Good news. For the first time, the virus is totally undetectable!!
Although, we have hit a small bump in the road. The doctor is very concerned that my husband is experiencing such severe shortness of breath. The blood test did reveal that Steve is anemic (RBC 9.4), and the anemia could be the cause. However, since Steve's father had a history of heart disease, the doctor doesn't want to take any chances. He is ordering Procrit to increase his red blood cell count and temporarily taking Steve off the treatment.
The doctor wants Steve to see a cardiologist and have a stress test before he continues any further. If everything goes well with the stress test, he is going to go back on the treatment but this time with the addition of the Procrit.
I didn't know how Steve was going to react, but he was actuallly relieved. I think the doctor gave him the ok to do what he knew needed to be done. When we were leaving the building, he sat down on a bench in the doorway and started crying (sobbing). He then said, "At least we know it works, but I just couldn't take it anymore."
Right now he is looking forward to getting his strength back. A few minutes ago, he was talking about how he is going to prepare himself both mentally and physically to restart the treatment. At least now, he knows what to expect and hopefully with the addition of the procrit he'll have a better experience.
Most important is the fact that the triple therapy worked...at least up to this point. So there is hope, not only for my husband, but for others with genotype 4 (and studies are currently being conducted on genotype 1 as well).
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