Merry Christmas!

Two years ago, I was about to embark on my treatment.  I was a wreck, emotionally.  The anxiety was awful even though the paxil had helped some.  

One year ago, I was about to find out if I had achieved SVR (sustained virological response).  I was definitely feeling better (no depression or fatigue), but was probably a little anxious about the upcoming blood test.  Well, I did get SVR and continued to have a wonderful, healthy year.

This year, I find myself savoring everyday and truly appreciating my health and enjoying my family.  I have a new job that gets me out of the house and it's physically demanding.  I love it that I'm able to do the job, realizing that during treatment, it would have been impossible.  I feel so blessed and content right now.  Truly, the best Christmas present.


So, no matter where you are on your journey, take care.  Merry Christmas to you and yours and may you enjoy good health in the year to come.

Nothing new to report here.  I'm still feeling great.  We recently moved to a farm and I got a new job--just 20 hr or less per week--so not too bad.  

Oh, I need to get a new email for this blog since we moved.  For now, if you have questions please leave them in the comments and I will get back to you through there.

Back from Spain

I'm back and had a lovely time. The weather couldn't have been better. The food was yummy, too. I'm still amazed at my energy level. Life is good.

Wow!

I received an email recently from a lady in the Boston area. There is an online community for Health Activists called WEGOHealth. Anyway, I was contacted by them regarding this blog. She said my blog was listed on their site by a blogger as one of the Hepatitis blogs to read. I was invited to be part of an advisory board in Boston in September, but I can't make it. I'm so honored and humbled. I just hope I can keep the blog going! I'm feeling so great now that I'm really a broken record at this point. The one new thing is our support group is moving to the first Tuesday of the month and will be meeting at 7 pm. I still plan to go to support R who will be retreating in the next few months. And of course, we hope more will join us.

Thank you, everyone, for encouraging me to encourage others!!!

It's just a dream now---the fatigue, depression, worry. I continue to feel great and, occasionally, get an email from someone with a question. I love being able to help and support people going through what I went through.

I won't make it to the next support meeting in town. I've got good news! I'm going on a trip. I'll be in Barcelona on a girl trip! It's nice to have something to look forward to. :))

I met with the support group tonight. We all seem to be doing OK. R will probably wait until the new drugs come out to treat again. S is feeling great and still enjoying her SVR status. I'm a little stressed right now with the closing of our property and my mother-in-law going into a nursing home on the same day. I still feel like going through the Hep C stuff made me look at all of life's ups and downs differently. It's all fluid--what's good today can be bad tomorrow. Life changes with a phone call some days. It's keeping it all in perspective that is the hard, however important, part.

Tonight we were going to drive 45 min to another town to meet with a new guy. He canceled this afternoon so we met at the regular place. At least he called. I think the doctor was twisting his arm to meet with us. I met him on Friday when the clinic started a new group of Hep C patients. I agree with the doctor, he could use some company. Oh well. We are here if he wants some help but we can't help people if they don't want it.

There's not a lot to report right now. I'm feeling great. The doctor's office is having a new group start treatment on Friday and asked if I wanted to talk to the group. I'm going to do it. This time I'll remember to bring the list of side effects with me. The last time the nurse from the drug company kept asking me if I had restless sleep. For the life of me, I couldn't remember but when I checked the list, sure enough, I had it on there. Ironically, this coming Friday is when all the Hep C stuff started two years ago. Well, I thought I was having a gall bladder attack and had to get a hotel on the way to DC. Oh, it was so scary driving down the interstate with the kids in the back. Pete was out of town, etc. The pain was so severe. You can read about it here if you like.

I have a lot going on in my life right now. We bought 23 acres and we're trying to get our house ready to sell. I'm so thankful I'm not dealing with the treatment now. Life does go on...

2 out of 3

I met with Ron and Sandy on Tuesday this month for our support group meeting. Sandy had some great news: She got SVR!!! I'm so happy for her and her family. Ron starts treatment again in the future so, hopefully, we'll be batting 1000 one of these days.

Six months in a leaky boat....

I'm running again. I'm up to 45 minutes. I could pick up the pace, but for now, I'm enjoying being out and feeling great. I listen to my iPod while I run and recently I've downloaded some old 80s music. When I was in junior and high schools, I liked pop music from England, Australia and New Zealand. At the time, I didn't realize one of the groups was from NZ--I've just figured that out in the last year or two. But, one of those groups is the Split Enz. I had an old cassette which has long been gone. It occurred to me to look them up on iTunes. I decided to buy some old songs that I used to enjoy. I bought I Got You, History Never Repeats, Six Months in a Leaky Boat, and some others. While I was running the other day, Six Months in a Leaky Boat came on. The lyrics go like this:

When I was a young boy I wanted to sail 'round the world
That's the life for me, living on the sea
Spirit of a sailor circumnavigates the globe
The lust of a pioneer will acknowledge no frontier

I remember you by thunderclap in the sky
Lightning flash, tempers flare, 'round the horn if you dare
I just spent six months in a leaky boat
Lucky just to keep afloat

Aotearoa, rugged individual glisten like a pearl
At the bottom of the world
The tyrany of distance didn't stop the cavalier
So why should it stop me? I'll conquer and stay free

Ah come on all you lads, let's forget and forgive
There's a world to explore
Tales to tell back on shore
I just spent six months in a leaky boat
Six months in a leaky boat

Shipwrecked love can be cruel
Don't be fooled by her kind
There's a wind in my sails, will protect and prevail
I just spent six months in a leaky boat
Nothing to leaky boat

My treatment regimen was six months. Yep, sometimes I felt like I wasn't going to keep afloat. I did, though. I can't describe my feelings when I heard these words as I was running--and running with vigor! I survived the leaky boat. Yes, "there's a wind in my sails, will protect and prevail....."

