Doctors dont routinely check for Hep C, although they certainly should
if someone was an IV drug user.

A liver biopsy takes about 2 seconds but he may be in the hospital a
few hours. They make you wait afterward to make sure there is no
excessive bleeding. He wont feel to bad for it.

Hep C treatment side effects vary from individual to individual. From
almost no side effects to side effects so bad that people stop
treatment. Treatment for hep C lasts 24-48 weeks, depending on the
genotype. I dont think you can compare it to Heroin withdrawal in any
meaningful way  except both make you fell like crap, but one last a few
days and the other up to a  year.

Liver biopsies are cake.  You get feel good medicine.  You also need 6
hours in a patent bed to make sure there is no bleeding.  Bring some
food.  They only gave me a cold sandwich.

Kidney and bone marrow biopsies are the pits.

An interesting thing about a liver biopsy is that to be released you
have to sign a release form.  One of the instructions on the form  is
"do not sign any legal documents".

The first time I got a liver biopsy, in 1994, I went to the hospital,
changed into a gown, lay down and waited 10 minutes, a couple of
residents came by and said turn on your side, they swabbed it and stuck
me - hurt just a little more than a flu shot - then said stay here, and
a couple of hours later they said go home.

I didn't grasp that "go home" meant "go home", so I went to Barnes and
Noble and browsed the shelves until I got dizzy and realized I probably
should be home chilling.

The last time I got a liver biopsy, 2006, they only do them with
ultrasound, insisted on giving me pain medication even when I insisted I
could handle it (it was nice though <g>, and I had to go through the
whole admitting and releasing procedure.

Bring photocopies of your driver's license, insurance card, and stick a
twenty in your shoe.  That way you can save the time going in and going
out having security inventory, bag, and lock up your valuables.

Bring a book.

Have a nice day - it's no biggie other than the time it takes.

On Thu, 26 Oct 2006 12:23:23 -0400, DarlinDebo@webtv.net (DarlinDebo
Dreamweaver), in message ID
<13462-4540E0FB-258@storefull-3353.bay.webtv.net>, in the newsgroup
alt.support.hepatitis-c wrote:

My biopsy procedure took about 20 minutes but had to stay in hospital
6 hours afterwards as a precaution against internal bleeding.  I
believe this is pretty much standard.

I didn't detox from heroin myself as my habit was with the synthetic
substitute, methadone.  Personally, I reckon my withdrawal was a lot
worse than my tx side effects.  Having said that, tx lasts a lot
longer than withdrawal.  Please note that I said that *my* withdrawal
was worse than *my* side effects.  There's no guarantee that your
husband's experience will be the same as mine.  Also, withdrawals and
side effects aree very different feelings and it can be a bit like
comparing apples to oranges.

In view of your husband's history, I am surprised too that they did
not ask to check for hep-c (or b as well come to that).  I do know
that some treatment facilities prefer to have as few distractions as
possible while the addiction treatment is going on.  It's not possible
to second guess their thinking on this.  Maybe contact them and
suggest that a hep-c test be standard now if it hasn't already been
changed.