There Goes Week 17!
Well I’ve got to be honest its been the best week yet on a lot of levels.
Felt generally very good, the tiredness is still there but you can work round that, and as a result have worked everyday this week bar the Friday. I did do a shift on the Sunday though for those of you shocked by my laziness.
Managed to squeeze a nice bit of retail therapy in on Tuesday, which believe it or not is the first time I have been “out” proper since last September! Picked a nice new coat up [Paul Smith of course] a couple of pair of shoes [Tim Little's obviously] and another laptop [Toshiba but it was cheap]. What made it even better was that a mate I went with couldn’t find a thing to buy, nothing like others misfortune to put a smile on your face.
The sleeping is much much better, just had a couple of bad nights and to be honest you can really feel the difference the next day. I have moved the importance of sleep up a notch or two on my “important things to do on treatment” list.
Now let me tell you a little secret, may not work for you. I think a large part of the reason for my improvement is down to moving injection time from mid-day Monday to Friday night, with Doctors permission of course. On a practical level that just works better for me as my worst days used to be Mon/Tues followed by the second peak on Thursdays, it tended to wipe the most productive part of the week out. The real secret is that now I have changed injection days I have forgot when I am “supposed” to feel bad. I woke up this morning after last nights injection and felt just a little rough but caught myself thinking “I’m supposed to feel rough today”. That made me realise that my second peak has disappeared, I have simply forgot when it is supposed to happen! Don’t underestimate the mind in this virus killing game, you can only control the physical sides so much, what you can control more is your minds reaction to them.
And just a reminder, keep the faith 
BTW The no smoking has gone pretty poorly but I’m no quitter…yes I am……no wait 
January 16th, 2006 at 1:00 pm
Hep C Boy - Glad to hear you had a good week. I also was glad to hear another man likes to shop. With my 6 children I have always been a bargin hunter and I miss having the energy to shop. I, too, have noticed a second peak on Thursday night as I take my shot on Saturday afternoon. I have had 3 bad Fridays all beginning late Thursday night. I worked a full week last week and am very tired. I am still fighting a sinus infection and that does not help the situation. I spent Sunday sleeping around the football games again after having insomnia Saturday night. Currently I am at work and would like to put my head down on my desk and nap. The problem with that would be that I am throwing up today and it would wake me up. I had my first labs last Friday and was shocked to learn I will not know for 2 weeks if the treatment is working. I am anxious to know how the fight is going with the virus. I am keeping the faith for a good result. I want to be rid of this virus by June. I agree with your statement about your mind being important. You must believe and be positive to get the most out of the treatment.
By the way—— What was that ” almost elderly” comment. A man with 6 children from age 30 to age 2 will never be old, he will just go from Daddy to dead overnight. Keeping the Faith !!
January 17th, 2006 at 8:11 am
hi…. just have some questions concerning treatment of a friend …. is there an email to contact? your blog rocks …
January 17th, 2006 at 11:54 am
Hi HepCBoy
You’re sounding good at Week 17! Not only out there shopping - but Paul Smith and Tim Little too.
I’ve been thinking about stopping the smoking recently. Previously I was advised by my medical team it would be better not to try to stop while on treatment as it causes more stress than necessary so I cut back to 7 a day. Of course, now I’m not sure THIS is the right moment to introduce stress, so I can see I will just have to bite the bullet and get on with it at some point. But not until I finish the packs I’m going to buy while I’m here in Spain. Do I sound just a little ambivalent???
Glad to hear about your secret strategy to disrupt the pattern of the sides. Nice one.
Wishing you well
Ron
January 17th, 2006 at 2:48 pm
Hi John, you can get me on boy@hepcboy.com , just remember I’m just a boy with Hep C and not a Dr
January 17th, 2006 at 3:59 pm
Hey Jimmy, great to hear from you again. Sounds like you are keeping up the fight, if something bad happened and I had to jump in a foxhole be nice to have a guy like you by my side! By labs you mean a PCR test to check the virus level? Don’t get too hung up about those if its before 12 weeks, thats the one that counts the most. About 2 weeks is average, most places batch them up before they go to the lab to get a cheaper price, add a few days for shipping back and forth and give the lab some time to get them done and 2 weeks is about right.
Hi Ron, thanks for stopping by. The smoking is a tough one, I had similar advice to you in a way. Doctor said it wouldn’t make any difference to treatment outcome, nurse kind of said I wouldn’t stress yourself. I think the best time to stop would be on diagnosis [I managed just 3 months!] to let things settle before treatment starts but you would need a good few months for that. Second best would be after the first 12 weeks, during is just too challenging imho.
They say smoking takes an average 16 years off your life, add in my cirrhosis and I’m already on a minus
Somethings gotta go, the smoking is entirely within my control so go it goes!
>but Paul Smith and Tim Little too.
Yeah, I like to slum it now and again
[For those who like *really* good shoes take a gander at http://www.johnlobbltd.co.uk/.]