Apple cider vinegar is good for controlling blood sugar as well I love the stuff!

I buy the organic Bragg's brand apple cider vinegar from Whole Foods -- oh my god so good!

lamassu, i add apple cider vinegar to a jug of water and sip it during the day.

acv is supposed to be good for the dissolving of gallstones.. so we'll see how it goes over the long haul.

i also added milk thistle back into my regimen now that i'm post tx almost 4 months. that has been touted as good for the liver and gallbladder; 

but i did stop all supplements while on treatment and slowly have been adding them back since svr at 13weeks eot. 

i'm not sure where you are post tx 

5

 hey lamassu , you have one stone?... all they say is i have a buncha stones 

but yea, what Canuck said. they mostly just leave them there unless they move into a spot that causes pain.

so lets hear it for stationary stones

Hey lamassu!

A 2.2 cm stone eh? Well, at least you got your jewel sized. We still don't know how many karats 5 is sporting yet, or even how many of these baubles she owns.  Maybe neither of you will ever have to do anything about them, except hoard that bag of pearls. The docs are into that (leaving well enough alone) so long as the organ is happy and silent about the situ, and the treasures create no symptoms.

I'm blabbing at you over on your other thread as well as here.  C.   

5, glad you are doing well. Hope you get the issues with your tootsies resolved. I have had several abdominal CT scans the past year and have one lovely 2.2 cm (!) gall stone with no pain. I am surprised my gastroenterologist has not recommended I go ahead and have my gall bladder removed. I'll talk it over with him again in a couple of weeks when I go in to discuss the results of the colonoscopy and endoscopy I just had done. I got a two for one special under propofol as he felt it was important to check for esophageal varices. The good news is I have none which surprised me. Nice to hear some good news. Just had a couple polyps removed and will get the biopsy results next visit but he said they were unremarkable. I have a good relationship with my liver doc so he will give me a lab order for 6 month post treatment viral load and LFTs even though he thinks SVR12 is enough. I just want it for peace of mind and as long as Medicare pays for it why not:)

Cheddy wrote:

---

Hang in there 5. Together we are stronger!

 

---

 agreed

Hang in there 5. Together we are stronger!

cheddy, we crossed posted

yep, it sure felt good to read C's post

i started back on milk thistle and will start magnesium when i wake up to see how it goes. taking that at nite might be better eventually.

so: b12, D3 {plant based for guts sake},zinc orotate,milk thistle... and tomorrw mag.citrate.

i'm hoping the mag will help with da feets cos they are being sore babies right now. and i'm feeling more bloated; but at least i know for sure it's not my liver acting up 

Canuck,

You are brilliant.  

What a researcher and what an asset to us all.

Thanks, Doll.

Chedd

thank you so much C for letting me know all that info.

i'm not sure why i didn't look it up... guess i am pretending that little gallbladder is doing just fine without me poking around it just yet.

still, just knowing it hasn't been beat up again and again is reassuring.

yes i've got a lovely svelte gb with jewelry

5,

This is what I have heard about GB's.

Thin-"walled" just means NOT thick.

Sometimes "thick"-walled GB's "might" be thought to be that way because of tortured, puffed-up/toughened-up in self-defense, pouting, fibrotic/scarred-up walls, from many bouts/rounds of insults/inflammations of the GB - evidence of GB-wars so to speak. So, in your case, thin-walled just means NOT thick-walled, and i would take that as very good news that you have no thicken-up walls possibly from inflammation/scarring of the GB!  C.

Hee hee, so you see parts of you as being svelte and be-jewelled then?

thanks hoodie and canuck,

yep....  unremarkable sounds like heaven to me

i'm not sure if a thin gallbladder is good, but the rest of me is envious of the thin gallblader with beautiful stones 

i did ask them to send it to me; i did not ask for the earlier one, but will from now on.

Oh hey! I say! Brilliant report! 

Now that's more like it - a bit more of a "wordy" report - and GOOD words too! Nice you got that - was it hard to obtain?? 

I always, always, ask for written copies of my reports (and, I can also get a CD along with those reports, that show the images for U/S's or Cat's as the case may be) - I've only had one CAT, the rest have all been U/S's.

Very to good to be able to have the opportunity to walk through their written reports, visiting each "organ dept" as they have noted - it's reassuring and informative feedback. Especially good are those words (as Hoodie noted) "UN-remarkable", as are all the other bland, benign, boring, usual views and descriptors. 

