Hello Everyone:
I hope you are all doing well. It is a very busy and hectic time of year and sometimes we can get carried away with so much....I hope you all can take some time to relax and enjoy the season.
Here is an update on me and my treatment. I went for my 12 week check-up on Thursday, December 20th. I am actually just a week early and that is because of the Christmas holidays and nobody available during the Christmas week. One week early is fine. I met with Carla and she went over my latest bloodwork. She said that she is very happy withh everything she is seeing. My hemoglobin has levelled out and that is a very good thing. All other bloodwork looks good, considering what my treatment is doing to my body!!!!
I told Carla that things are pretty good with me other than the dreaded nausea. It seems that since I started taking my Incivek twice a day with 3 pills each time instead of 3 times a day with 2 pills each time, I have been much sicker. I don't know if this is because of the change in the dosing or not. I had been doing the 3 times a day dosing for 2 months and then this last month I am doing the twice a day.....that could be why I am feeling so much sicker. Carla doesn't know if this is the reason either....it is so new. Anyway, I have been taking my Zofran anti-nausea meds and they seem to help somewhat. It doesn't take the sickness away totally but does "take the edge off" so that I dont cry and suffer so much!!!!!
I do have to say that I am at the end of the Incivek.....my last day for this med is Boxing Day, December 26th!!!!!!! I am so, so looking forward to stopping this. I do think it is the drug that is making me so sick. It has also caused me to gain 30 pounds since October!!!!! Yes, 30 pounds. I have had to ingest an extra 100 grams of fat every day for 3 months and not be able to exercise or work out. You can imagine...... I figure when I finish with the Incivek, I will start to lose the extra weight. I will not be eating all that fat and start eating healthy again. I will expect to exercise a bit more, although the fatigue is still with me and will be for the duration of treatment. I will continue with the Riba and Interferon for the next 3 months. I just believe that when the Incivek ends, I am going to feel so much better. We'll see......
I had my bloodwork done after my visit with Carla. Unfortunately I won't get the results until some time in the New Year. This is because of the Christmas holidays. Well, that is okay. I will be waiting patiently to hear if I will continue to be Undetected at 12 weeks. That one and the 4 weeks one are the most important ones. I expect I will be UND but we just never know. This Hep C is a sneaky and very hard to beat virus......many people are UND for a long time and then all of a sudden, the virus returns. I pray that does not happen to me.
My life is pretty much just staying at home and fighting this battle. I don't go out much at all and rest for most of the day. The fatigue and the nausea are very tiring and can be depressing. I keep thinking that this is just temporary and not to get down. This is all part of the treatment and I knew the deal going into it. I am willing to put up with a lot in order to get cured of this. It is the hardest thing I've gone through in my life. I've never been this sick for this long.....imagine having a really bad flu for 3 whole months....every single day!!!!! That is what it is like for me. As I said, I am hoping that once this Incivek is done in 5 days......my troubles will get less.
I'll say bye for now and I hope all have a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. I will post my next blog when I have my results from the 12 week bloodwork. Thanks for reading my blogs and please take care!!!
Love,
Believer
xoxoxoxoxo
