Ya, what Sticker said! ... "thoroughness" and that "some radiologists may be better than others", "getting your own image CD copies", that they can sometimes "help one form queries" for the doc ... there's a good echo in the room! I agree also. : ) C.   

i agree with you all, the docs and their staff are way too busy to keep up. 

my doc doesn't even have a computer, they use folders for each patient.

Well said, Sticker.  I learned that when caring for aging parents.  They needed an advocate because the left and the right hands of medicine were not talking to each other enough.  They really are scattered in a triage setting so it may be unreasonable to expect  more in our system.  It is a system, not a best friend.

PoloSilver,  One of my first overt signs of HepC was oral lichen planus, which was mysterious to my dentist and my doc.  It went away entirely after HCV treatment.  Oral health is quite revealing.  I kind of see it as half inside, half outside.  Your dentist's response is a terrific sign, don't you think?

Canuck,  Auh shucks.  Well it is true.  You are really amazing  Deal with it. :)

I do so enjoy seeing us all putting one foot in front of the other to take care of ourselves and each other.

Thanks, friends.

Polosiilver, for what its worth, I used to work as a paramedic at an imaging center. We did CT, Sono, and MRI including hi field. Not all radiologists are created equal. The litmus test for the value of a radiology docs impression was always, thoroughness. Generally speaking, most are indeed thorough. Some however, are better than others. You can request to speak personally with the radiology doctor about your imaging results. I dont know if you received a copy of your images, our patients would often request a CD-ROM, or literally receive copies of their film. I like to have more than the report though so I can challenge my treating physician with questions about the study. I feel forced to be my own advocate, I wish that I could simply trust my physicians office without all the personal research and homework. Theyre too busy and it seems like they miss stuff sometimes. 

catching the good health rays here -- today I went to the dentist for a crown on a back molar. (the large filling fell out last week)  After the drilling and such, the dentist said your gums and tissue are very healthy. Then he said, "I was amazed how quickly your blood clotted and the tissue healed. By the time I finished the tissue was already healed over. That is the sign of a healthy liver." I'm serious, that is what he said! I didn't tell him about my recent ctscan stuff, it seemed irrelevant at this point, so this was an unsolicited comment and I'll take it. 

ps

I'm still keeping my appointment on the Sept 18th with the Gastroenterology Specialist though. I'm still feeling good and am wondering if I had food poisoning when I had all the flare ups...not sure that explains the so-called enlarged liver that was later on another ctscan called normal. Anyone know if food poisoning can cause amylase to be high?

hi 5 ---yes, Excuse me!! I am hoping that's what happened and that I live to see many more days! 

c - inhale/exhale,,its a cycle too,,,just like whats on those scans..

polo, so are they saying your liver had gas and now it farted? 

Polo,

Well nice you are so easily amazed or impressed, but really, there is nothing about it that is amazing NOR impressive! ANY of us can request copies of our images, and all of us can stare at them and never know what they mean! None of us are docs or radiologists! (weeellll, 'cept for Malcom maybe, heehee, and even he knows he shouldn't be trying to read his own images). 

Mucking about in the file box with no expertise can lead one further and further afield or into erroneous/paranoid territory, that's the risk with laymen looking at their own reports and stuff, but on the other hand ... if we can learn just one or two things from following our own health reports, then we are perhaps just a wee bit better off in the knowledge dept (I think).

Not funny, but you make me giggle at your inflating and deflating liver ... is it deep breathing?, sounds like many of my radiological mysteries, one day they mention kidneys stone or fatty liver the next they don't, just where do fat and stones go then? Maybe like your liver, they just exhaled out? 

I did google up your Deva utubes - nice, I am listening to (trying on) a bunch of different meditation audio CD's right now - haven't found one that is right for me yet - one I found is this oddly titled/kind of funny one called ... "Calm the F*** Down" by Sarah Night, I picked it (mostly) just for the unique title - judging by it's catchy cover I thought maybe I would be able to  understand it easily.

Hope you get to feeling a wee bit better over the next while. Later, C.

Hi C -- You are amazing, with your CD's and reading images. Impressive. Before my Sept appt I may give that a go, just to see what the images show and the sizing. I've never thought to be that involved in the process. This may be a good time to start, I'll think on it. The mantras I referred to are Deva Premal (she's from germany) She chants/sings/composes music from ancient Sanskrit and I find them calming and beautiful. They aren't for everyone, but if you want check one out query Deva Premal on youtube.

