stage 4 liver disease

[Wilko1956]

Hello out there! I’m 51 and was diagnosed with Hepatitis C just a few weeks ago. I had a biopsy last week. Today the doctor told me it is stage four liver disease. This is my first post so I would like to know from others what works and what is available to me. Again many thanks and hope to hear from you all. Best wishes-Willy

[Wilko1956]

Hello! Well my mom is going to be 88 soon. She gets up every morning and goes shopping with a maid that drives here. She has macular degeneration and can't see well. Still she has more energy than most teenagers.
I just can't burden her with this news. I want her to enjoy the last few minutes and seconds she has on this planet. As for my kids I will eventually tell them but I don't want to burden them. Yes, I as a son and father would want to know if my mom or sons had an issue but that's me. Again thank you-Willy

[Wilko1956]

To: meNtoby ; Yes, I found out kind of by accident. I was tested for levels of a depression drug I once took called Lithium.  The results showed ELEVATED LIVER ENZINES and this also kept me from being allowed to donate blood. The doctors said it was most likely elevated from taking the medication, others asked me if I ever had Hepatitis. I told them not to my knowledge. They asked if I had Yellowing of the skin and all the typical HEPATITIS syndromes. My response was NO, No, No. So this has been with me 25, 30 years.
Just recently my girlfriend started working at a satellite of a medical university in Miami. I can fall out of bed and walk to the facility. There I get 80 percent off medical. So I decided to start going instead of driving and hour here or there and waiting and then going to labs, etc. This place had it all in house. They from day one started taking blood, asking question. Eventually the ELEVATED LIVER ENZIMES showed up and the same routine of questions were asked…once again, except this time the when further and further until they said I had HEPATITIS and it was HEPATITIS C.
I was recommended a doctor that works with team of doctors at a gastrointestinal digestive disease facility next to a hospital north of me.
I am 298 lbs at 5’8’. I just recently gained about 30 lbs. The doctor couldn’t believe I was that heavy because he said I don’t look that big. Until recently in the last four months I’ve become sluggish and tiered after returning from an annual convention in California. I always get sick after visiting Southern California. I get a bad cold, etc. I think it is the hectic convention, along with pre planning and of course the dirty old jets! I was always the most energetic person going from town to town, place to place until just recently. But getting back to the gastrointestinal doctor, he told me many people can go through life with HEP C and die of something else. OKAY THIS IS HIS PROFESSIONAL OPINION. I’m not a doctor.  I had him set up a COLONOSCOPY and a BIOPSY. I had the colonoscopy at his office and a week later I had at the hospital behind his office the BIOPSY OF THE LIVER. The other day I went in for the result and it was STAGE FOUR CIRROSIS with no cancer. He  told me because I never have been treated that I would be a prime candidate for an upcoming study at the UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI. He was also going the same night I got the news to a huge meeting with a drug company that is producing the new drug for Hep C. I am going to see him in ten days with questions about my treatment options.
SO IF ANY OF YOU CAN HELP ME OUT WITH QUESTION, PLEASE DO SO!
This is where I’m at
QUESTIONS;
1) What Genome am I and how does this relate to my treatment options?
2) How much weight should I lose before I begin treatment?
3) Okay, I have HEP C and Stage 4 non cancerous liver disease.
a. Will or can I get cancer easier because of this?
b. If I do the new meds along with the current treatment what are my chances to get rid of the HEP C?
4) Say I get rid of Hep C with treatment.
5) A) Will my liver function better and could I live a somewhat regular life?
6) B) If I have to someday get a transplant, will my transplanted liver get HEP C?
OKAY, THESE ARE JUST WHAT I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO COME UP WITH WITH THE ADDED KNOWLEDGE I GOT FROM READING ON THIS SITE FOR THE LAST TWO DAYS.
WHAT AM I MISSING?
Again Thank you to MeNtoby and all that have responded!

[meNtoby]

Thanks, I'm starting to see more and more after I already ask a question!
Getting the hang of it little by little.  This place is better than my old set of
Encyclopedia Britannica....they're good for door stops right along with Law Books!

[Bill1954]

There is currently another thread floating around here about treatment costs:

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/show/523174

[meNtoby]

Oh, yeah, I forgot all about them.  The number got doinked I guess, but it's
easy to find.  I would qualify for at least a discount I think. That's a lot of
money.  One mess of a health crisis in this country with HCV only going up,
going to cost a pretty penny.  Gotta invest in medicine companies or something,
make money, then give it back to them.

Cheers back at ya' buddy.
All the best. Accidentally posted one up above to will, meant it to you...about
the pen shot things.  How do you dose?

[HectorSF]

My meds (Roche Pegasys and Copegus) were about $4,000 per month from Walgreens here in SF.

You might want to try to get your meds for free from Roche.
The Partnership for Prescription Assistance was formed
because many Americans do not know that they may qualify
for free or low-cost medication. A centralized location makes
it easier for patients to locate assistance programs. The goal
or mission of the Partnership for Prescription Assistance is to
bring about more awareness of the patient assistance programs
and to help put people in touch with these programs.
To find out if you qualify for an assistance program go to the
Partnership for Prescription Assistance Web Site https://www.pparx.org or call 1-***-***-****(toll free) for more information

Cheers!
Hector