On Sun, 25 Apr 2004 12:28:23 -0400, elmoemerson@webtv.net, in message
ID <22483-408BE727-8@storefull-3257.bay.webtv.net>, in the newsgroup
alt.support.hepatitis-c wrote:

Elmo.  Thank you for taking it in the spirit with which I intended it.

On Mon, 26 Apr 2004 07:58:16 -0500, Don <ikiru@nowhere.org>, in
message ID <kf1q80l48gcl674udvfumrf2vffequ8h3f@4ax.com>, in the
newsgroup alt.support.hepatitis-c wrote:

Yes Don. It is OK to ask.
The doctors never reached a definite conclusion about this.  My own
mind has changed several times as his widow has let a bit more
information trickle out (I haven't pushed the pace over this for
obvious reasons).
The bare, basic details are that his virus was undetectable at 6
months (he had a geno 1 so 48 weeks tx).  He had pretty bad sides all
the way through but, around 7 months into tx, he became extremely
breathless while climbing some steps.  He went back to the doctor who
ran tests on him.  I presume that these tests consisted of checking
his blood cell count and platelets in view of the breathlessness.
Anyway, the tests revealed nothing wrong.  Two or three weeks later he
was unable to hold down his food and he was taken to hospital by
ambulance.  I hadn't seen him for several weeks at that time.  When I
visited in hospital, his skin and eye whites had yellowed - probably
indicating that hepatitis had become active.  With my limited
knowledge of such things, I assumed that the hepatitis was auto-immune
hep due to his earlier negative PCR test.  At that time, I wasn't
aware that hep-c could return while on tx.  He got worse over the next
week or so until they took him into the intensive care unit, knocked
him out, and put him on a respirator.  The last two or three days, he
was only alive on a technicality.  While on life support his liver
stopped working and then his kidneys.
It was only recently that his widow mentioned that hep-c virus was in
his blood again before he died.  By then, I was aware that the virus
can occasionally return while on tx.  I have heard that it can mutate
and overcome the interferon. When this happens, the virus *can* bounce
back with a vengeance.  It is also possible that his diabetes
exacerbated the situation.  For a while, I even wondered if the
inteferon had caused the renal failure as it is documented (though not
well publicised) that this can rarely happen.
It has been painful to write this but it's OK Don.  Grief, for me, is
a process that comes and goes and has no smooth path.  It's OK to feel
as it means I'm alive.  Also, the tx I'm on tends to amplify feelings
a lot.
Thank you for asking Don.