Iris --- Yes, my fingers are sore and my left wrist and forearm a bit as well. Today I could only play about half hour due to soreness. I found one of those grippers to help strengthen my hand..so I can keep it up. Those metal strings though, are ouchy...yet its a lot of fun. I watched a couple more hurdy-gurdy vids on youtube,,,what a cool instrument. Do you listen to Gilhem Desq or Patty Gurdy? Wow, thanks for telling me about this. Fascinating instrument.

hi 5 -- I agree, we are on the journey of 10,000 steps of health...teehee.

hi Polo, what a frustrating ride for you, certainly not a stressor one needs in their life. Glad you are focusing on the here and now, getting out on your walks and learning that lovely instrument, are your fingers sore yet?

blessings to you, Iris

Polo,

From one imaging session to the next, yes, the different radiologists using differents words and having different ideas as to what is important or "note worthy" can be a confusing, daunting task for everyone else trying to figure out in the aftermath as to what the most current findings are in comparison to the old findings. My pet peeve, semantics, using the right words, and more pet-peevey stuff - thoroughness/ continuity - following up without ignoring prior findings, we need clear follow-through - to be able to see clearly what has changed/is resolving or has resolved and/or what new things might have developed!

I have found (on occasion) buried within many 10, or 20's or 100's of images, all taken with one session, oddly positioned pages that contained further info than what is just printed on the radiologists "report" (the usual radiology report that contains the heading "impressions" etc. Sometimes on a separate image page I have (by accident) stumbled over/found further references to measurements or other such info about an organ/condition, info that may not have ALL be included in the same page where the radiologists report lies. My U/S tech, for example, has been known to add her very own, good, info to an U/S report on a page that is not on the official page of the the radiologists interpretation.

I think it's good to have and review our own images/reports, for what it can be worth (for what one is able to glean from them as layman). Maybe like me most people may not be able to easily understand the images or the report info, but one can pick up on some of the obvious stuff and it then allows me to formulate better queries for my doc about the tests results, and for me (personally) to try to follow my own progress/changes. 

Every CD of my images that I request (U/S's or CATs) I carefully go through each image page and see what is there (for myself) as well as read the accompanying radiologists report. It can be a bit of an exercise in frustration, but (eventually, in the end) overall I do get a bit more info that way (I think).

You are on it - you are not far now from getting some clearer info - no panicking allowed. 

Mantras? What mantras? Not sure what you mean. Nite.  C.  : )

PS, this is all pointing to you being ok

my doc insists on the qual right now and i'll just go along with it; at least it will show if i'm still free.

hi 5 - I checked and mine were PCR quan as well, back in the day when the doc knew what they were looking for.

The old clinic called me today and they don't see anything too alarming at this point and scheduled me for Sept 18th...my new gastroenterology specialist is on vacation. He's originally from Egypt so out of the country. (I'm in US). Here is what is interesting the second  CTscan notes say my liver size is normal! What the heck? So is my liver inflating/deflating like a balloon? Bugger..what is put on the notes is so subjective, based on who is reading them at this clinic. I could read that a different doc read the ctscan from this week as opposed to last month when the enlarged liver comment was there, and I was given the Hepatomegaly diag. However,,,Canuck will get a hoot outta this..the new ctscan from this week mentioned severe calcification of the aortic..and it was the same doc that said it last year when they sent me to vascular and they gave me all the vascular tests and said the calcification is minimal and nothing to worry about it. So...it will be good to be back with a Specialist. My new doc is from the Advanced GI group.

I told the nurse that I want the size information from the scans and she said the doc will review everything in detail with me in Sept. I checked his ratings and ALL of the 12 comments on him are stellar. I also like his credentials, so I'm feeling good about it and grateful that my pri care doc realized she was out of her league and recommended I go to the other clinic. (My current pri care clinic has a gastro specialist group, but she recommended I go back to my old one) I think I'll be in good hands again and my insurance will cover it. I'm feeling better today than yesterday, so hopefully this trend will continue. I also had a bit more energy today. I took a nice loooong walk and listened to mantras and watched birds and butterflies..did some organizing..and practiced my chords on the dulcimer. yay!

