Sad. The spider angiomas remind me of the first person I ever met who was doing tx.
James B was an utilities contractor who'd tried to get health insurance for his small company and had been turned down because he was HCV+.
He was fortunate to be able to get a Rx for Peg-Intron. In early 2002 Pegasys hadn't been approved yet and most of us, even those with good insurance, got wait listed to get on Peg-Intron because S-P wouldn't start a person unless they could guarantee that person's supply through tx.
And apparently production was slow.
He was unfortunate, in that he needed a transplant and doctors were still 'learning by doing' what tx protocol should be. James' doc didn't want to put him on the transplant list until he showed a response to the IFN.
So for James, life became very simple. He merely had to drag himself to work every day and make his company profitable enough to pay the $5,000 a month his meds, helper meds, and testing cost. He did it too - sometimes pick and shovel work when they were short handed. Took him nine months to show a response. During that time I was debating whether to try to start tx. He was a geno 3 like I was and when I told him about my HCV status, he gently suggested I might want to treat before I got to the point we was at.
Thank you James.
He passed away the same month I started tx, October 2002.
I've been meaning to write that thank you note for seven years. Thank you mikesimon for the instigation.
Sorry, that should have read "got to the point *he* was at." I wish this forum had an edit buttn.
On the face of it it seems pretty sad. Perhaps as a horrible warning, it has some merit. I don't think that reflects your situation. At least I really hope not.
Brent