Beginning Week 3

But first, a review of Week 2. Took the second shot on Friday and was up but loggy all Saturday. Sunday I didn't get out of bed. I had all the sides -- body aches, fever, chills, coughing, sneezing, congestion ... sneezing? My wife went back to the web and the package inserts. Nothing about sneezing there. I had a garden variety cold. And it was fast turning into a sinus infection. Explained a lot. I'm now halfway through a round of antibiotics and doing better with it. I worked all week, but fortunately I work from home and spend a lot of time on teleconferences and doing heads-down work at the computer. I did have to take off on Friday afternoon -- I was dizzy and totally flaked out. Certainly in no shape to take another shot of Interferon. But that's what I needed to do.

It's Monday now and more than anything else, I'm tired. Dead tired. I'm trying to get started working, but along with being tired. I'm having a hard time caring. That may be a side as well. I'm wondering whether the depression associated with this stuff is something systemic, or is it just a rational reaction to the prospect of a year's worth of feeling like this. In my weaker moments I can really start feeling sorry for myself which is just plain dumb. Waste of time and I have too much going on.

Week One

Summary
Sleep is the biggest issue so far. The ribavirin seems to cause a lot of tension in my back and I tend to clench my fists and arms. My appetite is good and I am having no trouble with any foods. Little chance of this stuff becoming a recreational drug, but I don't feel too bad. This is manageable.

On Saturday after my previous post, I started moving and felt good enough to clean the garage. Between remodelling and having Christmas decorations out, it was trashed. I was doing okay for about three hours when it caught up with me. Fortunately that was just as I was sweeping and ready to shut it down. I went inside and took a two hour nap. When I awoke, I felt exactly as if a case of flu was coming on -- achey, especially in the joints. I took some Tylenol and watched the Broncos beat New England (American tackle football). Life is not all bad.

I went to bed early Saturday night but didn't sleep well due to the fact that I'd already had a lot of sleep and because the achiness was coming on pretty strong. Sunday morning was more of the same. I thought about staying in bed, but then figured that I could feel this way anywhere and laying in bed I was more likely to start feeling sorry for myself which is a downhill slide. It's way too early for that nonsense. I got up and had some breakfast (oh, and my ribavirin, naturally) and some Tylenol or Ibuprofen. I'm trying to mix them up a bit and not take either more than a couple of times in a day.

By the time I got to church, I felt pretty good, just tired and wrung out. The friends who know about this wanted to know how it was going. Pretty good, considering. One guy at church has Genotype 1 and went through the 48-week drill only to have it come back. He's my reality check. There are no guarantees.

I felt good enough after church to go out to eat with my wife and younger daughter. When I got home I flaked out in front of another football game.

Monday was a work day for me. I am fortunate enough to work from home. The commute isn't bad, although I have to occasionally step over the cat on the way to my office. Tylenol and coffee are my friends.

Tuesday I went to the gym. I did my usual ten minute warm-up on an elliptical trainer (kind of like a treadmill, but low-impact). The heart monitor said I hit 189. When I'm real energetic I can usually get it up to about 200 in that time. I wasn't feeling all that energetic. My workout got sidetractked, however as I ended up getting into a pleasantly long-winded conversation about guns and other topics of interest. I've seen this guy, but we've never talked. I think we were both looking for an excuse to slack. He left and I got back on the elliptical for another ten minutes before going home.

As the week progresses, what I'm noticing is that I am just tired, yet I have trouble sleeping. My appetite is good and I have no trouble eating anything, thank God. I can't think of anything that would drag my morale down faster than to have serious stomach trouble for this time.

My biggest gripe (and my wife's) is that I'm not sleeping well. I have this weird tension in my back and tend to clench my hands and arms. I have to will myself to relax. I ended up taking a Benadryl last night to go to sleep. I'd read of that trick in one of these blogs. I'm going to check in with the doc about it, but it worked last night -- except that I'm foggy this morning.

Time and past to get to work.

Carol said in her comment to the last post:

Many people think that when they take the tablets/jab life changes from then on.

You're right, that's exactly what I was thinking. The big changes are the ones that happen slowly over a long time. On the other hand, there is now a division -- before treatment, and during treatment. And the roller coaster has definitely started.

I took the ribavirin about 10:30 last night and the interferon shot about 20 minutes later. The needle is so small and fine I hardly noticed it. I put it into my budding "love handles" -- I'm not very big and I don't carry much extra weight. I was in bed by 11:00 which is pretty early for me. Awoke at 7:00 and made coffee confident that I was up. I then went back to bed and didn't move until 9:00 AM! Ten hours of sleep is really long for me.

This morning I'm a little achy but sleeping for a long time would explain it. I'm not saying I'm having no sides, but I'm having to look for them. If this were an ordinary morning, I'd be wondering if I was getting sick or if I'd just slept for too long. As I write this I feel a headache coming on -- the ribavirin was 30 minutes ago. Or maybe I'm talking myself into things.

The time has come. My medicine arrived today.

I just got back from the doctor's office where the nurse gave me a little orientation and the very stylish Pegassist Kit. Gel eyeshade included. The time may come that I'm glad I have it, but right now it seems kind of hokey.

I haven't taken any meds yet -- enjoying the last few hours before a year of . . . maybe nothing. Maybe a bad time. I'm not in a hurry to do it, in any case. The older kids have gone to a church function for the weekend. The youngest (11) is an only child this weekend. We're taking her out for dinner and maybe a movie. Once we get home, Daddy is punching out.

My wife works with a guy who has genotype 3. He just heard from his doc that the virus was undetectable. He has another ten weeks and he's done. Everybody cheer for Steve.

So there is an end to this. Something to keep in mind at the beginning.

Out the door.