Your specialist is worthless you should know this by know he is just there for a pay check....Hope you get all your answer honey take care

As you all now I seen my Liver Transplant surgeon last week!! He told me that the ALT's & Enzimes, Viral loads dont mean shit! For those dections ALWAYS GO UP AND THROUGHOUT TX's. BYOPSY's are the only true answers' And I belive him. After all the TX's that I have done sister!!! LUV YA

Hey Kaz,

Bacially the viral load it only used to determine how well a person is responding to treatment. Other than that it means nothing has far as amount of damage and such. It is said that people with lower viral loads respond better to treatment but that's not ground in stone either.

There are a lot of treatments in trial phases however the only FDA approved treatment for HCV is indeed Riba and Interferon.

By the way, your doctor is an idiot. He should have educated much better than he has. I'd switch if I were you.

Mouse
Genotype 1a, Stage 3, Grade 3
Finished 49 wks of tx on 4/13/07
Hoping for SVR on 9/20/07
(4+ days and counting!)

Ask all the questions you have! That's how most of us learned. My doctor explained everything, but I found that all my DS friends put everything into perspective. If you don't understand- demand an explanation from the doctor- he is paid for it(as Happy Baker pointed out!)

HELLO KAZSTA, VIRAL LOAD IS AMOUNT OF VIRUSES IN A GIVEN VOLUME OF BLOOD. EXAMPLE: YOU HAVE 1000000 PARTS OF HEP C IN A QUART OF BLOOD. THEY WORK IN HOW MUCK VIRUS PER MILLIMETER. YOUR QUESTION IS AM I BAD OR GOOD? jUST A GUESS. IT DEPENDS ON HOW YOUR BODY RESPONDS TO THE TREATMENT. DON'T LET THE NUMBERS GEY YOU DOWN. tHIS IS JUST MY OPINION. I AM JAST A REGULAR OL FELLOW. hOPE THAT HELPS
kotlbland

THEY WORK IN VIRUS PER MILLIMETER. SORRY FOR THE MESS UP. KOTLBLAND

HEY SORRY FOR BAD TYPING. MY SLEEPING PILL MUST HAVE REALLY KICKED IN. SORRY

im just as clueless as you kazsta...my specialist is hopeless. i've seen him 3 times since my gp diagnosed my hep c, and all i've done with the liver specialist is blood test after blood test. i was supposed to get my pos or neg rna results today but he never got back.

if you find out anymore, message me as im pretty lost as well.


ciao and good luck

All I was told was that my VL was 23million which is high-I don't think I've haven't heard of anyone w/that high a # but was told it means nothing...except that I had to drop 2 00's (to 220,000) by week 12 of tx or ins/dr may consider me a non-responder and cancel tx. There are exceptions if Dr. thinks more w/help and convinces ins.-this pisses me off cause what if I could respond in a couple more mos? I was told however by nurses that I'd be surprised how quickly vl drop on tx! If doc won't answer ?'s asap I'd consider switching I had to! Also ask about you ammonia level-I was told that normal was 35 and I had 130 which could mean cirossis which after bx I did not have - only stage 1/stage 1. So even when given #'s you need to have doc explain everything to you. Even w/new specialist after bx I was just told I needed to take tx asap as my virus was very active????? Ask him about bioposy too-important so you can tell if and how much damage has been done to liver!

Alrighty, here's my advice.

First, who is in charge of your own personal health?
YOU ARE.
Take charge of it NOW.

Make a list of questions, list all the stuff you want to know.
At the top of your list should be to demand copies of all of your test results, including your biopsy.
Your viral load, your stage, your grade, your genotype - all the info that must be given to you.
And don't take no for an answer; all this info is yours and can't be withheld from you.
There are some people who are content with letting their dr be in control but I prefer to see what's going on and I particularly felt better to be able to see how tx was affecting my blood tests results.

You need to get used to doing your own research, then taking what you find to your dr. Eventually, you will discover that you may know more than your dr on this subject.
About the viral load number - it's just that; a number. While a higher number can lessen your odds of clearing the virus, it's really more of an indicator to you and your dr to judge how you are responding to tx. That number's got to go down, down, down, to show you are responding. If it's not going down or does not change or even starts going up, you're just a non-responder to tx and may as well just stop tx.

Now, go and make a list of your questions to ask your dr the next visit.
Then when you get the copies of your tests, bring them home and take a look at them, and make a list of questions for your dr about your test results.
You're the boss, and don't you forget it.

i must have missed this post kaz. sorry. i understand you know nothing from the docs. i'm with you on that one cos you and i both know that here in the uk we arent told anything. BUT you gotta learn to ask. for some reason our bloods seem to take forever for results to come through. mine took over 4 weeks from hcv dx to VL and genotype and unless i kept ringing the gastro, i would have never known the results. we can get copies of all the results, but you gotta ask, then fill in an 'access to records' form and request copies. they charge anything up to 50. i got a copy letter (just one) and it cost me 25. its good biz for them! so decide what you want and ask for it altogether cos they cant charge any more than 50 at one time. i am a bit confused too about the VL. mine is 919000 IU/ml and was told that is high, prolly too high to tx. yet there are ppl on here with much higher VL (unless they use a different form of measurement in other countries) and they still get tx. also, i've been told that cos i have thyroid probs they prolly wont tx. and to cement it, they said i prolly wont get tx cos i have cirrhosis. you are not alone my friend, none of it makes sense to me either. but you must get copies of everything and do some research yourself. i, for one, aint gonna lie down and accept what the docs say as gospel. i'm gonna find out everything i can and fight it all the way. i suggest you do the same your end. good luck my friend and hope you had a good time on your hols. special hug to you and your son:)

My GP is just like Stigmata's. It really doesn't matter what I see him about, he always says the same thing.
Gee, I don't know but go to this specialist and we will find out the problem.
I love having an honest dr who sends me to others that will know.

Drs always seem very busy treating many patients and mine and yours are no different. As Just Blue recommended make a list of questions. I found that calling the NURSE in the Dr's office will get all your answers. Establish a rapport with her and she will reply to all your questions.
Hope this helps.

i like the approach stigmata and agree but its easier said than done when you dont get to see the specialist for 2 or 3 months at a time and if you wanna referral elsewhere you may have to wait up to 6 months. most of the docs here dont explain anything unless you ask. so, yeah, its important to ask. most of my dx has been done via letter, not in the consulting room and i have to write again and again for further info.
good luck fighting your dragon if you're in the uk stigmata. hope you have better luck than the rest of us getting equipped with your medical info.
have a good week:)