once again its been a while since I was last here,so here's a brief summery of it all so far...
In April 09 I went back for the results and the consultation, the endoscopy gave an all clear with no varacies shown, my Allts were 94, HG level was 15.4 and my platlets were 58, so a slight improvement on the last count, then in oct 09 on my second yearly visit a different set of results were shown again.this time they did a more in depth check and the results were ....weight 87.6kg (fat bastard that I am)virol load was 1.1x10>6per ml..ALB 43,billrubin 20,ALTs 53 and platlets 57....next visit is in april 2010!! the indigestion is back as too the nose bleeds(not as bad though) spleen is 1 third bigger as its taking some of the work load off my liver and Ive a row of lumps on my abdomen which are blood vessels being put under presure due the the added work the spleen is doing, but Ive been told not to worry about these !!
Its been a strange time since I was here, mood swings galour, totally not getting on with my partner to the point of she asked if I wanted to seperate and to top it off I found my daughter whom I last saw 30yrs ago !!mad or what ?shes absolutley georgeous and Ime very proud of her, and my 3 new grandchildren and I'm looking forward to getting to know them all .
Friends!! Ive also found old friends that were once , and still are dear to me,and if they find this then they'll know why I am like I am !!hopefully they'll understand and friendships can continue to grow !!.
promiss I wont leave it so long before I come back, and the song I'm going to leave is :Adore by the Smashing pumpkins
See ya !!

Good morning Mr Blog,
Just been reading my last Blog...can't believe it was Nov'07 since I was last here,
just shows how totally Lazy I am.
Lots of things have come and gone since last we met, my eldest wrapped his motor bike around a tree and smashed his thigh in 2 places, resulting in 9mths off uni, he's back now and loving it, he's all so done the "student thing" and has moved out of the family home and has rented a house with friends, and the youngest has now taken up going around the local pubs seeing if he and his band can play a set, this has resulted in 3 gigs (unpaid of course, they do it for Beer tokens)but the dream is there, they all want to be Rock stars and have fame fortune and groupies.
2008 was quite stressful !the company I worked for lost the maintenance contract with one of their main "Blue chip" clients,so it was quite a worrying time for everyone, especially with the country in the state its in, but come the November I was transferred under "TUPE" to the group that won the contract, along with most every one else who worked with me, so employment continues, nigh on a case of "Same Shit Different Day !!"
Another thing that still continues is my Bi annually check-ups at the QMC (hospital)the next one is sheduled for this April,when the also want to do an "Endoscopy"(camera down the throat and in to the gullet) to check for Varacies, so nice !!
Anyway, last years results were for April, Liver still the same, no change in the amount of cirrhosis but Spleen swollen to help the Liver cope
ALTS.........94
HG...........15.4
platlets.....58

and for October,
Liver same ,Spleen now 19cm (normal spleen size approx 14cm)
ALTS .......53..(large drop)
HG..........14.3
Platlets.....57
Bilrubin.....13
ALP (alkaline phosphate)..71
ALB(albumin)..41
GGT(gamma gutauyl transferase)..35

It will soon be Summer and festival season ! Cant wait to get the tent out again, the first one is in may at Ashbourne, "The Bearded Weirdy festival", run over 3 days and loads of bands and things to do,Hawkwind are rumoured but as yet not confirmed, but who cares? 3 days of chilling out and Music, going to be loads of people we know going, so it will be a really good time (watch this space!)

See you soon

I've not been here for a long time, is it because I've finished tx and nolonger have anything to say ? dont think so.
Come December it will have been 2 years since I was diagnosed with HCV, only differance is I lost a year whilst on tx, other than that, s.n.a.f.u... or perhaps even more so, because in Nov 05 I did'nt know I was ill, life was ( and still is ) good, one really good thing is I now have a lot of diverse friends, there's some good strong people out there, people who know what the score is and can offer support and a shoulder when needed, my friend "M" in Telford is one, we had lunch again on Tuesday in Shrewsbury and I introduced my wife to her...and M to my wife,
M is also the reason I made new friends last week in Manchester, I had actually phoned her to say I couldnt make the Northern gathering, work commitmants would'nt let me, but after driving home I thought "what a chicken", the rest is history and now I've a whole bunch of new friends, good strong northern sorts into good food and nice music.
I had my bi annual tests in October , because of this wonderful bug we've got I have to be tested twice a year, untill that is they invent somthing new to try to eradicate it, any way , the results were
virol load....1.200.000..................a drop of 380.000
platlets.......56.................................a drop of 4
hg.................14.8...........................a rise of 3.2
alts................63

The Manics were spot on,
Rock city is a small venue compared to some places (nottinghams ice arena) so the place was packed to the rafters, literally, stairs , balconys, every where, people were 10 deep,
the main arena was a sea of bodies, sweating and swaying, no point in trying to move anywhere,
no where to move to, and The Manics took the place by the neck and shook it up, starting off with "We love you (you love us)" 2 new numbers, motorcycle emptyness and more classics,
and the did'nt stop rockin' the place right up to the very end, when they remembered Richie Edwards to every one and played out with "You stole the sun from my heart"......Yep, spot on

My other highlight was the Heppers bash at Chrissies and JBs, a long awaited, and welcomed, oppartunity to put faces to names, allthough I must admit I probably bored the pants off some people, just the process of "introduction" realy, and second time round will be a lot better, will feel more relaxed being in the company of people I now "know"


On that note Im'e going to sign off

Frankie goes to Hollywood....."RELAX"....