All we are left with is some custom jewelry, a pile of pretty (perhaps a nice shade of yellowy/green pearls in your GB purse). But good for thin GB walls and normal sized and patent ducts - just too bad they don't size or count these GB stones for you. You might have to do that yourself then, count them, maybe with your GP to be sure , but you too can probably get a CD (by request) with your images on them that you can review yourself on your home computer - and good that you now have at least 2 U/S sessions to look at, that both show the stones - so you have a pretty good chance of seeing how many are in there, where they lay mostly, and how big they are - would be interesting to see them (but that's just me) I have morbid interests. I like to look at my pancreatic calcifications from one U/S to the next! 

So, other that jewel hoarding, your innards are looking rather lovely! Just with decorations or shall we just call them accessories! heehee.

I am so glad your report sounds so good! and that you obtained it. Good for you. C.

Congrats on the smooth and UNREMARKABLE liver 5  

try2

tryin' to show my liver ultra sound report here. hope it comes out ok.

nope.. stil tryin

hoodie

yes, the excietment around the reality  that we can all be weller than just cured is pretty awesome.

you are so amazing yourself, i love following your journey and am also inspired by you , thankyou

Dear 5, you're an inspiration to all of us! Keep up the great work taking such good care of yourself and enlisting help from the docs.

Glad your hubby doesn't have rheumatoid arthritis but I will have to reasearch musculoskeletal problems from both the hep and the harvoni. These things can paradoxically bring us even better health as we learn ways of managing them through nutrition and exercise.  Very best wishes to you and your hubs. 

hi C, thank you for the beautiful thots

actually hubs is doing 70% better over all , especially since being on treatment. our fam. dr has given him pain meds over the years for all the pains; but especially during tx. Now he is back on only small doses as needed. But she wanted him to see the specialist to investigate what they both already know... new laws and such over here.

we are also hoping that time will cause his body to lighten up on the pain; it comes on when he is active and he loves doing yard work and exercising-it helps his mind and muscles.

but yea, we hope time improves him.

we are both on a 6 month regimen of labs and ultrasounds for the rest of our lives it seems. and yes it will be fun to see if that mid f3 starts to heal.

we've both had normal afp's and ultrasounds.

and for sure i'm hoping my pretty gallstones stay inactive ; just decoration

yes, i do have the sad feets ; worse when humidity is high, and i try to keep the salt down which helps... and do get tired too much; but maybe at 66 that's how it is . nothing that cramps my life too much tho, so i am thankful for that.

we will both get more blood work in mid january, he'll be 52 weeks and i'll be at 24ish.

for now it feels good to be rid of the monster; it's funny how for so long i included as just part of me that i had to love; i didnt really hate it but was sad about it.... but i can see now that it never was part of me -it was a monster that is gone. [and i would talk to it and tell it that if it killed me it would die too which made me feel more in control i think ]

, i'm so glad i decided to send it away ]

and yea, after that "failed" tx it was scary to get the 12week; even tho i expected success due to so much success all around me.

5,

Me too! (like Tig) I too am thrilled with your progress!  Just goes to show ya what positive thinkers (like you) do - you were a very positive thinking person entering into your journey, all through it, AND now (of course) you still show your colours to be so, we have come to expect no less of you - you are built that way, even with lifes hardships thrown your way (at you, on to you), you manage to find ways to deal with them and look at them when others may have had a tougher time doing so - admirable qualities you are able to muster my dear. You did have a burden to bear, carrying hard-earned justified doubts, from long ago, when you were taken off the interferon, that, understandably left it's question mark on you about what this hepc was going to do to the rest of your life, but wow, just look at you now, and how really wonderful this has all turned out for you AND your hubs. Finally cured, and both of you now giving yourselves the very best new opportunities to be as healthy as you can be. I am still hoping your hub may experience some improvement (given some more time) - but of course I am NOT saying not to heed or do what the docs have suggested with him - he needs to have less discomfort. But I still wish (in addition to whatever the docs are wanting to suggest) that perhaps over even more time, some degree of natural resolution will occur for him.

