Viral load results. When we’re on Hepatitis C treatment they’re the big ones, the ones we pin our hopes to. And frankly, what’s not to love about a test that has this as part of its definition? “ ... donor and acceptor probe exchange excitation energy ... ”. I don’t know about you, but I think that is one sassy test!

It’s been a week between them drawing the blood and getting the result back but I have the first VL result (Taq Man). Theoretically it was done half way between Week 2 and Week 3 as that was when I was in Sydney to have it done.

It’s dropped from 340,000-ish to 45.

Like I said way back at the beginning, I am no expert. If you want someone who can interpret test results, I am so very much not your person. But if you want a nice cup of tea (herbal, sorry about that) and a chat, you’ve come to the right place.

So what does my untrained eye tell me about these results? Well for a start that they are better than I’d hoped for. I was aiming for the low hundreds. That no matter what weirdness has been going on with bilirubin, haemoglobin and the like, SOMETHING is working.

The Clinical Nurse Consultant (nurse specialist) managing my case is happy. She said it’s what they’d hoped to see. I’m happy. Heck, even the cat is happy.

It will be interesting to see what  happens with my results having had to reduce the ribavirin. Will they continue downwards as quickly? Will it take a bit of the wind out of their sails? Will I need to increase it again?

Time will tell.

But for now, let’s celebrate the victory of the number 45.That’s less than the number of years I have been on this planet.