Starting the Tests - Chapter 3

This picture was taken of us several weeks prior to the events described.
While all this was going on, I also had to be tested. I am negative for Hepatitis C. Even though we have been married and ignorant of this disease for 18 years, I never contracted it. We decided to make slight modifications though. We never share a razor anymore and we have separate containers for our toothbrushes.

One of Don's first tests was a simple sonogram. This was done to get accurate measurements of his liver and spleen and to check for kidney stones. Don's liver was measuring normal sized, but his spleen was enlarged and he clearly had stones in his gallbladder.

He also had a test for something called Viral Load. Viral Load (VL) shows the amount of active Hep.C cells in his blood. This count is vitally important to monitoring how well the medicine is working. It is not indicative of how long he has been infected, what condition or how much damage has been done to his liver. Don's VL was 400,000. Some patients have VL counts into the millions!

Over the past 10 years or so, many new discoveries have been made concerning Hepatitis, but the treatment drugs are essentially the same. It is a once a week injection of Interferon into the subcutaneous tissue of the abdomen and Ribavirin pills prescribed in amounts according to the patients weight. One of the new discoveries is that if a patients VL has not dropped by 90% after 12 weeks of treatment, it is not working. To put this into perspective, Don's VL needs to go from 400,000 down to 4,000 after 12 weeks of treatment. If not he would be considered a Non-responder and taken off the drug treatment.

When we consulted with the doctor, he advised us of the sonogram results and said that as long as the stones were not causing Don any trouble, we would ignore them for now. Although his liver was normal sized, he was concerned about his enlarged spleen, which indicates blood backing up from his liver. This is the first time we heard the word cirrhosis. The upcoming biopsy was a test done specifically for this. Patients with cirrhosis have a lower chance of being cured of Hepatitis C...down to 50%. If the cirrhosis was advanced enough, drug treatment for the Hep. would not be an option.

Don's liver biopsy was scheduled for the next week.

More About Hepatitis..chapter 2

If you have not visited my blog in a while, please scroll down and read the post the precedes this one first.

My Father is a Neurosurgeon. My brother is a Neurologist. My first career was as a Surgical Technologist (essentially a scrub nurse). NONE of us suspected Don had Hepatitis! As I said before, the only way you can contract it is blood to blood. Most commonly transmitted via a blood transfusion or sharing a needle. Don contracted his though when he was about 18 years old, on leave from the Army and decided to get a tattoo. When you first get Hepatitis, you may feel flu like symptoms for a few days. Most people treat the aches with over the counter meds and never see a doctor. The ones who do go to the doctor, many times, because of the symptoms, are misdiagnosed. This is how it starts for Hep.C. The viral forms have a few more symptoms and are a bit easier to diagnosis and transfer to others.

Once Don found out he had Hep C, he then had to be tested for what is called 'genotype' There are 6 different genotypes of Hep, C, genotype 1 being the most difficult to treat. If you have genotype 2-6, the chemotherapy drug treatment is essentially 24 weeks long. If you test positive for genotype 1, the treatment is 48 weeks and the doctor will schedule you for a liver biopsy.

Don tested positive for genotype 1.

A Bit More Personal..chapter 1

This is a picture from our wedding. At this time Don had Hepatitis C and neither of us knew anything about it. This was over 18 years ago.

Last year Don started to have some symptoms of high blood pressure and I nagged him to death to go to the doctor. He has what we call "White Coat Syndrome" which essentially means that anytime he steps into a doctors office - his already high blood pressure goes even higher. He about gave those poor nurses a heart attack when they saw how high his was! I was right though, he did have HBP. Don does not know this, but when he scheduled his appointment for this, I secretly called the doctors office, gave them a heads up about how long it had been since he had been to the doctor and asked them to give him a COMPLETE physical! (sorry Honey) but so glad I did that. They found a couple of problems - and one of them was the Hepatitis.

