Although, based on his history of drug use he's more inclined to die from eating the wrong mushroom than from Hep C, but I digress. Since 2011, DAAs have been coming down the Hep C pipeline, until now. 2017 marked the year where announcements of new meds not only slowed its pace, but many were cancelled. Janssen, as of Sept. 2017 discontinued use of Olysio, a DAA which acted as part of a combination therapy, the only lone NS3/4 Protease inhibitor. Without a unique NS3/4 inhibitor, combination therapies will be more likely to include combination meds like Harvoni. Most meds target the NS5a or ..read more

Pharma drug wars these days make headlines for typically nefarious reasons. More typically when Pharma companies are turned into pieces of an investment machine and no longer commit as much energy to research* and instead focus on paying their investors. The Hep C drug market was blowing up from 2014 until 2016, 2017 saw some of the largest halts in manufacturing of treatments. But with an estimated five million Americans yet to be cured, it's not a lack of demand that does it. Janssen, as of Sept. 2017 discontinued use of Olysio, a DAA which acted as part of a combination therapy, one I too ..read more

In 2011 I noticed a familiar feeling in my throat and a lightheadedness that comes from anemia. We rushed to the ER. A line of people sat waiting while I turned pale on one of the few remaining chairs. My brows furrowed and struggled to hold back something deep in my stomach. "I need a bowl" I asked the nurse at the front. She would regret the speed at which she retrieved it. Moments later bowl in hand I began to projectile vomit all over the ER. a steady stream of red blood bounced into the bowl and onto the floor. Suddenly I wasn't in line anymore. I would proceed to lose more and more b ..read more

Well, what I used to be. The images below are of my former liver, the damage of thirty years of Viral Hepatitis C (HCV). The images are graphic, so please be warned now, they are unlike anything I have ever posted before. These images are of me and as such I am the original owner and retain the rights to circulate the images as I see fit. If you would like to borrow the imagery, please ask. In honor of National Donate Life month, This is why i needed a transplant liver. This was my liver's limit. This is what a healthy liver should ideally look like ..read more

This is why five treatments failed. This is my HCV RAV list ..read more

Not the ghost dog from Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. Although that is one of my favorite Disney movies. The reason why it is one of my favorite movies is because Jack Skellington (the main character) struggles with not only his own identity, but that of the town's. He was trapped in Halloween Town until he followed Zero out into the woods. He needed Zero to nudge him in the right direction. Zero, helped him overcome the fog, even though it would ultimately crush him, he rose from the wrecked attempt to revitalize himself and his town. He rose to ultimately find a new identi ..read more

My mind and heart are racing, but they'll be no winner. Waiting for a phone call that will determine your life is nerve-racking. I've been here before. Too many times. Every treatment is terribly exciting, because it could cure me. But based on my experience, it won't. There is little I can do to help the process, little I can do to find out what's going on. I suspect that the reason I don't get anxious in most things, is because I'm so focused on this. I've learned to calm my mind, and ease my heart. But there are moments that bend me out of joint. I've waited for phone calls for years: "I'm ..read more

My name is Rick Nash, as I write this, I am thirty years of age and soon I'll be one year older. This birthday is special to me. Because it is one I didn't expect to necessarily have. When I was in summer of my seventh grade year, I was diagnosed with Hepatitis C ( HCV.) One of the key elements I took from that doctor's appointment was that I would need a transplant around 30, or die. And given the knowledge he had and the virility of my, to be later understood as, variant strain, a transplant would only extend my life a short period of time. It was a prediction that I have fought against ..read more

Damnit, who turned the electrolytes off? The last week of September always seems to be a rough time in my life. Whether it's the end of a serious relationship, the catastrophic failing of treatment or simply my consistent return to a decompensated state, the time never seems to be so grand. It's become such a theme in my life that I can't seem to kick the Green Day song until it feels like October again. As a cirrhotic liver patient, a low sodium diet is routine and a relatively high protein diet helps me rebuild the muscle loss due to my decompensated state. When the liver gets to a cert ..read more

Yesterday was my fourth blood test, in the last month. My bilirubin and INR have been at a levels worry some enough to postpone treatment. (The cost of a treatment is more than the meds alone, this month I spent over $350 out-of-pocket costs and that's with insurance!) With the help of my family and advocates I was able to negotiate better terms on the price I can bear. But all of this is contingent on my having my present insurance and that I'd ordered and received it before I switch insurance September first. In one day I switch insurance plans, the present Gilead plan offers mysupportpath ..read more