bouncing BX, thinking I will hold out for the new drugs

[SnoWav]

Here is my stats, 53 yr old male Had the hep C for around 35 yrs,VL around a million.Had a BX 5 yrs ago and the small town doctors read it at grade 1 stage 2. Did 48 weeks of TX cleared at 12 weeks also clear at 48 wks but relasped by 12 weeks post TX.Went to a new doctor at a teaching hospital they reread my old BX slides at grade 2 stage 3. Just got my results back from the new BX I had last week ,they read grade 0-1 stage 1-2,now that sounds pretty darn good. I guess reading BX slides is pretty much open to who ever interpets them. So the way it looks to me now I will wait out VX950 instead of hammering my body with 72 wks of stronger  combo. Not sure what mild iron stain means on the results. See my doc next week. later

[SixtiesSage]

I had iron staining too. Doc said it could be hemochromatosis which is a genetic disorder of the liver collecting too much iron, which becomes toxic. Liver cells have a high concentration of iron and when they die they leave the iron behind. In my case, and probably yours it was/is nothing to worry about. Here is a link about hemochromatosis.

http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/hemochromatosis/index.htm

[bobbyullc]

good decision, new tx will be ready in 2-5 years. if i were your stage i would forget about tx and set an alarm clock for 5 years and put it all behind you. personally i do not understand why you chose to tx in the first place????

get back to us in 5 years and let us know how you are.
bobby

[copyman]

another possibility is that your new bx showed improvement from you treating for the 48 weeks, there are studies that showed bx regressing a stage or two....just a thought

[Kalio1]

Wow that is great news about your biopsy. Congratulations. that 48 weeks did some good in your liver histology it seems. I think you are right and biopsy readings vary some from one doc to another, but that sounds like a really good improvement.

[SnoWav]

after my wife TX and made it to SVR I had to use condoms (just diden't want to take a chance with her getting it again no matter how slight the risk.That is really what pushed me into TX,but that said it for sure helped.Before TX I was having a lot of arm numbness and pain in my arm and legs after 2 weeks of TX that all went away and even though I diden't SVR I still feel 100 percent better than before TX so it was worth it for me .