Re: first day of treatment/Dorothy

June 12, 2008

Humm I was here Dorothy when you were going through TX and you were

not a happy camper You were struggling with a host of problems but

from what I am told us old farts can expect that. Its nice to see you

remember it as breezing through treatment. I sure hope thats how it

will seem to me after TX.

You were and always will be my main inspiration to do TX. I felt all

your pain and suffered along with you when you were unable to get out

of bed from the pain. Your attitude was what amazed me!!!!! Almost

always positive no matter how bad things got. If I remember correctly

the last month was such hell for you that I thought you were going to

give up. Of course you didn't and you have actually slayed the

Dragon!!!!

So how are you doing today? You did get SVR didn't you? If I remember

you were a 1a as well?

Thanks for the well wishes and please be kind to me when I start TX!

I am a BIG CRYBABY! My husband can only take so much and then I must

come on line to do it

- In Hepatitis_C_Central , Dorothy wrote:

>

> I'm a 50-something, getting-closer-to-60-something, broken down old

lady and

> I breezed through tx. Well, till the rheumatoid arthritis decided

to wake

> up and screw with me that is. But yes, I wouldn't mind trading for

a

> 20-something body too.

>

> Despite a ton of problems in my life, I never took any

antidepressants, but

> I do know that so many people on tx swear by them.

>

> I hope that all goes well for you and that the transplant isn't too

long in

> coming. My eSTRANGEd husband had a kidney transplant 2 months ago

and

> despite some problems, it was a Godsend for him. I hope you are as

lucky.

June 13, 2008

Hi, ………I have always

felt that tx was a breeze. I had few side effects except for low hemoglobin

& I did Procrit for that……which I hated!! It did make me feel

lots better, but the shots were awful – stinging and burning. Without

it, I had trouble breathing and was having chest pains – I ran to the

cardiologist and was assured it wasn’t my heart.

My problems were my rheumatoid arthritis

and peripheral neuropathy. My RA was so bad around the holidays that I could

barely turn the front doorknob to get the newspaper. I was ready to quit tx

and the great people here wouldn’t let me!

There was speculation that the interferon

caused the RA to flare and I had been warned about that prior to beginning tx.

So I guess in that regard, I did suffer from tx. I have also said many times that

I felt my tx was so easy since I was on both hydrocodone and oxycodone to treat

the pain associated with the PN and later, the RA. I feel certain that the

pain meds may have helped aches and pains I might have otherwise felt.

I am 2b and the first half of tx was

amazingly easy. Then the sh*t hit the fan with the RA and I had a tough time.

Another issue was my dependency on pain meds and I was struggling with that

toward the end of tx. I managed to get off the oxy and hydro and went onto

Suboxone about a week before my tx ended and it made a huge difference.

Perhaps I didn’t even notice some tx

sides since I was so tied up with my other medical problems, the drug

dependency issue and a host of personal issues like my estranged husband’s

kidney transplant.

Today, I am still having a hard time with

the RA and PN. My rheumatologist has cut back my Prednisone to 5 mg every

other day and put me on a sulfur drug that seems to be helping. My PN has been

terrible, but it’s something I have to live with – they say this is

as good as it will get. I filed for permanent social security disability and I’m

waiting for that decision. In the meantime, I’ve been living off my 401K

funds which is something I hoped I’d never have to do.

When I feel well enough, I have started

exercising again doing some standing “light” aerobics and using my

Pilates machine. I put on about 20 pounds over the last 2 ½ years since I’ve

been ill and my summer clothes don’t fit!! I’m bummed out about it

and hope to get back into whatever shape someone in my condition can.

I was undetectable at 4 weeks into tx and

have my first post-tx blood work next week and see my gastro July 7th.

It’s only been 4 months since I finished tx. I hope to get continuing

good test results J

You’re right…..I was not a

happy camper around the holidays, but my problems were not what most people can

expect to experience during tx for HCV whether or not they’re old farts!!

LOL Let’s look at the glass as half full rather than half empty.

I DO remember it as breezing through tx as

it really happened that way & I truly hope that everyone can have as easy a

time…….sans the RA and PN of course!! I hope that no one will get

the impression that I couldn’t get out of bed due to HCV tx because that’s

not true. I wouldn’t want anyone to get discouraged. Treating this

disease may be the most important decision that anyone can make and could be a

matter of life and death and at the very least, improve their quality of life.

You’ll be fine – cry as much

as you want…….there’s always someone here who understands and

knows how you feel.

Dorothy

From: Hepatitis_C_Central [mailto:Hepatitis_C_Central ] On Behalf Of

Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2008 8:42

PM

To: Hepatitis_C_Central

Subject: Re:

first day of treatment/Dorothy

Humm I was here Dorothy when you were going through TX

and you were