Happy Days are here to stay...

My doctor contacted me the other day to ask if he could pass on my contact info to a newly diagnosed patient. I gladly obliged. The lady contacted me via email and I hope we can chat soon.

I truly believe that things happen for a reason. I survived Hep C treatment and lived to tell about it so that I can be a resource for others. I don't want to waste this opportunity.

OK, now for something trivial. My hair has come back and it is so think. It used to be thick but I kept it short so I didn't realize just how much hair I had! So, I'm covering the gray now and growing it out for something different.

Hello! Life is just flying by.

I met with my support group last Wednesday. It's still just the three of us. Maybe I should be more aggressive at getting the word out. Not sure. Or maybe most Hep C people don't want an actual physical support group. Still don't know. Nevertheless, it was good to catch up with S and R.

I'm afraid I'm a broken record. I'm still feeling good (except I'm recovering from a cold and the cough is hanging on), still running fairly regularly, and sleeping well. I'm not working much due to the hospital being jerky, but I'm scheduled to work this Friday and two weeks in July. I'm looking into getting out of nuclear medicine. We'll see.

Yeah, life is good (right now)!

no more antidepressants!

I am officially weaned off of the antidepressants. It took about two months to slowly come off of the citalopram. I have started exercising a little more often and I hope to lose those pounds I put on.

I have more energy than I have had in years and my mood is great. I'm enjoying every day because I know it's a gift.

Hang in there.

I'm still here and feeling great. I volunteer at a free medical clinic on Tuesday mornings. I draw blood and it is so gratifying. Today I had something happen that has never happened before. I was looking at a guy's arm for veins and noticed a lot of scarring. I asked him if he gave blood and he said "no." He admitted to being an IV drug user. My heart almost sunk to my stomach. He had used drugs just recently and still had bruises on his arm from it.

He told me he was sober for 9 months and then started using again. He was in his twenty's. He was negative a year ago for Hepatitis C, but wants to be tested again for it. I could feel my heart beating faster as I stuck him and tapped into his vein. I was so nervous and did not want to get stuck by that needle.

But here's the rub: I should be nervous every time I draw blood. People with Hepatitis C can look like anyone. I had it and never knew it. I never "shot up" or snorted cocaine. I can't believe I'm back to my ways of letting my guard down. Oh sure, I wear gloves, but to really respect someone's blood as if it could give me a life-threatening disease? I really needed to have this guy as a patient today. It was a gentle reminder to always be careful.

I found out the other day that Ron from my support group did not get SVR. My heart breaks for him. I think they will start treatment in the summer. That seems so far away for him. His counts were less than 200,000 so why not start treatment sooner?

It took a long time for him to get the results back and I was suspicious. I was able to get a 3 month post PCR because I asked for it. Ron didn't ask for one, so he waited the six months. Ugh.

Slacking on this blog...

I've been such a slacker lately regarding this blog. I guess that's a good thing that nothing bad is happening as far as Hep C goes. In fact, I feel great!

If you are going under treatment, good luck to you. Check out the Hep C Nomads--lots of good info there. Email me with questions and I will do my best to answer them.

If you are newly diagnosed--take a breath and don't panic. It will be OK.

Today the GI clinic had another group meeting where patients who are about to start treatment get together and go over side effects, information, etc. A nurse with Roche gave a presentation and showed them how to give a shot. I got to go this time and be there to answer any questions and talk about my experience. There were three patients: an older guy and two young women. The young women are both moms and are probably in their mid-20s. They are from the same town and know each other. I offered my phone number and email to them in case they have more questions. I also gave my info to the older guy. I hope they take me up on it, but if they don't, it's OK too! I'm determined to help people out who are going through this anxiety-ridden time. The support group still has just 3 people, but Rome wasn't built in a day, either.

Coming off of antidepressants

I contacted my doctor regarding getting off of the antidepressants. It will take about two months to slowly wean myself from them. So, today I took 20 mg of citalopram and will do that for about a month. After that, I will go down to 10 mg for a month. Then I can stop. I hope I can come off of them, but if I need them, I'm OK with that, too.

My hair finally feels normal. It took almost 6 months for that to happen. I still have a lot of new growth and it's so much thicker than it was.

SVR

The dragon is dead. Yes, I got an email from my doctor yesterday with the results of my 6 month post treatment viral load. Undetectable. I'm cured! The technical wording is Sustained Viral Response. Yes, SVR! Praise God!

The waiting is the hardest part...

I got my blood drawn yesterday to find out if I achieved the sustained viral response (SVR). Now, it will be a couple of days of waiting. I can't believe it. If I have SVR, it means this is behind me and I am "cured." Amazing.

All the signs point to SVR. I was an early responder (undetectable at 4 weeks), I'm genotype 3a, young, female, otherwise healthy. My doctor hasn't doubted all along that I would achieve it. So, I'm crossing my fingers and hope he's right.

I met with R and S last night for the January support group meeting. S took her last pills on Sunday. R gets his blood drawn later on this month to find out if he has SVR. It's been good for us to have this support and we hope more will join us some day.

That's all for now. I'll post when I find out the results.