Hi Carol, wow - so sobering reading your post!  From a lot of real challenges you two sound like great survivors and no doubt you will get through all this too.  Congrats on the SVR and thank God that hubby's heart condition is being cared for. 

I understand how depleting it can be as a wife in a supportive role, so I encourage you to make sure you care for yourself also so that you can continue to support your husband during this difficult time.  You are obviously a wonderful person and I really hope your cruise will be a refreshing time for you both.  Caroline

Thank you everyone for your support!  I think the worst case scenario for my husband would be for him to have an ICD implanted into him, which would prevent

any possibility of sudden death in the future for his heart condition.

Hi Carol,

Woo Hoo!! Tell your hubby congrats on his SVR. That's great news! Now the cardiac myopathy and wall thickening, not so much. I know others with this diagnosis and those with the implanted defibrillator are doing just fine. As Jill mentioned, be glad that it was discovered while something can easily be done to correct it. I'm sorry to hear about his twin brother, that kind of news is never easy and is always hard to understand. Stanford is a premier medical institution and I'm sure he'll be in good hands. Congratulations again on his (yours too) SVR and enjoy that cruise! The weather is great down here!

Tig

Hi Carolinca, I'll say a prayer for him, but the other good new is, you found it in time to do something about it. Peace and Love   Michaele

Hi Carol, good to hear from you...and gosh, that is mixed news!

First of all though, huge congrats to your husband for achieving SVR, that is wonderful!   You`ve done such a good job posting here on his behalf and keeping us updated and you must both be thrilled about this result.

Really sorry to hear about hubby`s newly diagnosed heart condition, but thank goodness it was picked up now so that he can get the right medical advice and attention in order to keep it under control.  And what a relief it must be for you that Stanford is picking up the bill for his insurance deductible. 

Life is full of twists and turns and together you`ve fought and won the battle against Hep C, and I wish you both all the best of luck for the future. 

For now though...relax and enjoy that cruise, you really deserve it! 

Wishing you all the best, and do keep in touch.

Hi Everyone,

So do you want the good or bad news first?  Okay, I'll start with the good news.  The good news is that my husband has achieved SVR at 6 months post treatment.  Hooray!

The bad news is that we recently found out that he has an underlying heart condition that he was born with called Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.  His identical twin brother had this condition and died several years ago but during a meth overdose, which was not good to be doing with this condition.  My husband does not really have any symptoms, but an Echo showed that his heart wall has thickened, which is what the disease is all about.  He now needs to have testing done at Stanford to assess his risk for sudden cardiac death.  If the risk is high, he may have to have an ICD implanted into him.  We recently received word that Stanford is going to pay his insurance deductible because of our income (I am still doing an internship for my career and not making anything), so that was good news. 

So, I guess this means I am now off to yet another forum to help save my husband's life.  Gosh, life can be BRUTAL!  At least we are off on our Caribbean cruise in 2 days!!!

~
Carol