How are you today?

[fjp999]

Ugh, had a doc appt today... he suggests that I have a liver biopsy... he is probably right but...THEY ARE SOOOOOO PAINFUL!!! And worse pain when you laugh...

Oh dear !! Babe I'm sorry :frown: xx.

May I ask why ? Or would you rather not discuss it ? I don't want to pry ...

!?!?! Shadow !?!?!

since Shadz couldnt remember if his question was posted to me... and since others have asked about the liver biopsy... I will try to bring some light to my condition...

I was diagnosed with Hep C for my 40th birthday (when all good men should have a full medical work up). This was in San Francisco and I had three pages of PERFECT health. The very handsome and gay doc couldnt believe that I had hep C and was even more shocked that I had been living with it for 20+ years (probably)... He said that due to the high cost of pre-testing and then the incredably high cost of the treatment I probably wouldnt be treated in SF and probably didnt need to either with just a few life style changes. I immediatly made those changes... and nearly just forgot about the C.

My parents needed me in Pennsylvania so I moved back there - biggest mistake in my life! OK, stay positive... Mom pushed me to treat even though I had no symptoms and was healthy as a horse!

The medical games began and I was put thru the system to the hilt. All tests showed that I had a pretty healthy liver and a low viral count as well as a geno type that doesnt treat very well... 30% or under "cure" with my geno type... I expected the liver guru to say that I should just come back next year and see if anything had gotten worse to warrent therapy.

Instead the doc said they had seen patients in my condition get very bad within the 23rd year (I still have not seen this data after searching six years) and even suggested death - As*H*le!!!

So I treated. It wasnt until 3 months into treatment that I discovered the weekly injection I was giving myself was ChemoTherapy (and I didnt have cancer, WTF)... The five daily pills have been used for decades and little is known why they work - what is know is that they boost the Chemo & if you take them alone they can kill you!

I was on treatment for 72 weeks. Usually it last 48 weeks... another story...

And I "cured"! Everyone was shocked but they believe it was due to my healthy life style before and my continued efforts to keep healthy with a good diet and exercise even with full body cramps.

So three months go by and all the poisons are suppose to be out of my system - except I am getting sicker and sicker... jump to more than two years of being "cured" and I am disabled from what the chemicals did to my system. Basically we dont know what is really going on but have some hypothesis from some very educated docs...

Probably some cellular damage was done and maybe even some genetic changes were made... whatever that means... Seems all the meds they feed us are not exactly studied for those concerns until after the fact...

So, it is not exactly know how to reverse cellular damage at this level... maybe just time... like decades... And lets not get started on repairing genetic code... hehehe... And, yes, I have tried every imaginable alt medical concept out there... Seems that LOVE is something that actually does heal! I highly recommend it!

If anyone doesnt know, and I certainly didnt... EVERYTHING goes thru the liver. And the liver has an amazing ability to heal itself. But if there is a slight problem with any one process of the liver it can create chaos in the body - That is ME!

Seems that Estrogen is not being processed properly which is throwing off other systems. My doc would like a PET scan which would actually show how my system is processing chemicals thru the liver but the insurance company refuses to pay for it until two other very expensive scans are done - go figure!!!

We are considering a test with Testosterone to reverse the Estrogen but since my Testosterone is fine it would be prescribed outside normal usage so, again, will not be covered by insurance and a monthly dose would cost me about 1/6 my disability check... I think it is worth a try!

On the liver biopsy... As my GP was initially a research scientest I am guessing he is hoping to find some answer as to why certain systems are not working and the liver is a first good place to start...

My biggest hope is that I get into the NIH (National Institutes of Health) which is THE Federal branch of where all health issues start in the USA. A new program just started this year and my docs think I am exactly what they are looking for... will probably hear in about three weeks or so if I am accepted... If I am I will become a Federal Lab Rat = VERY EXCITING!

Now, everybody can go take a nap if you read thru all that...