Good morning
Eight weeks and one day into my twelve week course of Harvoni and one of my lovely liver nurses called me yesterday evening.. (They work long hours and late days). She gave me the wonderful news that my viral load shows zero Hep C in my blood.
My remaining 27 tablets will prevent reinfection once I finish the course. Now I can start to help my liver improve as it is no longer fighting off the virus.
My GP kept searching for the cause of my decreasing platelets, I was not worried, I did not feel unwell and any problems, I have always attributed to old age, but without his tests and perseverance, HEP C would have continued to destroy my liver unchecked.
When I was young Hep C obviously existed, during this time, it has been identified, huge advances have been made and now I am living proof of that. It shows that medical advances are always coming forward and bringing cures to us.
My, GP, my Consultant, my Liver nurses, Pathology plus phlebos... and the incredibly busy Gastro unit at my city hospital have been the silent army fighting the silent disease within me.
For me, this is a huge victory.... For the NHS who won this enormous fight for me, it is just another day in the ongoing battle against Liver disease. I celebrated with a cup of Americano intense coffee... but my Liver nurse simply went back to the front line to fight for the next lucky person.
The NHS is ridiculously understaffed, underfunded and yet still delivers a first class service that is envied by the rest of the world. Sometimes we do not appreciate what a wonderful hard working devoted team we have that pin those I.D. badges on each day and go to the surgery, hospital or go out into the community.
All I can say is Thank you NHS
Dave