Maybe your hep doc "is the kind" who is partial to having repeat EVERYTHING done for a SVR24! Meaning .... maybe he routinely does another VL and LFT's exactly at EOT+24 weeks. That would be nice (that is what I would want)! But, if NO one will give you SVR24 testing, and you have to wait a whole year, then i would want a very thorough "works" for my 1 year testing - imaging and all. I like SVR12 to be done at EOT+12 weeks, SVR24's to be done at EOT+24 weeks and then a One Year SVR done at EOT+52 weeks, and, anyone who has been a F3 deserves thorough following every 6 months if it can be had, until a point in time when it is decided that annuals only are called for.

ah yes, thanks for reminding me, fibrosure testing only - so, ask for repeat fibrosures in future, to see when the Fscore starts to decrease.

Yes, the U/S's are very good tests to have done - tells us lots - especially when they are repeated so as to have more to compare against. (Like you intend to) keep pushing for these repeats in future, as well as your repeat LFTs, AFP's.

In your case, yes you have added work to keep following your thyroid bloods as well.

You did not have too hard a liver, as far as we can tell, no F4, but even at around F3, we should remain vigilant and ever hopeful that, with good consistent following of your fibrosures, we will see less evidence of fibrosis, a falling Fscore, and hopefully fairly quickly too.

The U/S's are reassuring for HCC following, but your AFP's have been normal all along (even pre-treatment) and you have a normal AFP now, having repeated normal AFP's (especially if they were never elevated) carries weight and adds to the tipping scale of "do not worry", especially when the U/S's echo the same info (that your hepatic system looks normal), and you feel well, and all other labs appear good. All your labs and tests are showing the best things liver-wise.

Now, GB?,  well, that rule seems to apply here ... that one that goes like ... if your GB doesn't bother you, then don't bother it, but repeat imaging over time will show if anything is changing, if stones move/block or such, but without inflammation/complaint or symptom, then nothing need be done to that GB I expect, except to follow it with imaging and admire the stones for the little oddities they are. You and your labs might be the first to detect your GB is getting upset, but imaging is good too.

Now, it's not just your hubby (and others) who have had their unfair share of musculo-skeletal and joint and other kinds of bodily discomforts, but you too mentioned a share of pedal type "neuropathy-like" discomfort - you are going to have to keep us posted on that too (over time) I wish to see that decrease, all on it's own, and right smartly too (I hope). C.

tig i hope you are making progress with all the stuff you are going thru and that things turn to the OK very soon

Thanks for your update, 5! I’ve been busy with some family medical difficulties, so I haven’t been on top of all the new messages. Hope to get this all settled, someday and can catch up.

I’m just thrilled with your progress. Sorry your hubby is having the trouble with pain. Hopefully he gets some relief with pain management. Good luck with the labs and dentist. I wish dental insurance was better priced here in the US. It’s ridiculously priced for anything good. Some days, I feel like I’ve got one good tooth left and it’s wobbly, lol!

hi C, thanks for the post; it got me thinking

yea, it was the full ultra sound but true story i only got a skinny report on the liver; i guess to reassure that there are no masses.

i will pursue more info if it doesn't come my way soon. i'd like to know allla that info too!

hubby went to a rhumy who declared him non-rhumatoid ... and yes for the musculoskeletal disease that can come with hepC and also with harvoni! a real doctor admitted that.

he didn't get any other answers except to get on pain mgmt  , so we'll see what happens next when our fam.dr. gets the skinny report on that.

seems they all want to go with skinny reports now days.

my fibrosis score was via the blood test "fibrosure", there is no fibroscan machine in our area

i will ask my fam. dr to do that fibrosure again maybe next may during my annual chk up; along with mor VL and liver panel ,b12,d3, thyroid and all the other stuff. No telling what the liver doc will send my way re:lab orders.

i suspect they like the liver to have some time to see how it's gonna do with out the monster riding along.

i'm happy enough knowing i won't have anymore tests for awhile.

i have dental and other things to tend to this month.

but i got a much needed haircut today and my head feels so good , plus some shopping and gassed up my car and felt well and with some energy .... all on very little sleep  [universe wanted me awake for some reason ],

but i will sleep good tonite i bet . and cake on saturday

Hey 5,

Well! - you weren't foolin' (when you said you fully intended on continuing pursuit of further imagings and labs and good follow-up into the future (post HCV).

Good for you, that you have had imaging done already!!

You said you had a "liver" scan done - did you mean ... that you had an "abdominal ultrasound" done (which of course does cover liver, GB, and many many more of your abdominal organs)??

