The Virologist/Molecular Biologist from my Lab. gave me some interesting information, along with my Undetected VL result.
The Government has been making a fuss about paying for VL testing under our Medicare system. My Lab has just installed the new Roche Qualitative Test machine, which is accurate to a LLOD of 15 i.u./ml. This is the same sensitivity as the Quantitative test but is less than half the price ($400 vs $1,000). My tests are done for free, so I had both done. Evidently, once Undetected, followup VL testing will just be Qualitative to keep Medicare happy. I'm not sure whether this will happen in the USA.
Roche have also changed the structure of their 'Target'. This is still taken from the 5'UTR of the viral genome, and the 3 big players in VL testing, Roche, Labcorp and Abbott, closely guard the exact structure. Roche claims this refined 'Target' is even more accurate than before.
So don't be alarmed if the VL test result looks a bit different. Cheers.
Cinnamon Girl said
Feb 18, 2014
Congrats on your SRV52, Malcolm, good reason to keep smiling!
Zlikster said
Feb 18, 2014
Cheers Malcolm! thats about it, no more pesky hepatocytes munchers anywhere left hidden ;)
hows liver recovering? You taking any supplements or meds to help regeneration?
best
rebeca said
Feb 18, 2014
Congratulations!
Enjoy your life! and thank you very much for sharing your time, knowledge, and empathy.
dragonfly said
Feb 18, 2014
You are an inspiration - well done. Nxxxx
Tig said
Feb 18, 2014
Hey Malcolm,
SVR +52, wow! That pretty much confirms it, eh? Congrats mate, that's excellent news for you and I'm certain there are plenty of smiles to go around in your family too. Now the next good news I'd like to hear from you, is the regression of your fibrosis score. That would be the "Cherry" on top! Good luck...
Tig
kristi6 said
Feb 17, 2014
Congratulations Mallani!!! 1 yr hep c free!!! That is just fantastic!!! Thank you for all of your support, knowledge and inspiration for myself and for all members of this forum! I wish you continued good health, happiness and a hep c free life!!! It is definitely well deserved! And thanks again for all of continued support!
You are an inspiration to us all!
-- Edited by kristi6 on Tuesday 18th of February 2014 05:16:02 AM
mallani said
Feb 17, 2014
Hi again,
The VL test remains Undetected so I'll call that SVR 52 and get on with my golf handicap.
Thanks for all the kind thoughtful comments. Cheers.
newmex said
Feb 17, 2014
Congratulations on the year, and Thanks for all the help and info. By the way, your looking great! And so is your wife, beautiful lady!
Matt Chris said
Feb 17, 2014
Congats Malcolm
Knowledge is power, and in your case your knowledge has been very powerful for all of us members of the forum.
matt
Loopy Lisa said
Feb 17, 2014
One day this forum won't be needed as biochemists perfect their knowledge and treatment for this disease! We are all in the historical shift of this disease and we are seeing first hand the miracles of science. Thanks for the medical knowledge, it is indeed helpful to know what is happening to us and to understand what it implies. When looking through the net, we are bombarded with information that at times is nothing short of frightening and mainly infactual or outdated. I no longer search the net for answers as most of them can be found on here. I will never have a perfect medical understanding of the disease, but facts seem to take away the fear factor and I concentrate on that rather than what may or may not happen. The future is brighter for everyone and it is indeed sad that not every person on this planet will be able to access these much needed meds in time, we can only hope they can battle through and wait. Saying that, congratulations on a full year and hanging around for others to help in their journey, and to Jill and other members that donate their time and efforts, cudos folks!
mindovermatter said
Feb 17, 2014
Congratulations, Malcolm.
Your contribution to this forum is immense.
You have given a lot of information and insights to anxious people.
May God bless you!
hrsetrdr said
Feb 17, 2014
Congratulations Malcolm! And, thank you for sharing your medical knowledge with all here, that we may better grasp an understanding of the procedures, the lab test results, and the implications of the medical trends worldwide. Best wishes to you, and since it seems that you're never far from a body of water, best of luck fishing as well.
JoAnneh said
Feb 16, 2014
Malcolm,
We went thru tx at the same time!
You are my forum pal forever and always.
We went they some low periods but
We achieved SVR! Both 48 weekers.
Grateful for you and plan on having
Life time friendship thru forum.
This forum was a great help to me.
I CAN NOT imagine tx without it
Or without Malcolm and Cinnamon!
mallani said
Feb 16, 2014
Hi SuziQ et al,
You guys are sharp! Yep, 12 months since EOT and to celebrate I had a blood test this morning. Two hours later, the Lab rang with the results- they are getting pretty efficient! All normal, but the platelets are still a bit low. I get the VL this afternoon but I hope to continue my Undetected run- it's now 94 weeks since I had detectable virus. I get to see my doc on Thursday, probably for the last time as he's now Dean of our biggest Medical School. I'll be handed on to one of his younger colleagues. Any questions members want asking?
