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New Member on Sovaldi/Olysio, HCV 1a

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Posted 5/21/2014 8:52 PM (GMT 0)
Hi,

I am a five year post liver transplant recipient, have HCV, a three time non-responder and currently on Olysio and Sovaldi treatment. Just got my 4 week viral load results and went from 16.2 million to <43 not quite cleared yet but getting close.

I had my preliminary pre-transplant/discovery of HCC done at Mayo in Jacksonville but moved transplant to UAB in Birmingham and can not say enough about the fantastic care they have given me.

___________

Linda I fixed your header to get more folks to see your posts. MamaLama

Post Edited By Moderator (MamaLama) : 5/21/2014 3:19:50 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 5/21/2014 9:18 PM (GMT 0)
Linda, Welcome to the forum. You and my partner, Mike, have much in common...HCV 1a, non responder, post transplant with high Viral Load. (he was at 37,000,000 at one point!) Glad to hear you are on the Sovaldi/Olysio combo and doing well. Your viral load was really high, so hopefully you will be undetected at the next test cycle.

I dont know much about the UAB program. I think you are our first in my years here (2010 - present). What is your HCC status this point? How were you feeling with the high VL. did they do a biopsy or fibroscan to give you some indication of the status on your 5 year graft. Congrats on the 5 years by the way.

Check out Mike's treatment thread: www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspxf=25&m=3008509

Hugs,
Mama Lama
Posted 5/21/2014 9:56 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the welcome, I was a stage 4 grade 4 before transplant and my MELD score was increased due to the HCC and since I am post five year they will quit monitoring for HCC. I found out I had the HCC with a test called AFP which is a tumor marker. They feel the HCC was due to my cirrhosis. UAB put me on the list in late February of 2009 and I received my call on April 21, 2009.

They are very proactive on tx of my hepC and got the approval for my current off label tx in less than a week. I think I contracted the virus from a transfusion in 1983 and did not discover I had the virus until I had labs done for a Wellness program my company was offering. I had no symptoms to speak of until 2008. The new tx is a blessing compared to the other tx and side effects are basically non-existent. The lowest my VL ever went on tx was in the 400 range and then broke through the 1k after 12 weeks. :-)
Posted 5/21/2014 11:25 PM (GMT 0)
Congratulations Linda,
I am almost 5 years out from my transplant. Today I had my final MRI to check for HCC. I have been undetectable for 30 months, after doing interferon/ribavirin for the second time. It's good to know that if my Hep C comes back, the new treatment is available. I had a couple of HCC tumors in my old liver when they biopsied it post transplant. The AFP results didn't show it, but then the tumors were tiny and hadn't been there long. Sounds as if you're doing well. I can't complain.
Posted 5/21/2014 11:59 PM (GMT 0)
Welcome Linda! So nice to have you join us.

My husband, themister, treated twice with interferon/riba. It was barbaric, but he did obtain SVR the 2nd time in 2012. He has been stage 4 cirrhotic since 2005. At 6 months after SVR, he went into ESLD, had a TIPS for bleeding issues, and now is waiting. We moved to AZ and he is on the transplant list at Mayo AZ. So happy to hear about a great transplant center, UAB. The new treatments are exciting beyond words. Very glad to hear you are healthy and treating. Hang in there. Big Hugs
Posted 5/22/2014 2:27 AM (GMT 0)
Are you being treated at UAB?
Posted 5/22/2014 3:26 AM (GMT 0)
<43 is considered undetectable
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