I'm just checking for that clarification, as I guess it could be possible a certain scan could just (only) look at your liver, or G.B., but generally they don't waste a perfectly good abdominal ultrasound session only on one or two organs when all the rest of the hoard of organs in there nicely boast and compete for their pictures to be taken!   I am wondering if you did have the full-monty photo-op - a "generalized abdominal ultrasound"?

This email you got back (with the results today), boy, that's fast! Was it a "radiologists written report" (a radiologist interpretation) or "impression" of what he sees in your imaging? They usually comment (at least a little bit more) on just about everything they see, GB wall thickness, GB duct size, number and size of GB stones, if the stones grow (increase in size or numbers), if the stones have moved at all from prior imaging, how your bowel/ pancreas/kidneys/spleen (etc. etc) look, and of course, something about your liver.

Your "report" sounds a little skinny - maybe you didn't get the full written report with descriptions/measurements?

If the image feedback is skinny, you will get more info, eventually, i am sure - just because you ARE a thorough kind gal, this I know! Doc of course can also shed light on what he thinks of your imaging as well.

I am sure glad you did go for this imaging already, only because you had all known you started off with seeing stones prior to treatment - and that, all on it's own, merits following - so good job in following that. 

You are going to have to remind me again, how they assessed your prior Fscore (by blood, and/or by fibroscan) - so ... will you get more of either of these again, in future, to follow your Fscore.

I am so glad to read (here and there) the many small (and big) things that have already started improving for you post-cure. Even the small things are great eh? I am looking forward to many more of your reports that boast of things changing for the better! 

How is hubby making out with his arthritic-type discomforts - still no changes for the better, wasn't it him that was waiting to be seen by the rheumy doc?

I am pleased for lamassu's improvements as well, he seems to have perhaps staved off an imminent head bumping session with a rheumy guy (I think he was going that direction) since he has seen some recent post-cure "bodily improvements" - we shall see, just how much better things get for lamassu too.  

Ah, certain drugs are just grand! Thank you Gilead. C.

That's great five! Glad your liver is steadily healing and you're getting your health back Way to go!

i took my cured self in for the liver scan today at 3pm, and by 3:45pm i got an email saying i still have gallstones but my liver looks normal with no masses.

i'd bet my liver didn't recover  to f0 just yet , so i guess that means normal for someone with liver fibrosis , i'll take it  

lamassu, i'm going with cured as well

and yea,i too am gonna keep up the labs and scans as part of the liver wellbeing program. after 36 yrs packing that little monster i think it's wise to keep those up.

From reading the course modules at Hepatitis C Online with the new DAAs if you reach SVR12 you are considered cured; also the consensus here. My hepatologist says a viral load at 24 weeks is redundant since I achieved SVR12 with Epclusa but I will push for the test just for peace of mind and also insist on another Fibroscan next summer one year post end of treatment to see if my fibrosis has improved.

thanks obs, yep there's nothing like seeing it on the email or paper... the realization that these past months had a meaning.

even though we and you  all knew you were und, its oh so wonderful to have it confirmed by that SVR 

yay 

oh, and i like the # 13, so this is fun for me 

Iris Dragonfly wrote:

---

Yeeeaaaah sweetie!   so good to here this. Now help me understand. This test was 12 weeks after the End of Treatment? You may have mentioned it, sorry if I missed it. Does every one generally test at the same intervals or is it up to the dr? I had asked for an ultra sound at the end of a year, and she was like aw..you won't need it. But I said I want it. I guess we just have to push for what we want right?

I'm so glad things are looking up for you. This been a long time coming. Looking forward to further improvements!!!!!!

Blessings, Iris

---

 iris, yea... my GI specialists wanted to test after 3mo. after tx  rather than 12 weeks. prob cos the new daa's work so well.

but I WAS wanting to know if it worked! they were def in no hurry, but i ended up rushing them along and got what i wanted. when i started to think about "wouldn't it be nice just to know after i went thru all that".... then i got moving and it went fast once i lined up with what I wanted

so it's actually 13 weeks UND> SVL for 4 months cos it was und at 4 weeks.

they didn't bother with an 8 week. 

so it took 6 months of my life... the first month was planning for tx and getting everything set up to make it easier.

then 8weeks on tx. , then the month after tx was weird for me.... then it's been easier every day.

i will get the liver scans due to my middle stage 3 fibrosis; not sure what your fibrosis level is. ppl with f3 & f4 still need to rule out changes the liver is going thru. Not a big deal to get the little wand over the skin

Yeeeaaaah sweetie!   so good to here this. Now help me understand. This test was 12 weeks after the End of Treatment? You may have mentioned it, sorry if I missed it. Does every one generally test at the same intervals or is it up to the dr? I had asked for an ultra sound at the end of a year, and she was like aw..you won't need it. But I said I want it. I guess we just have to push for what we want right?