I must say I survived the triple pretty well. The first 9 months were disappointing, with muscle and joint problems, but they have virtually gone. As I'll probably live longer than I expected, vanity has set in, so the dental issues are being addressed, so I can smile more!
I'm happy to help, as this Forum supported me through my lowest moments in treatment. I realise that not everyone has the same technical interest in our virus, so it's hard to know how much detail to go into. I've cancelled some of my on-line subscriptions as HepC treatment is approaching perfection. My only regret is that it will take a long time for some countries to access this. I am in awe of the Virologists and Biochemists who have unlocked most of our virus ( which still can't be cultured). When you swallow one of their drugs, give thanks! Cheers and thankyou.
Enavigo3891 said
Feb 16, 2014
Congratulations Malcolm!! You are awesome!! I second, third, fourth, etc what everyone else said. Thank you for your knowledge and insight - it is a big help to all the dragon slayers lurking amongst these pages!
HR said
Feb 16, 2014
Congrats Malcolm, you've been a great help to me through this forum and PM's. You provide top notch info and I can't thank you enough. I guess it's SVR 52 for you:)
Cinnamon Girl said
Feb 16, 2014
Well said, SusiQ, and everyone else too! Congratulations, Malcolm, how wonderful to think it`s a year now since you achieved your very well deserved SRV!!!
Thanks so much for all you do here, you have single handedly raised the standard of knowledge on this forum by quite a considerable degree! We all appreciate you sharing your knowledge, understanding, and experience with us all here, and I know I`ve personally learned such a lot from you and continue to do so.
Wishing you nothing but the best in your Hep C free life...we can see the joy in your happy smiling face! ~ Jill
lauralou57 said
Feb 16, 2014
CONGRAGULATIONS!
Gator Man said
Feb 16, 2014
Congratulations on your first year virus free! Providing your knowledgeable insight, wisdom and kind consideration to members of this forum has clearly been invaluable to all of us. Your posts help bolster our confidence that we can beat this disease and have a meaningful and active life to follow. Enjoy!
pl1952 said
Feb 16, 2014
Way to go Malcolm! Congratulations!
Liamc said
Feb 16, 2014
Congratulations one your one year up. Thanks for all your invaluable information.
cheers mate.
Tig said
Feb 16, 2014
I'll second that! Malcolm, your help and assistance meant more to me than you know. Your positive approach and the distance you're always willing to go to discover the truth, kept my hopes high and my mind on the goal. Congratulations on reaching this milestone in your treatment and life. Thank you!
Tig
suziq said
Feb 16, 2014
Congratulations on your one year post treatment.
You are such a help to us all--and caring in your posts--sharing information many of us have no access to.
Thanks for all you do !!!!
Suziq
I do hope I have the right date Feb 15, 2013 ???
-- Edited by suziq on Sunday 16th of February 2014 03:07:40 PM
CONGRAGULATIONS MALLANI!!
The Virologist/Molecular Biologist from my Lab. gave me some interesting information, along with my Undetected VL result.
The Government has been making a fuss about paying for VL testing under our Medicare system. My Lab has just installed the new Roche Qualitative Test machine, which is accurate to a LLOD of 15 i.u./ml. This is the same sensitivity as the Quantitative test but is less than half the price ($400 vs $1,000). My tests are done for free, so I had both done. Evidently, once Undetected, followup VL testing will just be Qualitative to keep Medicare happy. I'm not sure whether this will happen in the USA.
Roche have also changed the structure of their 'Target'. This is still taken from the 5'UTR of the viral genome, and the 3 big players in VL testing, Roche, Labcorp and Abbott, closely guard the exact structure. Roche claims this refined 'Target' is even more accurate than before.
So don't be alarmed if the VL test result looks a bit different. Cheers.
Congrats on your SRV52, Malcolm, good reason to keep smiling!
Cheers Malcolm! thats about it, no more pesky hepatocytes munchers anywhere left hidden ;)
hows liver recovering? You taking any supplements or meds to help regeneration?
best
Congratulations!
Enjoy your life! and thank you very much for sharing your time, knowledge, and empathy.
You are an inspiration - well done. Nxxxx
SVR +52, wow! That pretty much confirms it, eh? Congrats mate, that's excellent news for you and I'm certain there are plenty of smiles to go around in your family too. Now the next good news I'd like to hear from you, is the regression of your fibrosis score. That would be the "Cherry" on top! Good luck...
Tig
Congratulations Mallani!!! 1 yr hep c free!!! That is just fantastic!!! Thank you for all of your support, knowledge and inspiration for myself and for all members of this forum! I wish you continued good health, happiness and a hep c free life!!! It is definitely well deserved! And thanks again for all of continued support!
