Week 20 - Tuesday
Anyone visiting this blog for the first time, as many have been recently, might well wonder where is the information about what it’s like to be on the combination treatment! I have recently been writing about the Out of the Shadows Exhibition, reiki, new members of the blogging community and issues to do with Hepatitis C. But where is the description of life on treatment?
I could point out that life on treatment is not all about the side-effects or the physical experience of the treatment – but for some people it is. I am fortunate not to have had some of the more difficult side-effects that can arise with this treatment. But this doesn’t mean I don’t have any!
By Week 20 I am realising that there are different phases to this treatment. In the first phase, probably up to Week 12 (when the hospital does blood tests for the presence or level of virus remaining in the system) I was very pre-occupied with the physical and emotional sensations I was experiencing as a result of these powerful drugs coursing through my veins. And earlier entries in this blog (from November & December) will show this.
I think I have now moved to another phase where I have got used to, more or less, the side-effects and limitations of being on treatment. These are chiefly fatigue, breathlessness, some brain fog, irritability, loss of appetite. Actually that sounds like enough to be going on with! And I wouldn’t say that I live my life as normally as I did before treatment. I do feel ‘reduced’ at times by this treatment and limited in what I can do in any one day – a trip into central London and back for an appointment is often all I can manage in a day. And an eight-hour working day is more than enough for me – after that I am ‘collapsed’ and resting for the rest of my waking hours! AND I sleep a lot – usually nine hours per night and, sometimes, another nap during the day.
April 3rd, 2005 at 11:59 pm
Hi Ron,
Documenting your “phases of treatment” is very helpful for those of us coming up behind you. Initially for me it was also all about what was different. Now, it’s more about acceptance and finding the positives (coming closer to week 12). Will be interesting to see when transition to next phase occurs and what it will be. Feel that your focus on things other than symptoms of treatment is a good one - this experience isn’t all about side effects, it is but one aspect of all of our lives.
Sue