCross wrote him a letter telling him they had tested his blood, rejected it because he had NonA NonB hepatitis and he should go to a doc.
The doc told him there was nothing to do as there was little known about
the disease, but if he got "sick" to come back again. He was fine for a long time. But when his liver numbers shot up through the roof (ALT over 300) in 2003, they told him about
the treatment using Iterferon and Ribavarin...it was a trial and did he want to participate.
They went over the side effects and told him there was a 25% chance he would clear the virus. He had every side effect, was very ill, lost a lot of wt, felt horrible, etc. But he kept his eye on clearing the virus. After 6 months they dropped him...if you don't have a low viral load by then, or it is unlikey to do any good. Mike's load was 3million before treatment and over 7 million after. NO, it didn't work!
So he went on his merry way knowing that Hep C was terminal and that some day, maybe after 30 or 40 years it would come to "get him."
The thing he did not do was eliminate all alcohol from his diet! So, in 2010 he started feeling worse and worse. In October 2010 he was told he likely had 3 months to live without a transplant, but they would not do a transplant on a man who used alcohol (at all). So, the fight was on. He had to live 6 months sober, do the pretransplant prep, and wait for a liver.
He went to AA sick as a dog 4-6 times a week for 6 months, got approved for transplant, and then they found a heptocellular carcinoma in his liver. GASP.
Meanwhile he was the posterboy for what happens with end stage liver disease -- he carried lots of fluid in his legs (none in belly as many do), he had hepatic encephalopathy from excess ammonia in his blood, muscle wasting, poor appetite, kidney problems. He had some bouts that required hospital intervention...a bad pancratitis attack, acute kidney failure, whacky electrolytes, etc. But they patched him up again and again.
On May 1st he got the call. There was an O+ donor that looked like a good match. He went to Jackson in Miami and had his surgery that night. The new liver worked well from the first moment.
Now 9 months later he has a new lease on life. He is almost back to full speed ahead.
But, like Connie, his Hep C is back! His viral load is now 67million!!!!! They are not talking about
any treatment just yet because he AST and ALT etc are in normal range, low for the first time int he 32 years I've known him!
So, it is the same story: he can pretty much name what is going to get him in the end. He has had Hep C his entired\ adult life. It has knocked him down a couple of times. And he still has Hep C. He hopes it takes another 30+ years to get him this time...especially alcohol free! He is 62 now and hopes to have a long mostly healthy life.
Good luck. This is the ride of your lives! I sounds like you have had a lot on your plate. Life happens.
Hugs,
Carol aka Mama Lama from Florida
Post Edited (MamaLama) : 2/17/2012 9:34:20 AM (GMT-7)