There are quite a few types of Hepatitis subdivided as A-F and some are viral and others are blood born. The most difficult to treat is Hep.C. It is blood born and is usually transferred by either a blood transfusion done prior to 1990, IV drug users, or in a few other ways. Anyone who knows my husband, KNOWS there is no way he would ever use IV drugs! He had never had a blood transfusion either. So how in the world did he get Hepatitis C? The most logical explanation is from his Army tattoo. When Don graduated from high school, he enlisted in the Army and as soon as he and some of his buddies got leave, they headed off to a tattoo parlor to get their US Army tattoos. That was about 1978.

So - here we are 30 years later. Why had we not known about this any time earlier? For one thing, Hep. C does not show up in a normal blood screening until it has done enough damage to your liver to cause the liver enzymes to come back abnormal. It is a relatively symptomless disease and can fester in your body for years before anything is noticed. For some people it can be silent for 10 years and others as long as 30. Drinking alcohol is like gasoline to a flame though and as in our case, if those who have it, know they have it, can take better care of their diet and slow the digression.Our specialist said that there could be an epidemic of people, especially people over 40 who are Hep. C positive. Please, if you had a blood transfusion, ever did IV drugs or had a tattoo prior to 1990, get tested for Hepatitis C.

I will post more about Don's diagnosis, condition, & treatments later...

A Good Gardening Idea!

Don't waste your money on one of these seed starter kits!

Instead, get creative and do this! Not only can you use the egg shell as a planter, but you can use the carton as a holder and when it is time to transplant the plant into the ground - all you have to do is crack the bottom of the egg shell and plant the whole thing!

Sooo I Decided...

..that since we only have 4 sheep, I just needed to bite the bullet and buy some real sheep clippers. Last year I tried to do it with some old horse clippers and it took me 6 days to do 4 sheep! I bought these clippers...

..and here are the blades I have to use to get through the heavy wool. These blades alone cost $40.00!

My Little Girl is Looking to Buy her First Home..

..and we are so proud of her! These are 2 that she likes very much.

The market is so right for buyers now and I think she is ready to be a home owner.My favorite part...is that she keeps asking me to go with her to help her decide! What a compliment!!

Featured Gardening Blog!

If you enjoy gardening; any kind of gardening - I believe you would love my friend Brita's blog entitled "Too Many Tomatoes". She not only has an eye for photography, but a real gift of writing as well. Her blog is full historical family gardening events and priceless pictures like this one.

It is a combination of the past and present and I just know you will enjoy it as much as I do!http://2manytomatoes.blogspot.com/

This Blog Has Been Rudely Interrupted ...

...by a migraine headache!

Prayer Request

I work for Continental Airlines. Although the plane that crashed was actually a Colgan Air flight, we codeshare with them and handle the reservations for them. Please pray for the family members of the crash victims. Also - Please pray for my work associates who are in tears all around me handling the calls from friends and family members of the victims.

One More Cute Valentine's Day Post..

Hand Made Card

Isn't this an adorable idea!

These Are Not Mine...

..but this is what Miniature Cheviot lambs look like!

Baby Lambs???

We have 4 Miniature Cheviot sheep. 1 Ram and 3 Ewes...all are in full wool right now, so they are much "fluffier" than this picture shows. They all live together all the time..so although the ewes look HUGE, I am wondering if they are just extra wooley or are we getting ready to have baby lambs!Every night when I get home from work, I race out to the lambs pen to count. 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, ...I still have not gotten past 4... :0(

Did You Know ...

Fox hunting is still very prevalent in North America.

There is even a fox hunt club in Texas!

Now before you go feeling sorry for the fox - I just want to say that those whom I know that do fox hunt say that in America they do not chase to kill as they do in Europe.

...and just for fun...

My Love Affair With Barns

If you love them as much as I do, then here is some eye candy for you!

Sweet Valentine's Day Craft

Small wooden heart purchased at a Joann's craft store, a bit of paint, ribbon and some left over beads.I have received some amazing Valentine's Day flowers over the years ...and a few awful ones too!!!...but this year, I just want some bulbs to plant and enjoy year after year.