How long for you and how much damage?

[Mike1A84]

Heres a queston for everyone.How long have you had hep c for?and what
kind of damage to you have at this point.For me I have had it for almost 20 years and was stage 1 grade 1 in the beginning of 2011.anyway feedback would be nice.

[Kadeeta]

Thank you to all of you for your  posts --I have read them with great interest ,It is a great community  -I am lucky to found it.Thanks again .

[belle19]

i got it in 1974.  diagnosed december 2010.  liver biopsy 2011 stage 2 grade 2.  went into a clinical trial may 2011...finished may 2012.  SVR november 2012.  life is great!  i never had one symptom, ever.  best wishes.  belle

[ceanothus]

I had numerous possibilities for exposure from medical procedures done in a third-world country in 1981-1982 and from a transfusion here in the U.S. in 1984. In 1989 my biopsy was stage 1. I treated unsuccessfully but didn't have another biopsy until 2004, when I was stage 4. There was no question of it being just a bad little area, as that one was a "wedge" biopsy done during a major abdominal surgery with my entire diseased liver fully exposed. It was not a transplant but was a difficult surgery that required the skills of an exceptionally talented and experienced transplant surgeon, and when he later described my liver condition to me he really didn't expect it to last much longer. I treated unsuccessfully again from 2005-2006, and then my third tx in 2012-2013 finally worked. I've been SVR for three months. Contrary to expectations, my cirrhosis is still compensated!

[GrammyA]

My tenure with this horrible disease may be the oddest one so far.  I was exposed to it from multiple blood transfusions when I was 8 months old - in 1953.  I am now 60 and genotype 1b with cirrhosis.  In 2000 I was Stage 1 and failed treatment in 2001 being removed from treatment after 14 weeks.  In January of this year I finished 24 weeks of the triple with Incivek and was undetectable at 4 weeks post but detectable at 12 weeks post.  I was Stage 4 cirrhosis in 2004.  Now I wait until something else comes along that might remove the virus - and pray it will be a treatment that will not kill me in the process.  I could only do 24 weeks this last time instead of going the full 48 due to extreme side effects and indicators that the treatment would cause permanent neurological damage if I continued.  Just had another MRI to see if a tumor in the liver is still under control and oddly enough my AST and ALT are now both absolutely normal and the lowest I have ever seen them... go figure.

[frijole]

I have had 3 biopsies.  The first was in 2005 before I treated the first time and it was G1, S1 - not bad for having Hep C for 35 years or so.

Second biopsy was in 2007 after a failed treatment - still G1-2, S1-2.  Not bad, I thought.

Third biopsy was in 2011 before I treated with triple. - G3-4, S3-4 - cirrhosis!  Total shock.  Age in 2011 was 64.  

Don't be tricked into thinking you have escaped liver damage.  Damage starts excellerating as you age and things can turn quickly.  I had the slides read by 3 different doctors and they all said the same.  It impacted treatment -- had to do 48 weeks, rather than 24 (or 28 in my case with Victrelis) but I am SVR now and glad I treated. (and, by the way, damage in the liver is more or less uniform so core samples do give a good reading of the state of the entire liver).

I hope to have another biopsy in a year or two to see what has happened to my liver.

frijole (bean)

[Dee1956]

I think I got it in 1977.  I was tested in 96, came back neg, was false neg.
After 30 years I was in the very beginning.. transitioning to cirrhosis, yes it makes me feel better to say it that way :).
I was not diagnosed until my platelets fell to 65K.  I had cryoglobunlemia for 2 years before that, not one of the 3 docs I showed it to made the connection, they told me it was nothing to worry about.  Now I am SVR and all the spots on my legs are clearing up.  I was told they would never go away as they were iron stains from my blood leaking out.
I feel better than I have in many many years.