That sounds like a good idea/wise choices 5, to know what you want to see results on. We can make suggestions and requests, and not necessarily just to leave it to their discretion. Anything that was once flagged in the past we all want to see actually return to be within normal limits again, I would want prior flagged ones re-done to be sure they have normalized since cure as well as checking on the rest of my liver panel and PCR for my "following".

Polo as well is "on it", both of you are the kind of gals who pay attention to detail - that is a good thing. Somebody always has to be at the wheel!  : )  C. 

MissusB wrote:

---

I just looked back at my labs to make sure...mine was quantitative 

---

 thanks so much, yep my docs are all goofed up most of the time so we have to stay on top of it. i emailed back requesting the quant and a few others.

if the balk i will go to my family dr and ask for the quant plus these others which were high a year ago.

Alpha 2-Macroglobulins, Qn
Iron and TIBC-Iron, Serum
fibrosis score - FibroSure for hcv
Transferrin Saturation-Iron

I just looked back at my labs to make sure...mine was quantitative 

does anyone know if they are supposed to do the qual or the quant?

suddenly i was changed from quant to qual and i already don't trust that clinic i emailed them to see what they have to say.

Atta girl!  

Thanks for all the responses here, what a wonderful place to share this ride and feel supported. Whew, what a last couple of weeks. Now I'm wondering if I've simply had a bug or something, along with aging. Whatever, I suppose time will tell with checkups, etc. I'm tired of the drama with this and the ineptness of medical folks. Its a waste of everyone's energy. I'm going to take a walk this morning, enjoy the sun, the day, continue to drink lost of water and eat a healthy diet, adding more healthy calories and hopefully will receive a call from the other clinic soon. 

Canuck -- yes, all my blood work was good except amylase was high, but not high enough for pancreatitis or anything. It was 165 Monday, so maybe just a flare up due to something I ate. I am not going to worry, and will look forward to getting back with a specialist provider who is in the know and on their game.

Thanks much everyone --- I'll focus on supporting others while I wait.

ps

Oh poor Polo, the last thing you needed to add to your pile of concerns was any mis-information about your SVR status! The only lab out of wack so far was the amylase, right? Lipase good?, and all else i think you said was good, and even the amylase is NOT sky high (like NOT double or triple above upper limit or something!), so, do take the "don't panic, be methodical" approach in sleuthing this, do what you can, get your head-bumping with ALL these docs done before you try to diagnose yourself. Wait and see. (Easier said than done, I know.) Things may well not be as dire as they may be appearing to you while you are going through this "mysterious" part of the process. The feeling not good part can really foster dark suspicions, at least that is how it is for me. I hope some of the negative results are starting to tally up into the mildly reassuring pile. If nothing else, try to get your GP to look at old and new (comparative) liver sizes/measurements/notes on your new and old imaging radiology reports - for all we know maybe they do not show much increase at all - we don't know so far. It is a good job you are doing, you are "on it", I do not expect less of you, you are wise and thorough,your efforts will make it all become clear, and with the correct info, I believe just that will garner you some relief. I wish some of your symptoms would let up, if you felt a little better, that would of course help, in all ways! I think it (these problems) will ease and end, and you will get better clearer answers fairly soon. Try like 5 said to nourish yourself as well as you can. Try to ease your worry a bit knowing the new negative findings they have revealed so far.  : ) C. 

WHAT?!?!!  This is a shocker.  I don't think you should just wait for them to call you.  I would keep calling and get yourself to to the front of the line.

PoloSilver, this is not a drama.  If you were being dramatic I would be thinking, "Save it for the real stuff."  This is the real stuff.  I am glad you are pursuing this vigorously.  There will be an answer if you don't let them give up.

I think there is much to be hopeful for.  As Tig said, a non specialist simply naive. 

Please continue to update.  Eat something healthy and fattening, too.

