Upper GI Hopes

[coolslayer]

pepurr,

Just got back in town and saw your thread here.
Are you going to do Pegasus treatments or do they have the Telaprevir treatments yet?
Teleprevir was recently developed as a stand alone treatment or in combination with Pegasus.It has a shorter treatment time,but is somewhat difficult to tolerate.

coolslayer Reviewed by coolslayer on 03-26-2010. Upper GI Hopes Tomorrow I go in for an upper GI so the doc can check that ulcer. Hopefully it is gone. If it is gone, they can start the hepatitis C treatment on me. It has been a long row to hoe, and this isn't even near over. Once the chemo starts, it will continue for 48 weeks. Well, it will as long as they see a drop in viral count by 12 weeks. If not, they will call me a non-responder and stop treatment. If I can make it through for 48 weeks, even then I will only have a 50% chance of clearing this Rating: 5

[pepurr]

pepurr,

Just got back in town and saw your thread here.
Are you going to do Pegasus treatments or do they have the Telaprevir treatments yet?
Teleprevir was recently developed as a stand alone treatment or in combination with Pegasus.It has a shorter treatment time,but is somewhat difficult to tolerate.

I don't know. Yesterday after seeing my psycologist, I was told I will start the chemo May 6th. It would be nice to have a shorter treatment. 48 weeks is a long time. The older I get, the larger of a percentage it is of my remaining life. By the time this is over, I'll be going on 54 years old. Hopefully I will clear this the first time around. I read I got a 50% chance of that.

What ever type treatment it is, I'll be thankfull for it. The VA is paying for all of it. I don't have any health insurance, and I don't have the $90,000+ to pay for it my self.

[chance942]

Really glad to hear the VA is actually going to help you.50-50 could be worse.Stay with us Bud,as much as you can,you are right in feeling the love here. We do care. I really can't express it in words on the net but I wish you nothing but the very best Airman.

[coolslayer]

Teleprevir treaments are shorter and have an above 80% success rate.

[pepurr]

I hope they do have Telaprevir to treat me with. 24 weeks sounds a heck of a lot better than 48.

The latest news I have on it is, "Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. is preparing for a possible early 2011 launch of Telaprevir, the hepatitis C drug". http://pharmaexecnews.com/pharmaceuticals/telaprevir-launch-approaches-vertex-profits/

By the time that happens I will be almost through with the current approved treatment regamen.

If it turns out I am a non-responder, "The Triple Therapy Combination of Telaprevir, Pegasys and Ribavirin Will Become the New Decision Resources Clinical Gold Standard for Hepatitis C Treatment Non-Responders in 2013". http://www.dresources.com/News-and-Events/Press-Releases/DB-Hepatitis-C-Virus-011910

In other news, I called around to find out if, sense I have a firm date for the start of treatment, I could go ahead and get a recommendation and approval for a MMJ card. Unfortunately the answer is no. I have to wait till I am already started on treatment. This aspect of the law needs to be fixed. By the time people with HCV get their MMJ card, they will be a month into treatment. That means people like me will have to suffer needlessly during this lag time. The law needs to be amended such that people who have proof of a start date for HCV treatment should be allowed to apply for their MMJ card. They could even date the card to be valid starting on the treatment start date.

If I could apply now, I would have my card in hand about the time my treatment starts. :hippy:

[coolslayer]

They must have moved it back,the article I previously read said 2010.

[chance942]

Pepurr I'm F-ing tired of being a guinea pig too!!

[chance942]

Pepurr,how are you doing?

[pepurr]

Pepurr,how are you doing?

Hanging in there, thanks for asking.

[chance942]

Glad to hear it Bud.