i + i = 9 weeks

Well I’m into my 9th week of treatment for my Hepatitis “C” and I have received a Christmas Blessing. My blood results have come back and my viral load is currently undetectable. What a gift that I have received. This treatment so far has been up and down. I have experienced some flu like symptoms of body aches and fever, I have had alot of headaches and some nausea in which they gave me medicine for. I have been extremely run down and tired. That has probably been the worst side affect of them all. Overall it has not been to bad. My problem has been to slow down and take some time to relax. I have alot of commitments in my recovery and I still work 10 hours plus each day. It has been taking its toll on me. I did have between Christmas and New Years off and found time to catch up on rest although I also noticed that I felt the side affects more when I wasn’t as active. Overall I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to go through this experience and to hopefully after 13 years of living with this virus be done with it. More will be revealed and it is still too soon to tell. I have to continue my treatment for 4 more months and have check ups for up to a year before knowing whether it is gone or not. I am remaining positive that it will be successful.

~ Phil

i + i = Week Three

Well I started week 3 and last week didn’t go as well as the week before. On Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and part of Wednesday I felt like I had flu like symptoms. My whole body ached, I had bad headaches and very little energy. The loss of energy comes out of nowhere. It’s like the wind is taken from my sails. I had some sores in my mouth that have gone away.
Week 3 started off good until Sunday at around 12 noon. Lost my energy and started to feel an ache in my ribs and back. Hard to breath. Overall I’m doing good. Some people have related the symptoms they felt as feeling dope sick. I have to tell you….. I would take these side affects over being dope sick any day. I am still very blessed.
Went for blood work on Saturday and have an appt. today for the results. We will see.

~ Phil

i + i = The day has come, Finally!

Well yesterday was the start of the treatment. I started my Ribavirin in the morning with my breakfast. A few hours after the first dose I started to feel the affects of the medication. My skin started to feel tight and then my face became hot and red. It felt like a burning feeling from a rash. I did my first injection last night before bed. It went well and I went to bed shortly after. I slept very well and woke up to my surprise not feeling all that bad. I had a headache but that was it. Throughout the day today I haven’t really felt that bad. I have been drinking water and switching between ibuprofen and Tylenol every 4 hours to offset the side affects. More will be revealed.

~ Phil

i + i = Relief

I can breath again, went well. We decided to move to the back of her arm. No pain inflicted. What a relief. I had some worries about having to be around syringes due to my past being a recovering intravenous drug user. I don’t think of it the same as before. It’s not as bad as I thought it would be. I have a strong program of recovery, deeply involved in service and an incredible life beyond my wildest dreams. I’m going to be embarking on a journey myself with the consequences of my addiction…. Hepatitis “C”. I am going to be starting treatment with Interferon and Ribavirin for my Type 2 Hepatitis. I will have to be giving myself injections and thought that it would be a trigger. Time will tell and I don’t want to project. I have a healthy fear. I love being apart of my recovery community, a respectable, responsible and productive member of society. The stigma that I believed for your of once and addict always an addict is a lie. We do recover!!! Thank God.

~ Phil