Ched

i'm so glad the  scan showed good stuff for gb and pancreas.

hey, no worries about keeping us in the loop; we are all about understanding each other and this disease

we wait with you for the VL and further info on the cause of your unhappy liver.

weight could be just eating fewer calories than before plus being rid of the virus.  i feel tired a lot and unable to be as active as a few years ago but i am 67..

allergies wear me out, having to use allergy meds and those make me tired too ... plus arthritis 

i haven't had a VL since january, not sure what's up with that..... and i don't know if it's being tested this time around. hmmm. 

hang in there

Hey everyone --- soooooooooooooooooooo,,,,my CTscan showed no gallstones, no pancreatitis. They said my symptoms are due to HepC and enlarged liver, when I asked about the HepC VL they said they had not gotten that far yet. So I'm thinking along with everyone else here that just because I'm REACTIVE, doesn't mean I have a VL. Sorry to alarm everyone, I was pretty shocked and now they finally posted the HCV tests and there is no PCR for VL with it. I'm thinking they have misread the REACTIVE because I have the antibody. Can you believe that? Yep, it sounds like some here can because it was suggested by most of you that this could be the case. So I'm hopeful a PCR will show no VL. However, that puts me back to why do I feel so crappy, losing weight and my insides in an uproar. At least I'm going back to the previous clinic and they will have better equipment and know what all to check for. This current place doesn't seem to know their HCV stuff. My amylase was 165 yesterday, up 15 points from last Friday, not sure what the heck is happening here. 

I apologize that I created this drama, I'm back to hopeful there is no VL when I get the next testing. Now I have to wait for the other clinic to call and they are often quite slow. I suppose I'm in a waiting stage and hopeful they will call tomorrow. I can't believe my doc didn't know that I would always test REACTIVE. Here is what the report they finally got posted online says:

- RESULTS CONFIRMED

- VERBAL RESULTS/ORDERS CONFIRMED BY "READ BACK".

- HEPATITIS C REFERENCE RANGE:

- NON-REACTIVE:  ANTI HCV IgG NOT DETECTED. PATIENT PRE-

- SUMED NOT TO BE INFECTED WITH HCV.

- GRAY ZONE:  SUGGEST RETEST

- REACTIVE:  ANTI HCV IgG DETECTED.  PATIENT IS PRE-

- SUMED TO BE INFECTED WITH HCV. STATE OR ASSOCIATED

- DISEASE IS NOT DETERMINED.  FOLLOW CDC RECOMMEND-

- ATIONS (MMWR 1998: 47 (RR-19) FOR SUPPLEMENTAL

- TESTING.

I sincerely hope this is a mistake. I really want to believe that Tig is right about a possible misunderstanding with an antibody test. Known reading of a PCR is quantitative and would mean something altogether different. I am sorry for the shock and dismay you feel over this news. While other treatments are available Im sure its not something you would look forward to, I think that I would do it though. Take heart that there is a way out through treatment and you can speak of it here where there are sympathetic ears ready to listen. Im not religious but Im sending positive vibes your way, hang in there Polosilver!

PS, are you getting in to see your hep doctor soon? i am praying that your fam. doctor isn't correct.

still, yes, there are other tx's, and no one wants to go thru that again but getting well is the primary focus.

after your scan the hep doctor will know more.

you will get thru this

has your liver doc tested you since jan 2018?

PS...dang, I know you are shocked.  I agree with Tig...perhaps your Primary Care Doc made a mistake reading your results.  I would get a second opinion from Infectious Disease Specialist.  My PCP is part of a large teaching & research hospital system and she had already made me a referral to Infectious Disease before she even called me with the Hep c diagnosis.  You are in my thoughts & prayers.

Now that's something none of us was expecting to hear! Yes please, find out if this was an actual PCR Viral Load or mistakenly, the Hep C Antibody test. Seriously, there are people out there that don't know the difference. Every one of us will forever be Hep C Antibody positive, regardless of SVR. Lets see what that answer is first. You are right though, the next regimen would likely be Vosevi, unless they've come up with something new and haven't told us. If it's a relapse, that will be an easy concern to resolve.

Let us know what the blood work particulars are when you get them. Just know, you're getting there, the questions are being answered and the solution is soon to follow.

WHAT!!!? 

They did a PCR and it showed you actually had a hep c viral load??! I am shocked as well.

If this is the case, then Vosevi will set you right.  C.

