Saturday, July 26, 2014

World Hepatitis C Day New Orleans



July 26, 2014
  • Location: Audubon Park
  • Address: 6500 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70118
  • Times: 10:00 am - 1:00 pm
  • Admission: Free
  • Visit Website
World Hepatitis Day is part of Avita's campaign to raise awareness about Hepatitis in Louisiana and worldwide.

Come join us on The Prowl For A Cure for a fun-filled pet friendly day at the park featuring local food, education, games, door prizes and entertainment. Including Free Hep C & HIV testing provided by NO/AIDS Task Force. 
Special guests include the 610 Stompers & Gina Brown! 

Did you know that 3 out of 4 people infected with Hepatitis are unaware that they have it?

In 2008, the World Hepatitis Alliance founded World Hepatitis Day as an answer to the lack of awareness centered on Hepatitis. Since then the event has grown to be celebrated in 136 countries and has even broken Guinness World Book records!
Last year, Avita hosted the first World Hepatitis Day event in Louisiana, accounting for 34% of participation in the US.

To learn more about Hepatitis and World Hepatitis Day, check out our Hepatitis Infographic.


See ya'll there! 

Monday, June 30, 2014

So now, there is pretty much a cure out there for Hep C - and others on the horizon that probably work even better!  However, as of now, no one can afford it.  Medicare and Medicaid, as well as private insurers, were not quite prepared for a 90-95% success rate Hepatitis C drug to hit the market.  And the tens of thousands of folks wanting to do one of the newer treatments - ones that actually work, have much less side effects, and a much shorter treatment time, are all lining up.

Meanwhile, there is LDN - Low Dose Naltrexone -

Since my integrative doctor no longer takes Medicare,  I have been unable to have the regular Hepatitis C labs and viral load tests done as regularly as I had since early 2009 when I began taking 3 mg of Low Dose Naltrexone.   However, my rheumatologist over at LSU ran basic labs, a liver panel and a viral load test back in February 2014.  As I had posted last, everything was pretty much the same as they have been - normal liver enzymes and still low viral load - thankfully.

I plan on going back to my CAM doc but I need a few hundred bucks to do so.   But I am seeing a new gastro next month and am hopeful that she will be as supportive as my integrative doctor is/was.  Or at least more supportive than my last gastro who refused to run any viral load tests as "LDN is not used to treat Hepatitis C and will not affect viral load", he said.   And he was less than supportive when I showed him the results of my first labs done after being on LDN for 3 months.  Viral load dropped from 1,600,000 to 48,000.  And has remained below that in the five years since.  Usually 11,000-36,000 range.

At any rate, until next month and new labs, here is:


Treating Hepatitis C With Low Dose Naltrexone


Updated it slightly and removed any reference of increasing LDN dosage past 3 mg.

In the rescue cat side,  Cayenne, my 16 year old white Siamese mix, went into liver failure last December.  His ALT was something like 1375 and all of his other numbers were astounding.  I put him on Denosyl (SAMe) and Marin (Milk Thistle) and he improved and put weight back on.  Then, a few months ago, he was not doing well.  The vet said that he was dehydrated and had an enlarged kidney.  I was sent home with a bag of fluids "to keep him comfortable" as none of us believed he would live much longer.   And he was so dehydrated that he needed sub-q fluids two times a day!  At any rate, surprisingly,  Cayenne is now getting fluids every other day.  He has gained weight again, is grooming himself and begs to go out for a supervised walk every day.  The vet thinks that as his liver heals, his kidney function has also improved.   I am thrilled - I have had him since he was 6 weeks old and been through everything with him.

 

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Still here

Just letting you all know that I am still here - and celebrating 5 years Low Dose Naltrexone for Hep C! And will be posting again soon - am waiting for a replacement computer. My other one's hard drive crashed during the summer and I have been struggling to use my 2003 Katrina soaked one. It takes 20 minutes to go from page to page on it and is extremely frustrating. Will be adding some new posts soon! Got new viral load test - 34,284 - which is great. Since 2009, it has never been above 48,000 - and either seems to be in the teens or @ 30-35,000. And has never made the jump back to the million+ that it was pre-LDN. Anyway, much more to come - still waiting on a computer!