I was diagnosed HCV positive back in the early 90's there was no treatments on offer back then, after all it had only just been identified & named in 1989. After the odd visit to my local hospital 18 years little had changed regarding treatment but then in January 2008 one year after mother passed away I stood prepared for a relatively new treatment & so it began... With hindsight I can now say I was far from prepared, I sat back & left it to the clinic, thinking all I had to do was take the meds. what followed was a recipe for failure, literally... 12 months later the PCR test came back virus STILL detected !
So here's the thing, by leaving it to the clinic mistakes were made, that in turn would cause stress & with each further mistake moving deeper into treatment stress becomes an almost permanent fixture, the drugs can make you manic in varying degrees, you will more than likely find it hard to control your emotions, that is why I recommend stress management as a major weapon. I count stress management as the equivalent to another drug in the fight, to cut out stress is to give the drugs you take, the best chance to achieve full effectiveness.
How you go about stress management is up to you, my main points are as follows...
1, When dealing with doctors & staff separate your emotions, maybe your not happy with the way they handle you... I say in the scheme of things that is not important, they are there to guide you through a process pure & simple the finesse they display counts for 0. Use them to get the job done, this is about you & that virus, don't buy into he said she said. I did the 1st time & I failed treatment !
2, Keep on top of all appointments & tests if anything is unclear call them & ask questions. Keep or cancel all appointments it's the right thing to do, also, don't forget your conduct is being monitored throughout treatment, any inapropriate behavior will be noted & may count against you, don't forget you may fail & wish to do treatment again further down the line.
3, Home routine, the main area of stress management will be from day to day at home, I took extreme measures the 2nd time I did treatment & remember I beat it, so don't knock it.
a, First of all I sacked BT, put the car in the garage & got the bus, bought an answer machine & cut contact with all but a very few people. You have to remember your more than likely going to become very touchy & maybe even confrontational, it's better if you have as fewer triggers as possible, I sacked facebook & twitter there are many damaged souls crying out for attention as well as those out to confront, I became confrontational on Facebook the 1st treatment, I found it very stressful & so I quit my account before my 2nd attempt.
b, the car is another cause of stress, from breaking down to anger behind the wheel not to mention stress from paying out. All that is gone in a flash & is replaced with the much milder worry about how long you'll wait for the bus. I see so many trying to do treatment & working driving on facebook & so on. It's no good
4, Exercise, is also very important, very ! You must push yourself out the door & walk, it's a fine balance between doing too much or too little. i found the day after my jab I would overdo it then spend the next couple of days paying for it. I kept on top of that during my second shot at treatment & measured my day to day efforts.Just a good steady walk around the block is ok on bad days then increase the distance on better days.
5, Food & water, water is the easiest to deal with, keep a large glass or bottle by your side all day every day & drink often, I also drank a pint at bedtime & upon waking, they do this in the Paratroops, your body is over 80% water keep it topped up & flush those drugs out of your system, easy ! Food is not as simple, you appetite will suffer but you must eat when you take your tablets, in the morning i eat a yogurt & a banana, we made fresh soup also a big pot of food on the stove is a wonderful thing be it soup, stew or curry. i had trouble with sores in my mouth, i would make a drink of green tea with fresh slices of ginger & lemon with mint honey & ribena you don't have to include all mix & match these fresh ingredients to make a hot soothing drink, I would take the cold half of this drink to bed & sip throughout the night.
6, So remember this is probably the most important 6-12 months of your life, it's outcome vital to a brighter future, so don't leave it to pure chance, get pro active & make hard sacrifices in the short term it's inconvenient in the big picture your doing what has to be done, as far as work is concerned, I'd rather be unemployed & virus free, if your employer won't let you have time off, then they don't care for you. I know it's easy for me to say but I never expected to be free of HCV, but now I am & there is absolutely no doubt in my mind my 2nd course of treatment succeeded because I made big changes in the way I lived my life, changes that decreased my stress levels & so increased my immune system so when matched with the treatment drugs the hep c virus became completely overwhelmed & in turn led me to victory !!!
3 Peaks 4 HCV Route
The Road Route
I borrowed this map, we will travel the standard route but in reverse. Beginning at mount Snowdon here marked in red, then up to Scafell Pike & on to big bad Ben Nevis.
This challenge includes...
480 miles of driving.