So my primary care Doc just gave me a personal call and said that my test results show that I have HepC again!! She is calling the previous clinic where I was treated to talk to them this afternoon while I get the abdominal CT Scan. Her recommendation is that I go back where I was treated initially, because they are more equipped for extensive testing for fibroscans..She said after discussing with them, she would call me later today after my Abdominal CTscan. 

This is not a welcome development here. That said, I know there are better drugs than Harvoni at this point in time,,so let's see how it goes. 

In SHOCK here..

ps

Thanks Tig! Doc office just called and they got approval for the CT scan today at 3:15 pm. My doc ordered it stat. They said I will have to drink barium for it and it will be with contrast. I'm on CST, so its only 2.5 hours away.  They said I should plan to be there for awhile.

Hope all goes smooth. It's a bit scary since they didn't share the poop results yet. I've had pain in the upper abdomen area under my breast area today, so it may be the gallbladder. I suppose the pictures will tell. 

ps

Good to know they're going to investigate this further. They'll be looking at everything, but the gallbladder and pancreas are often responsible for serum amylase elevations. When the enzymes aren't permitted to enter the digestive track properly, the amylase can elevate. That's about as much as my armchair doctoring and opinions can offer in the way of an explanation. I'm glad you're getting to the bottom of this. It's good to know what needs to be addressed, so you can get your health back on the track you deserve!

Awesome....glad to hear they are doing an abdominal CT.  It will show every organ in abdominal  cavity.  Will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. Keep us posted!

Hey all -- thanks for all the feedback, support and suggestions. We are spot on here. The doc office just called and my amylase was significantly higher yesterday from Friday and has ordered a CT Scan of the abdomen right away and will also check gallbladder. They are supposed to be calling me soon to schedule it. I don't want to be sick, yet I feel a bit relieved that they have found something to keep this investigation moving along, since I want to feel better. 

I'll keep things updated here...Thanks again everyone, super appreciate it.

ps

we get liver ultrasounds every 6 months since before tx. that is how i found out i have gallstones cos it's in the liver scan. it was causing trouble and i blamed indegestion for a long time. They could have been there for years and now i have chronic inflamation so it has to come out.

Polo,

After DAA cure of HCV, IF  they justify that we should be on their on their list for "routine following" with an annual check-up for HCC, then our docs may routinely do an AFP (and likely other bloods) and arrange for repeat abd. U/S's to be done. A doc might order an abd. ultrasound with the req. indicating what organs may be of particular interest, and/or exactly why the abd. U/S is being requested, and frequency (how often/when the next repeat U/S should be done going forward) ... ie. post HCV cure, hx cirrhosis. Repeat abd. U/S q 6 months.

Some docs have good reasons for using CAT's with dye/or CAT's without dye OVER using an adb.U/S's, for their purposes. Some docs will feel a MRI or CAT is merited for specific reasons. It really does just depend on their good judgement what mode of imaging they feel is best to use for you, in your case, and given what specifically he wants to see and follow.

I cannot recall how many repeat U/S's you have had, in the past, pre-HCV- treatment and post, nor how many repeat CAT's you have had (with and/or without dye) again pre-HCV-treatment and post, but regardless, your doc would have specific reasons for choosing the "type" of image info he wished to see (CAT or U/S). In this last CAT you mentioned that your doc specifically requested "kidney" (and, i don't know what else your doc highlighted it's req), but the radiologist does mention prior renal info in this report, he did not mention prior hepatic info though). I think, often, CAT's for (say) "renal" interests will of course show very many other adb. organs. I would not be surprised if your doc (or any doc) has preference for visualizing certain things with CAT's/US's or MRI's., but from this current CAT you had, I certainly do not expect they would be witholding any other organ captured in the images to exclude all things seen except kidney per say. Of course he might comment on a large liver, if he had noted one, just like he commented on "limited lung bases".

Even if a CAT was ordered exclusively just to investigate "kidneys", the radiologist may and can make note of other things in his report not exclusive to the kidney. If he does not comment on another organ (other than kidney) that does not mean the CAT did not capture images of many of your other abd. organs. CATS can capture images of many organs even if the req just specified "check kidneys".

