Hi Gracie, it`s great to hear you sounding so positive about your future now, and I`m so glad you felt able to vent and share your disappointment and frustration with us here, it really does help to pour it all out to people who understand and can really sympathise.

Coming to terms with what has happened is bound to take a bit of time but you have a great attitude and I`m so pleased you`re making plans for moving forward.  Try and keep your focus on the future, and remember that you will be virus free the next time round with one of the new drug combos!

Enjoy making your travel plans for the summer, you have a lot to look forward to!  And keep in touch, we`re all here for you! 

Thanks everybody... It is a bit easier again today.

Hep C Dragon Slayer... Are you kidding me? I am living for you guys to ALL beat this. It's my future. The UND are coming fast and furious with your treatment protocol, and that's what I am going to ask for! Keep slaying that dragon, you give me so much encouragement. I read the entire feed of the sovaldi / olysio treaters and you are ALL showing success. That makes being positive so much easier.

And Lisa... So sorry for your IVF battle. That must have been a real kick in the gut feeling when you go hoping for the best news in one thing, and end up with bad news in something totally different. Thank goodness you found out in a time where cures are all around us. And your on your way to step one of your dream. Step two will come too for you with your family growing. You have the persistence and drive to not give up.

I started making summer plans... And when I realize I can do something in the next year that I thought I wouldn't be able to do, like TRAVEL ... I get just a bit of a happy feeling inside. 

So onward we all go, towards the day when we are all virus free, which I predict will be in the next few years. And again, I am so grateful for having you all to talk to... And my fellow old SOC peeps... Tig, Globetrotter ... So glad to have had you through the incevik weeks. While it wasn't fun, you both made it bearable since you survived it before me... :) and it did give my poor old liver some much needed rest. 

... I'll be here stalking everybody so keep up the good work!

Gracie,

    Doesnt seem fair as I share my highlights and read your update.

    But I have to agree with Tig, If god brings you to it, he will take you through it and I have to agree with Matt in getting this off your mind allows you to move on to a positive forward aspect.

In your own words:

So I am going to start tomorrow getting healthy again. Start to exercise, write a long letter to my doctor about what I want to do for treatment, and look forward to the day when I will get to share the news with all of you that I finally reached SVR. And from the research I've been doing this weekend, it's in all of our futures. They have really turned a corner on treatment options, being so close to 100% it's so encouraging.

You are already thinking positive and planning ahead.

Your glass is half full. 

Stay Strong and allow your self to advance into the new meds.  I think you will like the results throughout the tx and the end results as well.

Hep-C Dragon Slayer

Gracie

I truly believe that everything happens for a reason and you did everything you were supposed to do..you can now focus on getting fit for August . I have just made home made chicken soup which was yummy and got some kale, fresh beet etc to make super juices, hopefully use the stuff before it goes off 

p.s bet the pillow is relieved 

p.p.s thanks for the Mother's day mention

Sally x

Gracie,

So sorry for the temporary setback, but as you know, it might be a blessing in the end. Hopefully you can get on one of the new meds soon and get your svr without going thru the side affects of the int/riba. Think you will be much better off in the long run,   Best of luck to you    

Hey Gracie

Their is a lot to be said for writing out how one feels. It's good for the soul and getting it out of our head allows us to move on to more positive forward looking aspects of our lives.

Psychologically speaking before treatment we gear up for the long haul and dream about the positive outcome. When it comes up short and we fall it makes us mad, but we can't just lay on the ground in pity for months (their is no future in it, only past) 

Gracie you have already are off the ground and thinking positive about your next move to defeat HCV, keep it up and going forward because it will happen.

Remember : Better Meds equals better outcomes

matt

Hi Gracie,

You have had a long journey already on the treatment path and any knock back is bound to wind anyone emotionally.

M husband and I had done 7 appointments with an I.V.F team, operation, scans all sorts and was assuming we had entered the beginning of the drug therapy to come home with me having a Hep C anti-body positive test, a referal internally of the hospital, and told I couldn't return until I had cured. Knock backs are hard and sometimes knock the wind out of us. But, we must remember that every problem has a solution. I've taken a chance on fertility issues using the old regime because I don't really have a choice if I want to progress. I am G3, G3s also have a higher relapse rate than other genotypes, being forearmed is forewarned.

I know what it feels like to get a kick in the guts when you think everything is going really well and then to be floored within one second. But every day that passes new hope builds and our ability to cope surfaces and we start thinking ahead again.

These new regimes are curing non-responders and partial responders like there never was an issue. Interferon never was a perfect solution, but it was the only armour that was available. Now this is changing at a rate of knots and we are in the transition period from a difficult to treat disease, to something that is effectively cured easily. We are very fortunate that someone, somewhere decided Hep C was a worse disease than Hep B which has had little research placed into it.

I look forward to reading next year that you have started your new cure and acheived SVR.

I'm glad you are feeling a little better, and perspective is shifting after a very disapponting weekend. Hugs x

-- Edited by Loopy Lisa on Monday 31st of March 2014 04:19:57 PM

-- Edited by Loopy Lisa on Monday 31st of March 2014 04:21:40 PM

Hi Gracie,

I'm sorry to hear about the anguish and upset, but I understand why. There are times like this when it's part of the grieving, acceptance and recovery process. I know also that there are some very good days ahead for you. Grasp ahold of the positives and gain strength from what you've learned from these negatives. Doesn't feel like it now, but it will make you stronger. 

I also wanted to point out one thing that you missed on your list. It is well documented, that anyone that has started treatment and seen a significant drop in their viral load and a reduction in their LFT's, have given their liver a big rest and induced a period of overall hepatic calm. Take advantage of the "calm", recover from that damnable triple treatment, and get your mind ready for your final battle against the Dragon! You've been a brave warrior and fought a hard battle, but the drugs failed you, not the other way around. You were spared 36 more weeks of hell, for a better chance at SVR in one third the time! Everything happens for a reason, and a chance to take the high road to success was the reason this time. If God brings you to it, He will take you through it...

xo, Tig

Well guys, I have had a very emotional weekend. Only those of you who have got the call telling you to stop treatment understand what a kick in the gut that can be. I had a temper tantrum cry baby attack that involved leg kicks and pillow punches (my husband knew enough to give me some time alone), then I grabbed all the meds I had left, threw them in a bag and hid them in the top of my closet (it was so hard to take the inteferon out of the fridge after being so careful to always have it in there), and finished with a ceremonial ripping up into tiny pieces my injection mat.

I have since calmed down and thought a lot about my situation and I have come to some conclusions:

That I am thankful that I had this breakthrough now and not after 48 weeks.

That I was at least for a few days hep c negative so know its possible.

That there are at least two treatment options ahead of me to try and I am very grateful that they will be an option for me.

That I have met such a wonderful support group in all of you, and you all keep me hopeful, determined and on track.

So I am going to start tomorrow getting healthy again. Start to exercise, write a long letter to my doctor about what I want to do for treatment, and look forward to the day when I will get to share the news with all of you that I finally reached SVR. And from the research I've been doing this weekend, it's in all of our futures. They have really turned a corner on treatment options, being so close to 100% it's so encouraging. So I'll go to bed tonight encouraged, grateful and .... Not itchy!

Good night fellow dragon slayers, I'll be keeping an eye on everybody's progress and asking lots of questions... I'm not done yet!