22 miles of walking.
10,000 ft of ascent.
24+ hrs of Hell on Earth.
3 countries.
& 1 or 2 footsteps
Every journey begins with a single footstep
3 Peaks 4 HCV...
Given the nature of the 3 peaks challenge along with our respective health issues we aim to push ourselves but tailor the task to allow periods of recovery.
First of all, we will be doing it in reverse. The standard challenge route begins at Ben Nevis, ours will end with the biggest of the three mountains. We will begin at mount Snowdon between 2 & 4am this will give us ample time to reach Scafell Pike later in the day, then away to Ben Nevis where we will allow ourselves a period of sleep, this shouldn't be underestimated as cheating as the strain upon our reserves of energy will be just as demanding as they would without rest. I, for one, am not looking forward to picking myself up after my body has set like concrete with energy levels largely exhausted, being faced with the highest mountain in the whole of the United kingdom.
Mount Snowdon
We will form in the car park at the start of the miners track, this is the recognized start point. The walk to the summit is some 4 miles & should take 3-4 hours to for the round trip, obviously the decent times for the mountains is shorter than the ascent times.
Scafell Pike
We will start at Wasdale Head car park then follow the road to the footpath then on to the footbridge leading to Lingmell Gill. Bearing left uphill to the river crossing near Brown Tongue & on up to the summit of Scafell Pike, then return. This trip should take between 4.5 to 5 hours. I'm told Scafell Pike has the hardest terrain up top with the crossing of a boulder field, a factor that could lead to injury when tired. We aim to go & recce it before hand.
Ben Nevis
 |
| #RdToRecovery |
This challenge includes...
480 miles of driving.
22 miles of walking.
10,000 ft of ascent.
24+ hrs of Hell on Earth.
3 countries.
& 1 or 2 footsteps
Every journey begins with a single footstep
3 Peaks 4 HCV...
Given the nature of the 3 peaks challenge along with our respective health issues we aim to push ourselves but tailor the task to allow periods of recovery.
First of all, we will be doing it in reverse. The standard challenge route begins at Ben Nevis, ours will end with the biggest of the three mountains. We will begin at mount Snowdon between 2 & 4am this will give us ample time to reach Scafell Pike later in the day, then away to Ben Nevis where we will allow ourselves a period of sleep, this shouldn't be underestimated as cheating as the strain upon our reserves of energy will be just as demanding as they would without rest. I, for one, am not looking forward to picking myself up after my body has set like concrete with energy levels largely exhausted, being faced with the highest mountain in the whole of the United kingdom.
Mount Snowdon
 |
| Mount Snowdon is 1085 meters high |
We will form in the car park at the start of the miners track, this is the recognized start point. The walk to the summit is some 4 miles & should take 3-4 hours to for the round trip, obviously the decent times for the mountains is shorter than the ascent times.
Scafell Pike
 |
| Scaffel Pike is 978 meters high |
Ben Nevis
 |
| Ben Nevis is 3,344 meters high |
Our final ascent will begin at the visitors center, there is another start point at the youth hostel though it's neither here nor there, as both paths join up early on forming one single path first leading you to Lochan-Meall-an t-Siudhe the halfway point, then on to the summit, this path is known as the Pony Track, it is calculated at 10.5 miles there & back , holding the steepest ascent in the challenge.
The fact that we have given ourselves room to manouvre doesn't mean we are not pushing ourselves, it may be on the day we are able to push on & do the 24 hours but a sub 30 hours will do for me. Not bad for a year post 3 years solid of hepatitis c treatment & a lifetime of drug use.
It is never too late to turn your life around. I'm surely glad I gave it a go !
Ever donation is most welcome & gratefully received http://www.justgiving.com/peter-moore01
Onwards & Upwards...
Three Peaks for HCV awareness
2012 is Britain's Olympic year, as well as being the 100th anniversary of Scott's expedition to the Pole, it is also first year of my recovery post HCV treatment & the year in which I've chosen to take up the challenge of the Three Peaks, to reach the summits of mount Snowdon in Wales, Scafell pike in England & Ben Nevis in Scotland. Raising hepatitis c awareness & funds for the Hepatitis C Trust in London into the bargin.
In January 08 I began a 6 month course of treatment of Vireferon & Rebetol, it was a very difficult time for me & my son, who really stepped up to the plate & looked after me at my worst. 12 months later the following January 09, we received the news we were dreading... Virus still detected.