Good you had some more labs done and have your GP to bumps heads with, but I still think you are lacking some (old/background) basic info - comparing old images to see/measure how much liver "enlargement" there was BEFORE, as to now. That's one thing - being able to eyeball the old and new images and compare the measurements on the radiologists report - this "enlargement" might be less of an issue than it is sounding like. How "big" was your liver before and how large is it now - we don't know - perhaps it is the same as before! Maybe get your GP to sit down and have a good look at your before and after liver sizes/measurements in repeat imagings, go over it with you. That might be reassuring.

Sorry you are not feeling good and are worrying. I know all of you (you and your docs) will get to the bottom of these mysteries. I think you are going to be right as rain, and hopefully get to feeling better soon, and the sooner the better would be best! : )  C.

An abdominal CT would show everything in abd, not just kidneys & liver.

Hey Folks --

Thanks for the encouraging feedback! I'm feeling good about it in general, and expect the results back on amylase tomorrow. The H. pylori, ammonia and vl in the next few days. I wonder what is causing the fatigue and weight loss, it may just be aging process. 

MissusB - does the abdominal CT show more than the kidney/liver CT? My pri-care said they could see the colon, and so the abdominal would be different than that? 

I see that gallbladder flare-ups can cause weight loss. I am relieved that overall it seems as if I have a good report for having enlarged liver, so hope all will smooth out soon.

Thanks everyone for the support here. I'm not talking about it much around the house, so it helps to have this support.

ps

Glad youre feeling better!  The high amylase could be your gallbladder.  Its not high enough to indicate pancreatitis...think the amylase would be much higher if pancreatitis.  Maybe you should ask for abdominal CT.  

hey PS , i hope they look at your gallbladder too. that little sack can cause pancreatic problems too.

maybe it was just an after tx anomaly and you are on the mend

Aside from the amylase, it looks pretty much like you got an A on your tests.  I'm always glad when I get back this many "normals" except that it still doesn't tell you what's going on.  Did they say when the new test would come back? 

I'm glad your tummy is a little better.  I drink ginger brew (non-alcoholic) and get sure results with that, but the gin gins sound good, too.

Hang in there!  Thanks for letting us know.

Hey all - so now I'm drinking club soda and I have a box of those gin-gin chews. My stomach is a bit better than it was Friday.  

Many of my tests results are rolling in today. So far everything is normal except my amylase, one of the pancreatic enzymes. Here is the result from Friday.

They called this afternoon and wanted it re-checked so I drove over right away, and they are re-testing it. Hopefully, this was temporary and it will be normalized today. My wbc/rbc and everything else was in normal range except Chloride, but with everything else in normal range, they didn't think this was a concern. 

From what I just read, it would make since that my roiling stomach would be a result of a mild pancreatic inflammation. However, even the 150 isn't considered pancreatitis from what I just read. So I'm waiting on the hepatitis VL, H. Pylori and ammonia levels. In case someone is interested in looking, here is the other results that came back.  To me everything looks great at this point. Hopefully, the pancreas amylase will come back normalized tomorrow.

- CHLORIDE NOTE:  Triglyceride at 600 mg/dl may cause a positive bias of

- approximately 2.1 mmol/L for Chloride.

i had to drink club soda for awhile becos of stomach and now i don't have to

Does ginger help at all? I like to get the chewy candies. 

Thinking about you on this long weekend, Monday will be here soon.

BB, Iris

thanks for making that point 5 about the what ever we fight off now has to be easier since we are no longer fighting the virus.  I needed that reminder! Thank you! I wish I could get those inches you lost. I used to be 5'3 and now am just over 5'2.25", haha,,,it was suddenly important to add that bit of extra height..what a weirdo. Love the cottage cheese and avocado tip, good stuff..cottage cheese sounds good to my stomach right now. Frankly not sure what is worse stomach or migraine , that sounds rough to have after treatment, argh..hope they stay away. 

Hey Cheddy - I expect to start hearing results back Monday. Thanks for asking..I'm feeling better this evening, my stomach has calmed a bit, so that's a good thing..I had all I could take of the stomach flips the last few days.

If MissusB is reading I had Quinoa with veggies this evening as a side dish,,yumm..you inspired me. Quinoa is easy on my stomach..

Polosilver,

This sounds scary.  I am so sorry you are feeling poorly.

When do you expect to start getting test results?  I wonder if this has to do with treatment or is something else. Whatever it is,  I'm glad you are taking steps to get to the bottom of it.  Please keep us up to date.

