Wow
I would like to thank everybody for posting such encouraging comments on my blog. You don’t know how much I appreciate it.
Anyway, I’m back from my trip to the big city, where I saw the doctor, and I’m really pleased with how it went. He was very informative, and the most amazing thing happened… I think I’ve changed my mind about getting the treatment!
Doc really made things clear for me when he pointed out that I’ve got two choices – either give the treatment a go and maybe it works and I’m cured, or maybe it doesn’t and I’m back where I was. Or, live with the virus and have my liver destroyed.
Here are some important things I learned about the Interferon/Ribavirin treatment that helped me to change my mind:
1) It doesn’t do any permanent damage. In fact, even if it fails to eliminate the virus, it might actually slow it down for a while.
2) My Genotype (Genotype 3) has a good chance of responding to the treatment.
3) Not everyone experiences really bad side effects. And because of my Genotype, I would only have the treatment for 6 months instead of 12.
So, my next step is to have a liver biopsy to assess the damage. That sounds pretty scary as well, but necessary. Then there’s the type of treatment to consider. It’s a bit weird, because there’s the government-funded one which has up to a 60% success rate, and there’s another one which the government won’t fund because it’s too expensive, but has a much better success rate. Apparently the cost is around $NZ15,000. The weird thing is that this other option never seems to get mentioned. They only ever mention the free option. I don’t understand why that is, since surely the pharmaceutical company would be happy to sell the expensive option.
There’s something freaky about the way the health system works in this country. And I haven’t quite got to the bottom of it yet…
Anyway, I’m back from my trip to the big city, where I saw the doctor, and I’m really pleased with how it went. He was very informative, and the most amazing thing happened… I think I’ve changed my mind about getting the treatment!
Doc really made things clear for me when he pointed out that I’ve got two choices – either give the treatment a go and maybe it works and I’m cured, or maybe it doesn’t and I’m back where I was. Or, live with the virus and have my liver destroyed.
Here are some important things I learned about the Interferon/Ribavirin treatment that helped me to change my mind:
1) It doesn’t do any permanent damage. In fact, even if it fails to eliminate the virus, it might actually slow it down for a while.
2) My Genotype (Genotype 3) has a good chance of responding to the treatment.
3) Not everyone experiences really bad side effects. And because of my Genotype, I would only have the treatment for 6 months instead of 12.
So, my next step is to have a liver biopsy to assess the damage. That sounds pretty scary as well, but necessary. Then there’s the type of treatment to consider. It’s a bit weird, because there’s the government-funded one which has up to a 60% success rate, and there’s another one which the government won’t fund because it’s too expensive, but has a much better success rate. Apparently the cost is around $NZ15,000. The weird thing is that this other option never seems to get mentioned. They only ever mention the free option. I don’t understand why that is, since surely the pharmaceutical company would be happy to sell the expensive option.
There’s something freaky about the way the health system works in this country. And I haven’t quite got to the bottom of it yet…
posted by Filosofette at 4:21 pm
3 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Hi, The biopsy is nothing - just a needle in your side, I hardly felt it and I am a big softy when it comes to pain.
You will be able to take a much more informed decision as to your treatment once you have the results.
I am genotype 1 so it is a year of tx for me. But I am feeling terrible anyway and it isn`t going to improve on it`s own, so there is no other way.
Be strong, and don`t be afraid to look inside, the view may be better than what you thought,
Paul.
Congratulations on getting in to the doctor and considering all of your options! If you do decide on the treatment, it's important to remember that not everyone has a terrible time with side effects and that the initial side effects, if bad, evidently improve over time - this is what I keep thinking about (am starting treatment Feb.4).
There is an excellent website that I've referred to for a great deal of information:
www.janis7hepc.com
Also incredibly good (and with some humour to take off the edge!) for a review of how to deal with side effects of treatment:
www.hepcsurvivalguide.org/comboguide.htm
Let us know how you are feeling and what you've decided. I agree that with genotype 3, the shorter length treatment and greater chance of achieving a sustained viral response is an incentive to try and get through it. I'll let you know how my treatment is going once I've started. Take care!
Sue, Toronto, Canada
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