Monday of Week 15

Took shot 15 Friday night. I was up and active Saturday and Sunday. Sunday, is usually the toughest day. I was tired, but functional. Today is Monday. Again, I'm tired but reasonably functional.

I'm getting some annoying minor side-effects. One corner of my mouth or the other constantly has a crack. I sometimes get those when I have a cold. Not a cold sore, but similar. Last week it was the left side, this week it's the right. I keep Car-Mex or some similar greasy product on it to keep it from drying out and breaking open. Another thing I'm dealing with seems like constant sinus problems. I seem to be having lots of allergy issues -- something that never bothered me previously. I get a lot of bloody noses, too. Never a lot, just a minor seep. I'm also getting a funny metallic taste in my mouth. It's not terrible, but it seems to distort the taste of some foods. Those are all annoyances. I'll take them compared to other issues I've had or, worse yet, heard of others having.

A friend of a friend who has been through this called me last week. "Bob" is four years out of ending the 48 week course. I commented that he must have been a pioneer. He was. When he did his round, the peg-interferon with Ribivirin wasn't approved in the US. His doctor had him ordering two different medications and he was throwing away half of each. I didn't quite understand it all, but it was an extra hoop. He had Genotype 2, but did the full 48 weeks because that was the protocol then and they hadn't really sorted out the genotypes when he started. I have Genotype 4 and they recommend 48 weeks, but the disease is new enough that they may have some new research. The doc keeps saying he'll find out for me whether there are any new changes. He made the call while I was there last time, so hopefully next month I'll have an answer. If I were to bet, I'd bet I'm in it for the full 48 weeks. Bob's call was really encouraging. The mutual friend was with him on a 100 mile bike race last month. In other words, he has his life back. If anything, he's stronger than ever, according to our mutual friend.

To Sue in Toronto, yes, the weather's nice this time of year, but when it's 115 F/46 C we'll see how envious you are. I've kept my walks up pretty well. My dog nags me, which helps.

She lives for her walk. That's when she gets to chase cats. She doesn't do anything to them, just the chase. One night the cat on the next block mosied out in front of her and paused looking back waiting for her to give chase. All in good fun.

If they don't run, she just kind of sniffs and moves on. Australian Shepherd -- great dog, but they need to be active and stimulated, hence the walks off the leash. She won't cross the street to visit another dog and won't start chasing a cat unless she gets my okay. I wish I could say it's my great training. No, she's just smart enough to know what she needs to do to get to walk without the leash.

Week 14 - Who really gives a... ?

I'm nearing the end of Week 14 and I now think I understand what someone here referred to as "hitting the wall." I wouldn't characterize it as hitting a wall so much as trying to run across a mud flat. As I've mentioned previously, I work from home which is both good and bad. One bad side is that I work on the Internet. I'm having trouble concentrating and find myself aimlessly surfing. I've learned a lot about things I might not have looked up otherwise -- musicians I hear on the radio, drugs both therapeutic and illegal, topics on Slasdot (http://slasdot.org/).... None of which is particularly helpful in getting work done.

I didn't even have enough ambition to post this -- I had it virtually finished on Wednesday, posted on Saturday.

Week 13 mid-week check-in

I'm into the second quarter. I don't know whether I'm feeling better, or just used to feeling lousy. What I'm having a very difficult time with is the limitations. It's already getting warm here in the sunny southwest. We're expecting above-90° F / 33°C this week. Consequently, it's time for one of the little rites of spring in this part of the world, opening up the swamp cooler.

For you fog-bound folks in northern latitudes, a swamp, or evaporative, cooler is a form of proto-air conditioning that works by forcing outside air through a wet pad. It only works when the humidity is low -- that means a dew-point of no more than 60 °F / 16 °C . Current dew point is 37 °F / 3 °C, so it's ideal. Above 60 °F / 16 °C and it's miserable.

There are other disadvantages as well -- the increased humidity in the house can cause doors to stick and rust in the ductwork, and since it's pushing outside air through the pad, it brings dust into the house. Not a good plan for those who have allergy problems. I doubt that I'd install a swamp cooler, but it was on the house when I bought it and it's a better quality system. And the thing runs for pennies a day which appeals to my Scottish heritage.

Anyway, it was time to clean the swamp cooler up and get it ready for the season, but my wife had a fit at the idea of my going up to the roof. I occasionally get dizzy, but I've never blacked out. At her insistence I called a friend. He was anxious to find a way to reciprocate us for when he was down with a bad back, so I guess what goes around comes around.

I have a friend who I've written about previously. He has Genotype 1 and relapsed six months after going through the full interferon/ribivirin program. He also went onto Infergen, but that caused some horrible psychological problems including depression. He made the mistake of answering a question about self-destructive feelings half-seriously and found himself in a lock-up on suicide watch. That was a couple of years ago. Now they're just monitoring. His liver's in pretty bad shape. I don't know what else they'll do; it's like a company that is in financial trouble and puts the accountants in charge. They can tell you the exact moment that you're broke, but I don't know what they'll do to solve the problem.

Anyway, he had a biopsy last Tuesday. On Friday he was in the emergency room. Apparently the biopsy clipped a bile duct which caused approximately the same issue as a gall bladder problem. They may be able to treat it with anti-coagulants. I need to call him. I think he's coming home today. Real role-reversal there -- it started out with him holding my hand through the beginning of treatment. Now I'm trying to be someone he can lean on.

Meanwhile, I'm doing comparatively well. I'm tired and I don't feel like running or doing other hard exercise, but I walk the dog a mile or so nearly every night. I come in feeling like I've run a couple of miles, so I guess it's a good thing. Emotionally, it seems that everything is right on the surface. I'm irritable, but I have enough of a sense of humor to recognize it. My daughter was telling me the other night that it's like her daddy isn't around. There's a stranger. He's nice enough, but it's not the same. I asked her if it's that she's not used to me being wimpy. She laughed and said maybe that was it. I know I've kind of disconnected with all the kids. I have to make an effort to talk with them and see what's going on.

I'm spending far too much time on this. Got a work call and things are stacking up.

Cheers all! Keep my friend Ken in mind in your prayers, meditations, or whatever you do.