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163305 tn?1333668571

Chapter closed~ SVR !!!!!!!!

Finally !!!  Happily I share with all of you,  the good news we love to hear, 6 month post tx viral load~ undetected.

For those who don't know me, here's a brief history: diagnosed with hep C and decompensated cirrhosis in late 2005. First interferon treatment in 2006-2007. I relapsed.
Live liver transplant in April 2009. Hep C treatment began again last Fall.

And now, officially hep C free !!!!!
74 Responses
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163305 tn?1333668571
No more brownies, they are only medicinal~ besides taking away my muscle pain, they zonk me out, which was fine on tx.
I did have some cheesecake to celebrate, though :)
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1494170 tn?1361750860
2 Cool, put a candle in one of your brownies and enjoy!!!
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Avatar universal
Wow!  just.... wow!  Such excellent news.
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Avatar universal
It's overwhelming what you have been through and the joy you must be feeling, beyond words.  Congratulations!  You made it!
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412873 tn?1329174455
Unbelievably Wonderful News!!!!  Congratulations on your SVR!!  What a journey you have endured.  Thank you for always being a great support and inspiration to all.  

Celebration supplies.....Red Shoes-check!  Cheesecake-check! Onions (for Hector's liver) -check, check!!

Wishing you the best-Isobella
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163305 tn?1333668571
Not sure what you mean~ lots of people have made it, and I have no idea what normal is !!
I'm already painting and have taken up guerrilla gardening, it all feels good to me. It doesn't take much these days, sunshine and a blue sky makes my day.

Lib: thank you for the kind words.
Helping others is a selfish act, it's not so altruistic as it makes me feel good:)

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Avatar universal
Congratulations orphaned hawk...
Very glad one of us made it........
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1856494 tn?1340542614
What a valiant soul you are and your brood as well haha.  So very proud of your daughter and your great sister, hubby and loving pets.  It takes a universe.  I have learned so much from your story and the way you laid it down lady.  Sure hope some of you rubbed off - I know you always had a kind word for me and I love you for it.  Then you go and inspire by holding that lamp up high for the rest of us.  What would we have done without your expressions, your truth and soul.  What a gal.  You Rock and I am feeling really good about your joy.  Many more blessings to mirror your heart.  I will buy copies of your book co-authored by your daughter?  It was the updraft of your wings that I clung to at times - Thank you for being one of us!!!
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163305 tn?1333668571
fret, Marcia, Andiamo~ my old buddies.
Thank so much .
. It is great news, I'm still soaring in the clouds !
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220090 tn?1379167187
Just stopped by on one of my random visits and saw this thread.  That is really great news.  I am so glad to hear it.

Eric
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476246 tn?1418870914
Awesome!!!!! Beautiful!!!! I am sooo happy for you! Congratulations!!!!

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408795 tn?1324935675
Many congratulations!!!  I am so happy for you!!  God Bless you!!
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Avatar universal
That is fantastic news......Hopefully you can put it in the past & move on....get back to normal.....
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2065676 tn?1331422440
OK, now I'm tearing up....Again! What a story, what a woman, what a family!
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163305 tn?1333668571
Now, I'm tearing up.
Wow, sometimes ignorance is bliss. Although I did know that it was probable that I'd have to do tx again post tp.

It still feels to me like I just put one foot in front of the other and stumbled down the path which took me to where I am here and  now.

My son found the transplant center while we were in Thailand. We flew there in October of 2008 and never got out of Bangkok due to my liver's rapid deterioration.

My Bangkok dentist sent us to a transplant doctor who just got back from Paris and was putting together a team for doing live liver transplants.
They did pre-transplant testing for me, and wanted to send me to Singapore. However the hospital in Singapore had poorer statistics for donor moralities than those in the US. The one in Taiwan, which my son found claimed no donor mortalities and few complications.

It was a group effort. My husband supported me the whole way. He was willing to sit by my side on the beach while I faded always if I'd chosen to do that.
My son, the computer whiz,  found the hospital, made initial phone calls etc.
My sister who initially offered to be my donor, got the ball rolling in that direction.
She spent a week with us in Taiwan and helped immensely.
And yes, my wonderful daughter, who says she'd rather fly to Taiwan for the surgery than be attending my funeral ( she said this afterwords)
And it was close. I was  living on only 8% of my liver at the time of the transplant.

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1797925 tn?1341096204
I just now saw this today, this very minute!  I am crying tears of joy for you my friend!  "Officially Hep C Free"...Free at last, free last!  

God bless you, my friend!  Thank you for all your tremendous support and what a way to start my day, with such wonderful, wonderful news!  