Best of luck, and good health, PS.

Cheddy

polosilver

my hubby was eating less than he used to so i started buying him bags of tortilla chips, the healthiest i could find which he used reglular cottage cheese as dip; but avocado dip would also be good.

and he started eating more at meals and snacking on fruit and nuts and cheese.

He keeps an eye on sugar cos his glucose had gone up during tx and it's still on the high side. the only thing that got him thru tx was muffins, scones, and cake... he did not have an appetite and we figured it was better than nothing

i wish i could eat more but gain weight too easily, plus i have a fussy tummy so have to eat carefully. somethings bother it and others  don't; no rhyme or reason to it.

maybe your metabolism changed with tx since you no longer are using all the energy to fight the virus.

also, i'm 67 and i already shrunk half an inch or so a few years ago.  my mom was very thin as she got older and i was hoping i would take after her in that way

but feeling sick is not fun... i didn't feel well for a long time after tx. i got a migraine with the aura for the first time in my life a month post tx. i had flu like symptoms and lots of episodes of the trots and shivering; which maybe due to my gallbladder....still.

and yep, my brain power was way down and it was so nice to be able to think and move again after several months.

hang in there, what ever we fight off now has to be easier since we are no longer fighting the virus.

Hello MissusB & 5 and other lurkers

Thanks for your support, and kind words, appreciate it.

When I started tx I weighed around 118.6 (I'm 5'2") and during treatment I moved down to 116 to 118. I completed treatment Nov 2017 and weight stayed same. for awhile:

July of 2018 I weighed 114.5

December 2018 weighed 113.4

May 2019 111.4

August 2019 107.2 

Thanks for asking about this 5, since I had not really checked into the timeline of my weight loss. Other factors are I eat a healthier diet than 2 years ago, and the aging factor.. I'm 65 and my dad and grandmother both lost weight as they got older, but not until in their 70's. My concern though is in how I feel, something isn't right I sense. I frequently have foot cramps too and my head feels fuzzy at times. The other thing is I don't drink alcohol anymore either. I used to enjoy a beer or glass of wine, but I stopped because I would just take a sip and it would go right to my head and then when I learned of the HCV, it was recommended to not imbibe. I'm usually high energy and I more and more feel fatigued. On the weight loss, I used to eat breakfast and then snack a lot until dinner. Now I eat 3 meals, so these changes I think could affect my weight, since I'm being more balanced. Hopefully, I'll know something next week and they can get me to a place where I feel better and not so fatigued and stop my insides from roiling around. I do hope I've just picked up some infection or something that can be knocked out by antibiotics. 

ps

Polosilver, i'm so glad your doc got on all those tubes of test blood. 

it usually takes a cpl days to get results anyway.

and i'm so glad you are on top of things.

and! i hope it's just gas!!!! we can hope. 

did your weight fluctuate much on tx? did you gain or lose any while on tx or just after?

i'm praying it is something easy for your body to get well from

Hate to hear youre having these issues and hoping your docs get to the bottom of it soon.  Hang in there!

Hey Tig, 5, Iris --

First, thanks for the support here...my pri care is checking me for all sorts of things before I see the GI doc in September. They drew 8 tubes of blood today, bleh. They are checking my blood for all the panels, plus for helicobacter pylori, ammonia levels, iron, thyroid and rechecking liver enzymes again plus rechecking me for hepatitis. There is concern about the weight loss too. I also learned that a year ago my liver was not enlarged. I don't have details on how much its enlarged, and frankly not sure I want to know today.  The good news is that I'm not jaundiced on skin or eyes, so must not be too much enlargement. Why did this all happen on Friday, so probably won't see any results until Monday. They also want 2 poop samples.

Hey Iris, Go for it and find the Hurdy Gurdy for you. It appears to be a more complex instrument, but not as hard to play though as some instruments. What an amazing instrument! Be a Hurdy Gurdy gal.

I'm learning to play this dulcimer guitar by watching youtube videos and practicing. I find it easier than guitar (which I don't play) because it only has 4 strings. I'm having fun with it and not worrying about reading dulcimer music to play it. There are enough videos on youtube to keep me busy for a long time, along with needing to practice to get chords and string plucking to sound right. It is helping me right now to not get in too big a funk over this latest surprise. 

ps