Hi Dereck,

Welcome to the forum.  Yes, a strange new world but the forum helped me a lot. we will be here for you, too, as embark on this journey.

Most of our signatures list the genotype we had and what type of treatment we did or starting.  This too gave me great comfort.

It was all baffling to me and a bit shocking that I had Hep C (was a former drug user but many many years ago).  We know the virus lives in the body for a long time   I became more educated about the disease, treatment, side effects right here.  My doc doesn't really say much about my blood work or nutrition for sure but he knows about the liver.   

The good news is that the drugs today are much more effective than years ago. Also, more tolerable and in some cases, very little side effects.

I look forward to hearing more from you

Blessings,

Kate

Welcome Derek,

I recognize that form. I also use Life Labs because I can get all my results online in 24 hours or less and my Dr. gets them 5+ days later. The only ones you won't see are VL ones since they typically go to a different lab. (*Public Health) They will take 10-14 days but these results do tell us a good story about the condition of our liver.

Canada is being quite good now with taking on the cost of our treatment (I finished mine a few months ago) but it is your specialist who will do the application for it and then there are other programs that will contact you when the right time comes.

Tig, if they did a genotype and rna you will not see it on this form. It would have as just mentioned gone to public health.

Feel good that treatment is available and very good these days. You know you have it and that is the good part. Next you will be cured from it

SF

Thank you all so much for taking the time to help me through this. I will post my results as I receive them.What an amazing forum.

thanks.

Great turn around, Wendy! I love it: dopeless hope fiend. Guess you weren't hopeless after all.  Thanks for all you do for others.

Hi Derek,

we have all been at the place you are now and know how scarey it is and how your imagination can run away with morbid possibilites. the genotupe you have is important as some are easier to treat than others, although the new drugs seem to be working for all of them, some work better for some genotypes than others. 

As your liver succumbs to the disease it goes from being soft and floppy to being hard. To check the degree of hardness they used to have to do a biopsy but now they use a fibroscan which sends sound waves into the liver area and then detects how much quivery movement there is. (I imagine it's a bit like watching a big fat arse getting a slap in slow mo). The results are then categorised into 4 stages with one being the least damaged and 4 being the worst. One of the great things about treatment is that most people seem to undergo a gradual improvement in their fibroscan scores. Don't worry about your liver falling out next week. You do get a lot of symptoms before it totally gives up the ghost - swelling in the stomach, easy bleeding, cramps, extreme fatigue, a lack of clarity in your thinking are some.

if you had to get a ****ty disease, you got this one at the right time as the new drugs are practically side effect free and extremely effective.

try to tackle each day as it comes. 

syd

Glad to see you are getting some answers Derek. Hopefully you have another appointment scheduled with your doc so you can get viral load and genotype taken care of next. Maybe it was done and you don't have results yet? 

I was once a hopeless dope fiend and am now a dopeless hope fiend  

you are not alone!

wendy

Greetings DC.

Yes I kind of liked the DC thing LOL.

One thing that jumped out at me is your Platelets are solid and that is a good thing. You will do fine.

I used to be a dope fiend some 30 years back so I know how that goes. If you ever just need a friend to chat with I would be honored.

Hd to edit as I have my new folks mixed up. LOL sorry.

JimmyK

Thanks Cheddy, I read some of your posts today, congratulations, that is amazing. I have already found comfort in this site. I was reading my lab results and trying to find as much info as I could, then I started to panic and think my liver was shutting down, of course I jump to the worst case scenario. I really appreciate the feed back and I think its amazing to have a place like this to go to. Having people who have experienced this first had telling me to" calm down, things will be ok" is a lot better received than some else telling me. lol

Welcome Derek.  Yes, you will find comfort here and loads of information. It was wise of you to check in here as clinics are, well, clinical. The generous people here have actual experience with the many phases of getting through this - which you will.  You may feel overwhelmed right now, but do your best to take one step at a time. You can't know everything at once, even though your mind will try.  Along with your medical team, we'll be here clarify the steps.  Amazing bunch of strangers, right?

Thanks for the warm welcome. I dont drink, I eat well and I have none of the symptoms.

Thank you for the replies, i am feeling some comfort for the first time since I was informed by my Dr. of the news. My Dr. sent me for blood tests upon my request as I thought my testosterone was low as a result of my drug use. She added a couple of things as I used needles near the end of my addiction. She told me when she got the results back she noticed some high readings and sent for more and determined that i have " The Dragon", then she sent me for another round of blood work, a ultrasound and made me a appointment with a specialist. I did my blood work, I go for the ultrasound on Monday and still havent heard from the specialist. Below are the results of my blood tests, at least what they have made available for me to see;

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Flags

Results

Reference

Units

Coagulation Studies
INR			1.0	0.9 - 1.2
		Prothrombin Time International Normalized Ratio Therapeutic Range ------------------------------------------------ Prophylaxis and treatment of Thromboembolism 2.0 - 3.0 Patient with mechanical prosthetic heart valve 2.5 - 3.5
General Chemistry
Albumin			44	35-50	g/L
Gamma Glutamyl Transferase		HI	123	15 - 73	U/L
Alanine Aminotransferase		HI	238	12 - 49	U/L
		Test repeated and results confirmed.
Aspartate Aminotransferase		HI	85	7 - 37	U/L

Do you have questions about the meaning of the results here? To view an online resource that may help explain the type of testing demonstrated on your report, please visit Lab Tests Online or click here.

