time frames

[lynn1958674]

Greetings Everyone!
Just a couple  of questions. First what kind of time frame did everyone have from dx to tx? I know medical time and people time are two different beasts. I was dx in October 2012 and am told tx miight not begin untill March 2014. Just seems like a rather large gap. Second question, how, if it was the case, do you deal/handle with just down right rude nurses and secretaries?  Thank you. Best to all in the New Year.

[lynn1958674]

Thank you. Will do.

[Advocate1955]

Hi,
You may want to post these ultrasound results on the Cirrhosis of the Liver forum.  I think Randy, or Hector may be able to help you interpret them.
Advocate1955

[lynn1958674]

Thank you. Just received results from US and have 2 spots on the left lobe of liver( rather small and reports indicates begin) , an intra-abdominal cyst near the para-arota  region, and a nodule on left cervical lymph node. It appears the left side is trying to stage a coup of sorts. The doc returns after the holidays, so its the waiting dance.
. I understand the comment about "not knowledgeable". There seems to me to be this short 3 item speech and a question beyond that realm results in the deer in headlights look. Sorry, gotta laugh, stay upbeat.

[Carlhcv]

PS, personnel were polite and helpful but not really knowledgeable. They failed to tell me some things but they worked with me on costs and other issues.

[Carlhcv]

About 3 months in my case. I learned everything I could and put it all together. I did 6 months of triple therapy and failed to respond. Go for it anyway. Your odds are pretty good. All of my medical personnel were great during tx.

[lynn1958674]

Thank you.

[lynn1958674]

Thank you for the insight. As I become older I find myself  increasingly frustrated with medical time frames. Yes it is October 2013 and next appointment with doc is Feb 2014. I had the US 12/18/13 and have appointment with psychologist in 2 weeks for the depression screening prior to peg interferon tx. I haven't insurance so I go to a clinic with a sliding scale fee and a program with the Pegasus company.

[pooh55811]

Some of the time frame depends on how much you want to treat and which drugs you are willing to treat with. It is not unusual to have to wait 2-5 months while you are getting blood tests, additional tests (ultrasound, biopsy, etc.), being educated about Hep C and the treatment, waiting for appointments, and checking insurance coverage. If a person wants to get into treatment they can usually get there within a couple or a few months unless they have failed treatment in the past and are waiting for a new treatment that will work for them. But if you are willing to treat with Interferon, then as soon as your appointments, testing, and approval are completed, you should be able to start treatment. People who don't want to do Interferon will have to wait until an Interferon free regimen is in place (unless the doctor is willing to treat off label) (or until they can get into an Interferon free study).

March will be here very soon and you will be able to start treatment if you so desire.

[willbb]

. First what kind of time frame did everyone have from dx to tx? ----------------------------
dx. in 2001  and first attempt  2010.

You tx. gap(if indeed 5 mo.) would actually be  considered quite timely  compared to most and should not affect you adversly.

Good luck with your upcoming therapy..

Will

[pooh55811]

I think you meant to say you were diagnosed in October 2013 (I looked back at your other posts).

I was diagnosed in early July 2011 and started treatment in late September 2011, so about 2.5 months from diagnosis to treatment. I think I moved rather rapidly through the steps (diagnosis, testing, biopsy, etc.) and got to treatment faster than many. Part of that was because I was intent on treatment as soon as possible from the beginning. Part was due to things working out well in terms of scheduling and insurance. And part was due to the fact that I am a medical person and understood a lot about disease and treatment and could easily understand everything that was going on so they did not have to spend a lot of time explaining everything. In addition, some of the larger clinics with hepatologists are very busy and the time to schedule tests and appts. takes a lot longer.

If you have a good doctor (hepatologist or gastroenterologist) you may want to stick with him./her even if the staff is rude. If you have a good relationship with the doctor, you could mention this to the doctor. You could also be very cordial and polite, but very assertive in dealing with the staff.  I had to get very assertive with the nurse/case manager I was dealing with.  But it really depends on what the set up is. If you will be seeing the doctor most of the time, and the doctor is competent and you like the doctor, then you would probably want to stick with the doctor. But if you are rarely going to see the doctor, and are going to have to deal with the nurse most of the time, then you may want to reconsider. I saw the doctor only once and, even though she was very nice, that did not help me because I never saw her. I had to deal with the rude nurse case manager and she was a real problem. If I had it to over again, I would have switched at the beginning. I got through by being very assertive but that takes a toll and I was often too ill  to be really assertive. I did end up switching doctors and team at about 7.5 months into 48 weeks of treatment. I should have switched at the beginning (but I did not realize that). The difference was like night and day, paradise and hell, LOL. So think about it, find out who you will be dealing with, and make a decision.

Best of luck.

[Advocate1955]

In my husband's case, I think it was about 4 weeks from diagnosis to treatment.  However, when he treated, in 2007, there was already a treatment available that was considered to be the Standard of Care, so there were no issues getting insurance approval, etc.  Right now, because a new treatment has just been approved this month, there may be a little bit more of a lag time between diagnosis, insurance approvals, and actually getting started on treatment.  I would call after the holidays and ask for a more specific time frame now that the two new drugs have been approved (early December).
As far a rude nurses and secretaries, I don't have a lot of good advice, other than remembering it is the doctor and/or the nurse practitioner who will be prescribing and monitoring treatment, so it is most important to have a good working relationship with them.  Whenever I have had an issue with someone under that level, I have complained to the NP or to the doctor and let them know what the issue was, and that issue hasn't reoccurred.  On the other hand, I've been known to walk out of an office or tell someone off directly as well.  It usually doesn't have good results, so I think it's better to bite my tongue and let the doctor or the NP know if it's a serious issue.
Advocate1955