Well its been a long time since I was last here, my minds been a bit numb of late, still the shock of not having cleared.....all those thoughts that go through your head "could I have done anything differn't to have averted the outcome"but the answeres no really, Iv'e lived like a monk,or in the 80s song by the Vapours "turning Japanise"

On April 19 I turned 50, my wife had arranged a "suprise" party, but I got to find out and cancelled, so she just changed venue from the pub to home,it was a nice evening, the weather was fine and it was fun just having the garden full of my little nephews and nieces, kids are great at that age, its when they're older they become a pain..but you wouldnt be without them though.

On may1st I went for an Abdominal scan and got the result of the last blood tests,
The scan showed the liver as being the same as 6mths ago, which is to say that it has had a good rest for the course of the treatment, so the tx was worth it in that respect.
The platlet count was 60, which again is a good result because they started off ta 50 before tx
the hemoglobin was 11.6, which is again good cus I dont bleed like a stuck pig any more, no more nose bleeds for no reason what so ever, but saying that , if your hg levels are below 13 you are clinicly classed as "hemophiliac"
and last of all my virol load is 1.580.030 iv/ml
and I had a reply back from the hospital regarding my request for inclusion on the VX950 trials,
they say that yes I am on the list for "concideration" when the trials begin
so fingers crossed on that one.

For my birthday Sue managed to get a pair of tickets for the Manic street preachers at Nottinghams Rock city for this coming thursday (24th)
she got them off ebay and my Bro inlaws paid for them, for which Im'e eturnally greatful as the gig sold out within mins of going out, so looking forward to that big style,
up dates next week

The other thing thats happening is a "Heppers" get to gether at Swinehead in lincolnshire,
thats tomorrow, among other things its to cellebrate Martin Bs birthday, but Im' looking forward to puting faces to the names of the peep's we talk to


Im' going to leave it at that
untill next time

A whole lotta love!!(led zep)

Well it all turned out to be true, the virus is back, looks like it only went away for a short break and now its come home.
I went to the Hospital today to see the consultant, every one is kinda surprised, mostly because it looked as if it had been defeated quite early on during tx so its sudden reappearance so soon after finishing the meds was a bit of a shock.
Anyway, the out come is basically "sit and wait"! wait for trials of new meds due for later on in the year, a combination of VX950 and Albuinterferon, which is a fortnightly Interferon injection instead of the present once a week injection, this new combo is aimed at Type 1 hepc and non responders ( strange how Type 3 was thought to be the easiest to eliminate !)
Non responders like me !! people with Geno type 3 and Cirrhosis, because it would appear that its the liver damage that has made the virus able to hang on in there, somewhere for it to hide, it would also appear that the hepc virus is very good at finding immunity from that which wishes to do it harm.
So this new combo (the VX950) was originally developed for HIV but has now been re-engineered for HCV, the idea is it acts on the p7 protein, blocking it from reproducing its self in the liver and cutting down on, or eradicating the damage it does whilst doing so....fingers crossed, eh ? The QMC is one of the hospitals chosen to help trial the treatments, so I think my next move is to write to / Email the Consultant Virologist and formally offer myself up for the trials, that way they will have it on record of my desired availability, and my willingness to participate....

It has been a VERY back breakingly busy week !!!
I took the week off work in order to re-landscape the front garden (with the help of my better half, of course) which meant hiring a "builders skip" in order to remove the turf and sub-soil and level the area, (works out to about 8 or 9 tons of material removed by wheelbarrow and grunt power) next was to lay path edgings to the borders, dig out and lay a concrete base and footings for a porch, mix and spread a layer of 2 inch deep concrete, and proceed to lay 36 sqm of random sized flag stones into the wet concrete, and all of this whilst wondering what the hell I was punishing myself for ??
Any way 1 week later and we're not far off, just a couple of sqm's of flags to lay and point up, decorative aggregate to in-fill the borders and edgings with, and a porch to build, all of which gets done at week-ends and spare time, 'cus enough of trying to kill my self...Ive gone back to work for a rest !!

Good news this week is my eldest has just been accepted into Nottm Uni's School of Nursing for Psychiatry, a 2yr Diploma then a Degree course to specialize in "?" to be decided !

Which just about leaves me at where I want to be at the moment, so my Track to leave you with is quite appropriate really, referring to the first part of this entry,
Lou Reed....."I'me waiting for my man"
Take it easy, And some one "Kill the beastie"

It realy has been a strange sort of week this week,Sue has taken a client on holiday to the Costa del sol,( shes a support worker) which has left me and the boys home alone, fending for ourselves,
no bid deal, just making sure the youngest gets out of bed and to school's been the main thing, cus' like any 15 yr old, school's the last thing on his mind.
We went to the pictures on Tuesday night to watch Ghost Rider, the new Marvel comics movie, it was quite good, it was most entertaining and the cgi was excelent, according to my youngest.
There appears to be a couple of Marvel films due out, the new Spider man film looks good,looks to be quite dark.
So, the main thing this week was a call from my virolgy nurse on Wednesday, it would appear that the blood tests taken when I last went to Hospital to take back my unused meds have shown HCV positive ! it would seem the virus is back, or at least it maybe, Iv'e to go back on Tuesday for more tests, hopefully its a "false positive" and the new tests will show I'me still neg.
My nurse said this is most unusual, as its only happend at the QMC twice before, (the virus coming back so soon after finishing treatment) and that when re tested one of them was neg !, so a 50/50 chance then, my possitive test was taken just 4 1/2 days after compleating treatment.
So, as I said, my wife's on Holiday and dose'nt come back untill Sunday afternoon, she dose'nt know about this yet, welcome home dear !
On the plus side I've just learned to use the washing machine, so it will look like ive been busy being industrius, then do the shoping and by flowers for her ! aint that sweet any way, sitting here wont get things done, so I'll be back...watch this space

Track of the day...."Here I stand before me"....
The Crash test dummies