The following morning of the result I logged on to the web using my laptop & visited the Hepatitis C Trusts website for the first time, I emailed them & Catherine Corr replied 10 mins later, offering a chat, I called her & we talked it through. I didn't know it then but my comeback had already began.
Through the trusts website a world of information came into view, vital information that would help me rethink my situation & arm me with the knowledge to move forward. I set about getting fit, walking every other day & by October 09 I was ready & willing to do treatment again , only this time it would be for 12 months, my son felt he couldn't go through another 12 months & who could blame him. My mother, who had also brought him up, had passed away in January 07, so all in all it had been a bloody hard two years & now I was asking him to go through another 18 months of hell.
He stayed by my side & in October 2009 treatment began again, only this time I was very well prepared, putting into practice all I had read through the trust & other sites along side lessons learned from my first shot at treatment, & so another 18 months of treatment began...
In March 2011 we got the news we deserved... SVR, sustained viral response. Success !!!
Now in 2012 after a hell of a year post treatment with depression along with varying post recovery health issues I now feel ready to fight another battle. That of the three peaks challenge & so having linked with the Hepatitis c Trust, Hi we can help & Compass drug & alcohol York with others yet to confirm their backing.
I once tweeted... Hepatitis c now killing more people than HIV, shout it from the rooftops. Well I aim to do better than that on the 28th July world Hepatitis day, we will be shouting a number of fact based HCV related messages from the highest points up & down the country. full details will follow, we also want others to do likewise, by reaching the top of a peak in any country & help relay our messages around the world. We will beacons of hepatitis c awareness, using one of the oldest means of communication combined with the most modern, only our beacons will be facebook & twitter
I wish to put a request out for walkers wanting to take part ideally from various HCV & rehab related organisations
We are also looking for sponsorship, there will be plenty of media interest generated by the organisations involved & by the individuals & their related stories. Everyone involved gets a mention & their logos will be posted on the challenges website.
In my opinion actions speak louder than words, so please get involved & help us do some good.
Peter.
In January 08 I began a 6 month course of treatment of Vireferon & Rebetol, it was a very difficult time for me & my son, who really stepped up to the plate & looked after me at my worst. 12 months later the following January 09, we received the news we were dreading... Virus still detected.
The following morning of the result I logged on to the web using my laptop & visited the Hepatitis C Trusts website for the first time, I emailed them & Catherine Corr replied 10 mins later, offering a chat, I called her & we talked it through. I didn't know it then but my comeback had already began.
Through the trusts website a world of information came into view, vital information that would help me rethink my situation & arm me with the knowledge to move forward. I set about getting fit, walking every other day & by October 09 I was ready & willing to do treatment again , only this time it would be for 12 months, my son felt he couldn't go through another 12 months & who could blame him. My mother, who had also brought him up, had passed away in January 07, so all in all it had been a bloody hard two years & now I was asking him to go through another 18 months of hell.
He stayed by my side & in October 2009 treatment began again, only this time I was very well prepared, putting into practice all I had read through the trust & other sites along side lessons learned from my first shot at treatment, & so another 18 months of treatment began...
In March 2011 we got the news we deserved... SVR, sustained viral response. Success !!!
Now in 2012 after a hell of a year post treatment with depression along with varying post recovery health issues I now feel ready to fight another battle. That of the three peaks challenge & so having linked with the Hepatitis c Trust, Hi we can help & Compass drug & alcohol York with others yet to confirm their backing.
I once tweeted... Hepatitis c now killing more people than HIV, shout it from the rooftops. Well I aim to do better than that on the 28th July world Hepatitis day, we will be shouting a number of fact based HCV related messages from the highest points up & down the country. full details will follow, we also want others to do likewise, by reaching the top of a peak in any country & help relay our messages around the world. We will beacons of hepatitis c awareness, using one of the oldest means of communication combined with the most modern, only our beacons will be facebook & twitter
I wish to put a request out for walkers wanting to take part ideally from various HCV & rehab related organisations
We are also looking for sponsorship, there will be plenty of media interest generated by the organisations involved & by the individuals & their related stories. Everyone involved gets a mention & their logos will be posted on the challenges website.
In my opinion actions speak louder than words, so please get involved & help us do some good.
Peter.
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