You are an inspiration to us all!
-- Edited by kristi6 on Tuesday 18th of February 2014 05:16:02 AM
Hi again,
The VL test remains Undetected so I'll call that SVR 52 and get on with my golf handicap.
Thanks for all the kind thoughtful comments. Cheers.
Congratulations on the year, and Thanks for all the help and info. By the way, your looking great! And so is your wife, beautiful lady!
Congats Malcolm
Knowledge is power, and in your case your knowledge has been very powerful for all of us members of the forum.
matt
One day this forum won't be needed as biochemists perfect their knowledge and treatment for this disease! We are all in the historical shift of this disease and we are seeing first hand the miracles of science. Thanks for the medical knowledge, it is indeed helpful to know what is happening to us and to understand what it implies. When looking through the net, we are bombarded with information that at times is nothing short of frightening and mainly infactual or outdated. I no longer search the net for answers as most of them can be found on here. I will never have a perfect medical understanding of the disease, but facts seem to take away the fear factor and I concentrate on that rather than what may or may not happen. The future is brighter for everyone and it is indeed sad that not every person on this planet will be able to access these much needed meds in time, we can only hope they can battle through and wait. Saying that, congratulations on a full year and hanging around for others to help in their journey, and to Jill and other members that donate their time and efforts, cudos folks!
Congratulations, Malcolm.
Your contribution to this forum is immense.
You have given a lot of information and insights to anxious people.
May God bless you!
Congratulations Malcolm! And, thank you for sharing your medical knowledge with all here, that we may better grasp an understanding of the procedures, the lab test results, and the implications of the medical trends worldwide. Best wishes to you, and since it seems that you're never far from a body of water, best of luck fishing as well.
We went thru tx at the same time!
You are my forum pal forever and always.
We went they some low periods but
We achieved SVR! Both 48 weekers.
Grateful for you and plan on having
Life time friendship thru forum.
This forum was a great help to me.
I CAN NOT imagine tx without it
Or without Malcolm and Cinnamon!
Hi SuziQ et al,
You guys are sharp! Yep, 12 months since EOT and to celebrate I had a blood test this morning. Two hours later, the Lab rang with the results- they are getting pretty efficient! All normal, but the platelets are still a bit low. I get the VL this afternoon but I hope to continue my Undetected run- it's now 94 weeks since I had detectable virus. I get to see my doc on Thursday, probably for the last time as he's now Dean of our biggest Medical School. I'll be handed on to one of his younger colleagues. Any questions members want asking?
I must say I survived the triple pretty well. The first 9 months were disappointing, with muscle and joint problems, but they have virtually gone. As I'll probably live longer than I expected, vanity has set in, so the dental issues are being addressed, so I can smile more!
I'm happy to help, as this Forum supported me through my lowest moments in treatment. I realise that not everyone has the same technical interest in our virus, so it's hard to know how much detail to go into. I've cancelled some of my on-line subscriptions as HepC treatment is approaching perfection. My only regret is that it will take a long time for some countries to access this. I am in awe of the Virologists and Biochemists who have unlocked most of our virus ( which still can't be cultured). When you swallow one of their drugs, give thanks! Cheers and thankyou.
Congratulations Malcolm!! You are awesome!! I second, third, fourth, etc what everyone else said. Thank you for your knowledge and insight - it is a big help to all the dragon slayers lurking amongst these pages!
Congrats Malcolm, you've been a great help to me through this forum and PM's. You provide top notch info and I can't thank you enough. I guess it's SVR 52 for you:)
Well said, SusiQ, and everyone else too! Congratulations, Malcolm, how wonderful to think it`s a year now since you achieved your very well deserved SRV!!!
Thanks so much for all you do here, you have single handedly raised the standard of knowledge on this forum by quite a considerable degree! We all appreciate you sharing your knowledge, understanding, and experience with us all here, and I know I`ve personally learned such a lot from you and continue to do so.
Wishing you nothing but the best in your Hep C free life...we can see the joy in your happy smiling face! ~ Jill
CONGRAGULATIONS!
Congratulations on your first year virus free! Providing your knowledgeable insight, wisdom and kind consideration to members of this forum has clearly been invaluable to all of us. Your posts help bolster our confidence that we can beat this disease and have a meaningful and active life to follow. Enjoy!
Way to go Malcolm! Congratulations!
Congratulations one your one year up. Thanks for all your invaluable information.
cheers mate.
Tig
Congratulations on your one year post treatment.
You are such a help to us all--and caring in your posts--sharing information many of us have no access to.
Thanks for all you do !!!!
Suziq
I do hope I have the right date Feb 15, 2013 ???
-- Edited by suziq on Sunday 16th of February 2014 03:07:40 PM