IMPORTANT: This report should not be used for clinical purposes. Please print a report by using the 'Print PDF' option in my resultsTM if you are planning to share the report with a clinician or care provider.

 

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Flags

Results

Reference

Units

Coagulation Studies
INR			1.0	0.9 - 1.2
		Prothrombin Time International Normalized Ratio Therapeutic Range ------------------------------------------------ Prophylaxis and treatment of Thromboembolism 2.0 - 3.0 Patient with mechanical prosthetic heart valve 2.5 - 3.5
General Chemistry
Albumin			44	35-50	g/L
Gamma Glutamyl Transferase		HI	123	15 - 73	U/L
Alanine Aminotransferase		HI	238	12 - 49	U/L
		Test repeated and results confirmed.
Aspartate Aminotransferase		HI	85	7 - 37	U/L

Welcome to the forum Derek.

I can remember clearly when I got my HCV result.  I was in such shock.  But you will come to terms with it and, as the guys point out, there are effective treatments.

In terms of advice the guys have covered it all.   The only thing I would add is to stop drinking alcohol, if you do indeed drink, as this is the worst thing you could do for your liver currently.

Pablo

Hi Derek,

You have found a place that will address the confusion. That is something we have all shared at first so no worries there.

 2 things.

1) You have found out you have Hep C. and

2) Your tests are typical of someone that has Hep C.

As to the first, there is testing done for the Anti Body and then usually followed by an Viral load and genotype. That test (HCV RNA) is what determines you have Hep C and not simply have come in contact with it.

That test also is the one that will determine the best protocol for defeating the Dragon. The other tests you mention are not a determining factor of how o treat. Once treated, / on treatment you can expect the numbers that are high to begin to return to normal levels.

The most helpful information right now is,

Viral Load

Geno Type and

F-Score.

The latter is determined with a Fibro Scan or Firbo Sure test, Both non invasive or the old poke in the side Biopsy.

Those three elements are the starting point to what Tig mentioned is the inevitable cure. That is the way things roll these days so no worries and welcome.

JimmyK

Hi Derek,

Welcome to the forum. You will hopefully find this a good place for information and support. We have a good group that will be along to greet you.

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, it's never any fun to get that information. You need to try to relax and not let it seem like it's the end of the world, it's not. In the last couple of years they have developed some excellent treatments that are nothing but effective. You can and will beat it, that I'm sure of. We've got hundreds, if not thousands of people right here that can attest to that. So get educated and get treated. We'll help you the best we can.

To address your lab results, we can only provide opinions, not medical advice, which has to come from your healthcare team. Looking at your numbers, you do appear to have some elevations and indicate apparent liver inflammation. Your Albumin at (4.4) is normal ref. range is 3.4-5.5. The ALT of 238 is high, normal averages 5-40 and the AST (85) averages about the same (5-40). Many labs have their own set of reference ranges, so it's a good idea to have their scale to be accurate. Your GGT (123) is also high, with a range of (0-65). The INR or PT (1) is normal (.8-1.2) and is a test to determine clotting time averages. All of your elevated test results are typical with someone infected with chronic HCV. I've seen worse and I've seen better. Treatment will in most cases return them to normal. Because these levels fluctuate for many reasons, you may see them rise and fall. But clearly you have to get treated so the inflammation and damage caused by HCV is stopped and in time allowed to improve. 

We do need more information Derek. Can you provide some additional history? Have they genotyped you and drawn a RNA PCR/Viral Load blood test yet? Have you had any other tests done? Biopsy or other fibrosis stage determination? All of this information, including anything pertinent can be added to your signature line. Most of us have added that information to ours, so you can see what we have done and follow suit. It helps provide quick reference as you progress with care.

There is a lot of information here, so look around. You can find instructions on setting up your signature in my own sign. line. We have a good search function as well that will help you find discussions here on the forum. If you need help finding anything, just ask. I'm glad you're here. Don't worry, it'll be fine...

Liver Function Tests

Hello all, I have recently found out that i have hep c. It seems the more i read the less I understand. If anyone can help me understand my blood work results, I would be forever grateful. INR 1, Albumin 44, Gamma Glutamyl 123, Aianine Amino 238, Aspartate Amino 85. Please dont hold anything back, I would like to know how bad this is and what it means.

Thank you so much.

Derek