Pre-Treatment Assessment
Today Carol and I went to the hospital for my pre treatment assessment. It was the first step in starting my pegylated interferon and ribavirin treatment. I don’t think I felt particularly apprehensive, guessing I would need to have blood tests and give my medical history to the clinic nurse. She spent about two hours with us going over my medical history and background, giving us information about the potential side-effects and how to deal with them, as well as ordering about eight blood tests and a ECG.
During the discussion we identified a number of risk factors which could have been the source of my catching Hepatitis C, but of course we will never know specifically where I have got this virus from.
When she concluded that I was fit enough to undertake the treatment, she asked if I wanted to start after Christmas – I suddenly felt disappointment hit the pit of my stomach. No, I want to start this week! I knew I want to get on with this now, having spent weeks thinking and preparing and making the changes in my life that I need to.
We agreed I would start the following Monday, 8 November.
Afterwards, as we searched through the hospital corridors for the various blood and ECG departments I felt very firmly I am now ‘inside’ the hospital system and remembered what it is like to be a patient. I really don’t like being a patient, particularly the whole culture of dependency that hospital systems seem to create and need in order to treat patients. Having said that, my clinic nurse did take the time we needed and didn’t make me feel she had to rush me through because my allocated time was up.
I travelled home feeling I have now taken the first small step on a journey of healing.