Warmest regards to you and your family....this is just so beautiful!!!
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446474 tn?1446347682
Each one of the challenges you have overcome are daunting in themselves.
Finding a transplant center overseas that performs living donor transplants, having your daughter be such a great match (not as common as most people would think), going through transplant surgery and recovery and overcoming HCV post transplant...

As everyone here knows, just treating hep C is no walk in the park for many with their own livers. But successfully treating post transplant is a whole other challenge. A few details of the difficulty treating HCV post transplant...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Immunosuppression, Liver Injury and Post-transplant HCV Recurrence
From Journal of Viral Hepatitis
S. Ciesek; H. Wedemeyer
Posted: 01/17/2012; J Viral Hepat. 2012;19(1):1-8. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing

HCV Recurrence After Liver Transplantation

"Chronic infection with HCV is a major cause of end-stage liver disease and a leading indication for orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) worldwide. However, re-infection of the graft by HCV particles present in the blood stream is almost universal and at least 25% of patients will develop liver cirrhosis after transplantation within 5–10 years. Once cirrhosis is established, transplanted patients show an accelerated natural history with decompensation rates of as high as 40% after 12 months.To date, there is no safe and effective way to prevent HCV recurrence. Moreover, patients with recurrent hepatitis can develop a severe cholestatic hepatitis C syndrome characterized by jaundice shortly after transplantation in the absence of biliary obstruction, particular high HCV RNA levels and a very high risk for liver failure. Subsequently, graft loss caused by recurrent HCV infection is the most important reason to consider re-transplantation. Some data suggest that the outcome of hepatitis C after liver transplantation has worsened during the last decades. Across different countries and transplantation programs, the 5-year post-transplantation survival rate for hepatitis C patients is significantly lower as compared to patients who underwent liver transplantation for other chronic liver diseases. Factors being associated with graft loss in HCV-infected patients included an older donor age, steatosis of the donor organ, specific immunosuppressive regimens (discussed later), female sex, a high necroinflammatory activity in the allograft 1 year after transplantation and high HCV viral loads. In addition, several additional factors have been discussed to influence the long-term outcome of graft hepatitis C such as herpes virus infections, the degree of human leucocyte antigen (HLA) matching or the IL28b genotype of the donor and the recipient

In general, HCV RNA levels are higher after OLT than before and high virus titres are associated with a worse long-term outcome of these patients. More specifically, serum HCV RNA levels increase rapidly from the second-week post-transplantation and peak by the fourth postoperative month. HCV RNA levels at 1 year after liver transplantation are 10- to 20-fold higher than pretransplant levels. Viral quasispecies composition differs after liver transplantation as compared to pretransplant and may also be involved in the long-term outcome of graft hepatitis. However, detailed mechanisms of how high viral loads and distinct viral compositions contribute to the accelerated disease progression in graft hepatitis C are still poorly defined."

http://hepatitiscresearchandnewsupdates.blogspot.com/2012/01/immunosuppression-liver-injury-and-post.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wow, you are one tough cookie!!!
I am so glad you are free of hep C!!! I'm sure your liver is liking it too!
Appreciate all you accomplished. You are a hero to me and you inspire me to go forward towards my own transplant with hope of a better second life.

You have paid your dues and then some.
I wish you all the best for happiness and love every day.

SVR? Fanfreakentastic!!!
Hector
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163305 tn?1333668571
I'm glad I've been able to help and inspire.

BRENT ! How nice to see you post. I hope you are enjoying those grand kids of yours. My daughter is doing well, thanks for remembering :))
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Avatar universal
That's great news.I go back for my 3 mth check in nov.God is good! You are such an INSPIRITTION!!!!!!!!
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338734 tn?1377160168
Congratulations! I am so very happy for you. You have been through so much. This is a great milestone and, I hope, a harbinger of the future. Many happy years to you and your fabulous daughter.

Much love,
Brent
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3242225 tn?1348336521
I haven't been around for long but congratulations!  As I said before, you are an old soul.  You now can do the rest of the journey that you were intended for.  
Nicks
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Avatar universal
   I am over here, to dance and sing, "OH Happy Day!!"
When Hector mentioned the stats for Post Transplant Tx success, (I believe he said 30% chance of SVR?),  I too was surprised, but I had so much faith in you!
     You were the first person to explain to me the importance of Vitamin D3, and many other pertinent points :)
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163305 tn?1333668571
Actually, what a relief !
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2061362 tn?1353279518
OH, I just left a comment on your staus but I just have to say, congratulations again. This is the most fantastic news. You can now live a happy, healthy, hep free life. What an accomplishment.
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