Post Treatment: Week 1 - Wednesday
We arrived home on Monday and my main task yesterday was to get myself to the hospital for the battery of “end of treatment” blood tests - including the key PCR test.
I did have a very quick peek at the Forum on Monday evening and was really touched to discover the thread Ron - Finished The Endurance Course introduced by Paul Overcomer. Thank you all for your comments and good wishes (to Carol as well as me). Knowing that it has made a difference to someone else’s experience of living with this virus is important to me, as it was a key reason for starting this blog.
Today I am realising I must have had some notion in the back of my mind that once I stopped taking the medications I would feel better quickly, perhaps even instantly. I say that because my head knows this won’t be the case, but I do feel distinctly disappointed to feel much the same 48 hours later without medication as I did before.
Carol says she feels relieved that the treatment is over – the watching and worrying about what the side-effects could lead to, etc has taken its toll on her over the past 48 weeks. I will feel relieved only when I begin to feel some relief from this reduced fatigued state. It has again taken me two hours to really ‘come to’ this morning. And sinusitis (the change in climate, back to the damp UK?) has not helped.
I am again feeling overwhelmed by the practicalities and ‘timetable’ of everyday life – dealing with the letters which arrived while we were away, the light in the downstairs cloakroom has stopped working, another credit card has arrived with (well, without actually) a new ‘chip and pin’ number to join the other dozen or so whose pin numbers I have lost or confused, the shower unit has a leak. I feel frustrated I can’t find the energy or enthusiasm to get on with these things. I have been ‘going with the flow’ and not worrying about this type of thing for so many weeks and months now. I just want to move on and get going now, but it ain’t happening yet. Writing about this now, however, has helped clear some of the angst and made me realise I have done enough things today not to feel totally incapacitated.
What has been happening is lots of emails from people who have been reading an article about this blog on the BBC News Online website in the Health Section. According to my stats counter over 2000 people visited this blog on Monday. By making an article like this on their website, it is evident that the people I spoke with at the BBC several weeks ago about their coverage of Hepatitis C have listened and taken on board that they can present this issue differently. So thank you to the BBC news people.
And a number of people have emailed me direct or left comments on the blog saying they found it useful to discover my online journal and sharing their experiences with HepC. It is really gratifying to receive these messages. Though in my current state I know I will not be able to answer them all this week.
Their responses also confirm my conviction that there is a silent majority of people with Hepatitis C who do not have access to adequate support services and who are hesitant to use existing services supplied through ‘street’ drug projects because of the stigma. And it does set my mind to reflecting on somehow developing online services further.
October 12th, 2005 at 10:44 pm
Yes, the partners will be glad to see the end of treatment as much, if not more, than those on it. At least we know after awhile what is going on. They have to guess from day one to the end what is happening to their loved one. And watching treatment ravage the body as it often can in the last stages.
No wonder an estimated 15 - 20% of relationships break down under tx stress.
Well done, Carol.
And Ben of course. Looking after the old codger when theres techno trouble on`t forum. For younger people especially pre teens it must be hard to comprehend the mood swings and distant introspection that sometimes occurs in their parent.
Even though you are back in Blighty, Ron, the motto still should be Manana, manana.
There is always tomorrow.
Paul.
October 15th, 2005 at 4:10 pm
Hi Ron,
It may not be immediate, but you will feel better - of this I am confident. There is a whole lot of adjusting to be done after treatment, both emotionally and physically. I am still tweaking the recovery plan, but it gets easier with time. The practicalities of life will go on and you’ll involve yourself with them at your own pace and comfort level. Hey, you’ve been through a lot.
Hope you enjoy increased energy, happiness and health. All of my best wishes to both you and Carol.
Sue
October 15th, 2005 at 4:33 pm
Ron,
Congratulations on a job well done. The 48 week treatment is an experience that gives a person a lot of unusual strengths and gifts. I see people now who are brought to their knees by experiences that would only be as troubling as a gnat sitting on my shoulder. I see that you are taking the good out of it.
Don’t even try to push the recovery. Just take it as it comes so you don’t let any of that feeling defeated creep in. A year of having your body ravaged takes more than just getting the medication out of your system. Take some time also to reflect on the things that really aren’t worth it either.
I loved the Morocco photos and thanks for the mini vacation I got just looking at them. Traveling is also in my future. Morocco’s another place I want to revisit.
Like everyone else I want to thank you for your contribution and the cojones you had to come out of the closet in the dignified and sophisticated way you did. Thanks from all of us. It’s an inspiration to all of us to do our part for this very unsupported and misinformed cause.
Nadine
Kudos also to Carol and your son Ben who I’m sure had some laughs, maybe some insights and certainly some scratching his head moments while reading your forum.