Bloodwork Genotype 3, help I am confused.

[LuluMom1980]

Hello,

I just got my new blood work done and I will want to get some insight to the results I am 30yr old female, 10 yrs with Hep C genotype 3.
I had a baby in November 2009, any my blood work was repeated 6 months postpartum and seems my VL is down??
Hemoglobin 12.5
Hematocrit    36.7
Platelets 324

Bun/Creatine Ratio 29 H
AST    241H                (44 DURING PREGNANCY)
ALT     595                   (55 DURING PREGNANCY)
HCV-RT PCR    381240 IU/ml          ( 521280 during pregnancy)
HCV logo10      5.581 log10/IUml     (5.717 during pregnancy)

My question is my viral load 381240 or 5 million something?
I am confused... also liver function went crazy after delivery. Have a Hepatologist appt tomorrow at 10am.
Thanks

[LuluMom1980]

LOL, thanks for encouragement. Yeah I will discuss that with doctor tomorrow to see if i can wait till he is 9-10 months at least eating other foods and wean him. Hes a boy hes 5 months, i have pics in my profile he my joy and hes such a flirt,luvs to talk.
And yes I agree i will need some rest from baby otherwise treatment will be hard, hes so little, he stills wakes up 1or 2 times to feed at nite still...
I am a single mom too, this is my first one, and I cannot quit work otherwise we will both suffer w baby so thanks for tips, will see what doc says after biopsy/exams tomorrow if he decides to do one (I am sure he will).

hugs and nite nygirl7

[nygirl7]

doc said drugs rivabirin is extremely bad for infants and passes thru breast milk).

TOTALLY AND DEFINITELY!  In fact while we are treating they advise us to use two types of birth control to make sure we don't get pregnant.

I really think you should have the biopsy - that way if you don't have a lot of damage (and try to remember enzymes don't always mean that you do) you might be able to wait a little while until your child is older and it might be less taxing (but I'm an "old" lady now and my kids are 19 & 21 but boy I remember being TIRED out when they were little just from feeding them every two hours!!!!!)

heck if you could wait until he/she sleeps through the night that would even be a big help right?  Most of us are exhausted on treatment and so youd be getting a double whammy (but note: many many of us (i'm a single mom) work throughout treatment and while it's not easy we sure do get it done (even though we'd rather be sleeping, LOL kind of like you probably feel right now already!   ;)

Either way enjoy your precious baby - those days go by way too fast and pretty soon it's mom can I have the car & twenty bucks!  :)

[LuluMom1980]

thanks!! very interesting, I didn't know.
Kindo nervous since I know my liver is not doing well due to enzymes.

best

Lulu

[FlGuy]

HCV-RT PCR    381240 IU/ml          ( 521280 during pregnancy)
HCV logo10      5.581 log10/IUml     (5.717 during pregnancy

Viral loads are expressed two ways, actual numbers and log equivalency.  So,

381240  = 5.581   and    521280 = 5.717

Viral counts can vary widely from test to test, even within a few weeks.

[LuluMom1980]

Thanks nygirl,

Yes, I agree some damage is been done  enzymes NEVER been that high in 10yrs and need to take action of what to do with doctor.
Now i understand VL is in the thousands in my case. Will see what they say tomorrow after they see me and evaluate me. I understand treatment can be hard on me, so I hope in between papers go, biopsy is done, and drug approval is definite I buy some time to enjoy my new baby and breastfeed him till I start treatment (doc said drugs rivabirin is extremely bad for infants and passes thru breast milk).

thanks
will try to cheer up

[nygirl7]

To be perfectly honest with you - with the current liver enzyme levels you have (ALT and AST) there is obviously damage being done to your liver.  They are extremely high.  Viral load goes up and down and really does not matter very much except when we are tracking it to see how quickly it goes to zero.  Things like liver enzymes (when a liver cell dies a liver enzyme is released so the higher they are it would appear the more cell damage is being done) are typically very important.  Mine were very high and only in the mid-upper 200s.  I had no idea I had the disease and was already stage 3 out of 4.

When you stop and think how small a virus is and how many of them you truly have floating around in your body you can see that the 200,000 isn't very much of a difference.

So, you are doing the totally right thing following through.  I would ask the hepto for a biopsy if you are unsure of where you stand.....it's not painful as it sounds (more like a big injection) and then you can see where you stand liver damage wise.  

Either way try and treat your liver as delicately as you can. Geno 3 can be an easy geno to beat (or it can be as hard as a geno1) so you have a good chance of being one of the lucky ones here!