In this weeks video (Shot on January 21, 2013) Devon discusses the post Incivek treatment Virus blood test results he received from his doctor earlier that day.

The results indicated the wonderful news that the Hepatitis C virus was once again not present in his blood. This means that the Triple Therapy treatment is working. Doctors have informed Nicholson that he currently has an 86% chance of reaching a sustained viral response (SVR) 6 months post treatment and be declared cured of the virus.

One the negative side of things the blood tests revealed that Nicholson still has high ALT liver enzyme levels. One goal of treatment is to bring ALT levels back to normal. The liver biopsy that was performed on Devon in the summer of 2012 indicated the Hepatitis C had caused some damage and fatty deposits on his liver. If Nicholson is fortunate some of this damage could be reversed if he is cured of the disease.

There have still been a lot of side effects present in Nicholson’s therapy over the past week. The itching he was experiencing while on the Incivek medicine has continued to improve but has not gone away. The skin discomfort he’s been experiencing is particularly bad after bathing. The skin peeling side effect of the disease remedy has also begun to appear in patches on numerous spots of his body and the insomnia is still plaguing him.

Despite the barrage of side effects Nicholson is staying positive and relishing in negative blood work news. He followed past patient recommendations of celebrating the enjoyable things while going through the chemotherapy like treatment by going out for dinner with his grandmother Joan Greenwell.



This entry was originally published on January 18, 2013. Reprinted with permission.