I'm so glad things are looking up for you. This been a long time coming. Looking forward to further improvements!!!!!!

Blessings, Iris

thnx hoodie

CONGRATS 5!!

hahahahaha! thanks tig

i like it! 10!!!

now i'm gonna get some exercise since i've been on the laptop all day celebrating with friends, family and coworkers.

i feel donna summers singing to me 

Okay, the dancing shoes are on and Donna Summer is on the stereo! You worked Hard for the Money, so hard for the money, now everything’s gonna be alright! 

WOOHOO!!! Congratulations 5! Now we can call you a 10

this feels normal , but def strange like wow, that was easy... even with sides and weirds... it was easy enough 

ok, going to have my regular dinner that i love. chicken and pita bread with aspergus and avacado .

i've been cured already for 4 months after all ...

i have the nite off

yes, white cake always

i feel i can do anything now!!!! i feel like this is well deserved and a fact of life now.

White cake - that's still your fav? 

How does it feel, now that you are owning that UND? It is a strange feeling phenomenon isn't it.

Do you work tonight?  C.

hahahaha, i will gladly take that giant piece of cake

i love how we are all showing up in domino fashion with UND, booting the virus OUT! yeehaw

Hoooooooooooooooo-ray 5!

That was fast return of SVR12 results - wow. The most beautiful things those UNDs. 

You can say "there, take that you dead bast-rd virus" - we beat ya good.

Now being that it was like pulling teeth to get your SVR12 VL drawn on time, and i wanted to see your UND on the 18th (exactly 84 days after your EOT) and that uncooperative doc's office of yours made us wait until this week for your blood draw ... I have a confession to make - I'll try to break it to you gently - sees, we had this big UND cake all ready for you on the 18th,  biggest most gorgeous thing you ever saw, then while we were waiting we all got a little peckish, and well ... have to admit it just started with trying a lick or two of the frosting, then .... darn it we just could't stop celebrating - but HEY - we did save you the biggest piece!

So, do we all agree, this is still a most delicious day? I think so. 

Lovely 5, I am so happy you are official now - that makes both you and hubs official, and free (in a special HCV-free kinda way), it's a nice family vacation. Finally, it's so nice to see you have this day, after so long and all the burdens you had to endure and carry. 

ah. We can rest easy now. C.

thanks to gilead and our magic beans....

it is REAL!

Just Great 5, I know that as much as we want success we can't seem to stop little miss misery....don't get your hopes up ....nothing good ever happens to me....I will be the one failure sneaks in. We do try to push her to the back drops but guess there is that little bit of apprehension sneaks to the forefront. You having failed all those years ago wouldn't help but now you know you are leading a Hep Free life from now on. Hope your scans show improvement though maybe a little too early for much change there. In time there sure will be cas your

FREE FREE FREE FREE and I am so very happy for you.

Your Harvoni Beans did their magic

The Magic Beans

thanks stl, yea i sent them a note yesterday letting them know i am anxious to know.... and they were on the job with that letter today via email.

when i got that call that the interferon didn't work in 96' it was heart breaking. i moved on for sure and had a good life but these daa's work for everyone... still there was that remembering that I didn't get cured before.

i am feeling now like "well yea, of course it worked on me... it's only natural; that other stuff wasn't really created to cure hepC"..... but it did work on some ppl.

the DAA's were created to cure hepC

i'll get my liver scan in a cpl weeks and then do both tests every 6 months since i do have liver damage. but UND  is so sweet.... 

Wow Fantastic 5

You sure told that dragon where to go.......

On YA!!!!!!!!

and to hear so quick

12weeks=UND

oh yea, thinking about it becos of the blood draw is weird.hahaha.

but for sure, everyone is coming up cured so we should too

i agree.. ppl reinfect themselves or arn't careful... we have been great patients

i will know by next week if not sooner