Two years? Really??

Those people at Google are updating things and I discovered an email urging me to recover my blog. It took a bit, but I finally got in. Since I'm here, I may as well give a brief update. If you've followed this journey, you know that I appear to have beaten the bug. Hoping that's still true. I dropped a blood sample off at the lab yesterday and I have an appointment with the GP for a physical next week. Nothing has led me to think that the bug is behind me. Knocking on wood nonetheless.

I've mentioned my friend Ken here. He is once again in treatment. He has Genotype I and it came back on him after the first go-round. He took a second shot at the beast with Infergen shortly before I started treatment. It put him in such a horrible mental state that he had to drop after a few weeks. I saw him the other day and he's once again in the midst of the fight. He's using a new regimen — Telaprevir? — and the outlook is good so far. The virus was undetectable after three months which could mean a shorter time on treatment.

My life post-treatment has been busy — making up for lost time. Eldest daughter got married last year to a great guy who we are happy to claim as our own. Ten days before she got married, I got a layoff notice from my employer. They are well-known for calling their layoffs "Resource Actions." Google it and you'll know where I worked. It being too close to the wedding to do anything different, I kept my mouth shut and had a great time. Less than a month later I had a new job doing very close to what I had been doing and making more money (plus, got to bank the severance). All things work together for good. Son is still at school, but having second thoughts about finishing. College isn't for everyone and he's not sure what he wants to do. See above. He'll be fine. Youngest is off to college in the fall. At that point Wife and I will have the house to ourselves. I'm sure we'll find something to keep ourselves busy.

In all these post-treatment check-ins I have tried to encourage anyone reading who is on or contemplating treatment to be encouraged that people disappear from the forums. There is a world out there, and if you spend a year on treatment, there's much to be done. Hang in there. There's an end to it and it can be a really great one. Anyone in or facing treatment should feel free to drop a line. My somewhat-obfuscated address is fretblog (commercial at) gmail. If I start getting spam at this address, I'll hide it again.

I'll check back here when I get my results back. I have every reason to remain optimistic.

Best

Chris