Congrats Alan...keep going strong. I am just getting started on my journey....but have alot of hope thanks to many of you on this board.

Trish

so nice to hear that everyone is kickin virus butt lately! :)

yaaaaay and me too. just found out right now. still undetected.. im in week 29 im stoked....

Good news, news) keep it up !!!! those labs are everyone can wish for!

It was a sad day. But right now I am more concerned about your pneumonia. Be careful, take care and get rid of that quickly. Thank goodness you mentioned it to the nurse. With 0.4 neutrphils you cannot afford untreated infections.

Say hello to Charlie Whitesox and to that fine looking young man that helps you to care for him. 

Feel better fast.

Alan

Great walk with Charly Whitesox! We had a blast.

I wonder why they don't add a week of Incivek instead? I question this stuff all the time. Seems an extra week of the wonder drug would do the trick. I realize it is all a guessing came for the most part.

"The only time it really hurt was at the end of the 24th week, when I should have been done. Instead, I put my head down and charged into the 25th week. Now I am in the 27th already. "

Ouch!  I can feel that already.

Great idea, Mark. A walk in the forest is time well spent, and with your dog it's even better. In treatment I found that any form of gentle exercise was very helpful, so I still do it today even though I feel pretty good most of the time. I did protest the additional twelve weeks, but in all honesty I had read the manufacturer's material on the subject and was not surprised when my nurse practitioner refused to budge. The fact that a few strands of virus still exist must mean that they have a hiding place, or the body is not spreading the meds to all areas evenly, or something like that. Truth is, once I finished Incivek I started feeling so much better that additional time didn't sound as bad. The only time it really hurt was at the end of the 24th week, when I should have been done. Instead, I put my head down and charged into the 25th week. Now I am in the 27th already. 

Alan

Hi Alan! Congratulations!

As I am also up for an additional 12 weeks of tx, and you also had very low VL at week 4, I wanted to ask you if you ever questioned doing the extra time? and what info your dr gave you to support going the extra mile?

thanks.

I'm not going to ride a bike... but I am going out to walk the dog in the forest in your honor! ... It's going to reach 70* here today!!!!

Peace,
Mark

Some good lookin' labs Alan! 

24 week labs came in and I am still undetectable!! :) Just a little over 10 weeks to go and it will fly by fast.  My husband comes home from Afghanistan in about 3 weeks then we will go on vacation a week later so I have lots of things coming up to keep my mind busy not thinking about treatment!

My brother's 12 week lab results came in and he is still undetectable as well.  He is having some depression and was on lexapro but not working so is switching soon.  I am praying that he stays mentally tough enough to make it to at least 24 weeks!

aloha,

Meghan

Thanks, Meghan. 

I am so glad to have you to walk along with me as I do my twelve extra weeks. Hope you are feeling good. I have changed my avatar to show a picture of Adam and I riding the MS 150 last year. This is mile 78 on the first day.

Be SURE and let me know when your Week 24 labs come in.

Alan

wow!  I just read you are doing the MS150....where do you have that kind of energy??!!??  I want mine back!  :)  Good for you!  I wish you luck and happy times with your grandson.

Congrats Alan!!!  I am right behind you and find out the results to my 24 week labs on Friday....hopefully the viral load will be in by then :)  I am still on track to do my extra 12 weeks too unless the doc says something different.  I will keep all of you posted.

aloha,

Meghan

Congrats Alan!  We're thrilled for you!   It's wonderful to know that there can be good news.

Count on it, Iris. This has become my extended family.

Thanks all you crusaders for the kind words and well wishes. And kiwi, 48 weeks IS the dog box, for sure. But we've been in worse places, right?

June 9-10 is the annual MS 150 Bike Tour down in Chestertown, MD. My grandson and I will be riding. The event calls for 100 miles Saturday and 50 more Sunday. I am going for 50 each day. I'll be proud to do that much. If any of you are feeling wealthy you can sponsor me at:

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?px=2312558&pg=personal&fr_id=17584&s_tafId=219568

Keep kicking virus butt. It's what we do.

Alan

hey Alan, this looks great! keep up the good work, we still want to hear your witty posts, so stick around, K? Blessings, Iris

yaaay alan. haha extra 12 for bad behaviour. lol. what does 48 weeks mean. in the dog box. lol....

glad you are kickin ass of this dodgy virus... :)

Congratulations Alan!  And thanks for sharing the really interesting spreadsheet!  Always helpful to see how someone else is trending.

congratz

I went for a bike ride in your honor today.  Congrats Alan!

Way to go, Alan, another big milestone! Really glad you shared it since I've been on 600 mg riba for 6 weeks. I will do 24 week draw on Friday. Maybe I'll worry less, maybe not.

Very nice results there Alan, congrats!   No wonder you`re feeling happy, really pleased for you. 

Hope the rest of your tx goes nice and smoothly, just keep going...

~  Jill xx

Just left the doctor's office after a nice visit with the nurse practitoner. She had this to say:

Viral Load  -  UND

AST   -   38

ALT   -   37

Hematocrit - 37.7

Neutrophils (abs) - 1.3

So basically, I have to stop complaining now    . Also, the liver ultrasound came back as completely normal.  All of this makes me very happy and I wanted to share it with you. The schedule of labs and visits really drops off now, with CBCs only each four weeks, no VL till 36 weeks. There won't be much to report for a while. But I can bask in the warm glow of these reports for at least a few weeks.

Alan

Link to latest blood labs spreadsheet:

https://jshare.johnshopkins.edu/xythoswfs/webview/_xy-7151756_1