We have been fooled and we pay with our lives. They are feeding crap to the masses and we love it... Meanwhile they make foutunes !
Exploding the system
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk62VwCGka0&feature=youtu.be
Eating a sugar rich diet damages your liver, Dr Lustig calls it ethanol without the buzz
Peace
Sugar Is The Root Of All Evil !
Sugar Is The Root Of All Evil !
We take it for granted, in our coffee and tea, in buns and cakes not to mention chocolate and those fizzy drinks we guzzle copious amounts of.
After reading up on candida and the major part sugar plays in facilitating its growth, as well as reading about the dieting requirements required in order to reset the gut, a light bulb went on ! Balance is the key, refined sugar has no place in our diet really, along with candida it is proven to cause other health issues ie; causing higher cholesterol levels which in turn effect the heart
Our bodies are meant to get our energy and sugars from natural foods that provide us with glucose, fructose and Good Carbohydrates such as...
Vegetables (all kinds), Fruit (limit quantity if trying to lose fat), Oats and oatmeal, Brown Rice, Yams, Lentils, Whole Grain Breads, Whole Grain Pitas, Whole Grain Cereals and Potatoes
Forget your sugar fix, rebalance your system, you’ll never look back !
146 Reasons To Quit Sugar… http://dietingandexercise.wordpress.com/2013/10/08/146-reasons-to-quit-sugar/
Peace.
After reading up on candida and the major part sugar plays in facilitating its growth, as well as reading about the dieting requirements required in order to reset the gut, a light bulb went on ! Balance is the key, refined sugar has no place in our diet really, along with candida it is proven to cause other health issues ie; causing higher cholesterol levels which in turn effect the heart
Our bodies are meant to get our energy and sugars from natural foods that provide us with glucose, fructose and Good Carbohydrates such as...
Vegetables (all kinds), Fruit (limit quantity if trying to lose fat), Oats and oatmeal, Brown Rice, Yams, Lentils, Whole Grain Breads, Whole Grain Pitas, Whole Grain Cereals and Potatoes
Forget your sugar fix, rebalance your system, you’ll never look back !
146 Reasons To Quit Sugar… http://dietingandexercise.wordpress.com/2013/10/08/146-reasons-to-quit-sugar/
Peace.
146 Reasons to Quit Sugar
1. Sugar can suppress the immune system.
2. Sugar upsets the mineral relationships in the body.
3. Sugar can cause hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children.
4. Sugar can produce a significant rise in triglycerides.
5. Sugar contributes to the reduction in defense against bacterial infection (infectious diseases)
6. Sugar causes a loss of tissue elasticity and function
7. Sugar reduces high-density lipoproteins.
8. Sugar leads to chromium deficiency.
9. Sugar leads to cancer of the ovaries.
10. Sugar can increase fasting levels of glucose.
11. Sugar causes copper deficiency.
12. Sugar interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium.
13. Sugar may make eyes more vulnerable to age-related macular degeneration.
14. Sugar raises the level of a neurotransmitters: dopamine, serotonin, and n norepinephrine.
15. Sugar can cause hypoglycemia.
16. Sugar can produce an acidic digestive tract.
17. Sugar can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline levels in children.
18. Sugar malabsorption is frequent in patients with functional bowel disease.
19. Sugar can cause premature aging.
20. Sugar can lead to alcoholism.
21. Sugar can cause tooth decay.
22. Sugar contributes to obesity
23. High intake of sugar increases the risk of Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis.
24. Sugar can cause changes frequently found in person with gastric or duodenal ulcers.
25. Sugar can cause arthritis.
26. Sugar can cause asthma.
27. Sugar greatly assists the uncontrolled growth of Candida Albicans (yeast infections).
28. Sugar can cause gallstones.
29. Sugar can cause heart disease.
30. Sugar can cause appendicitis.
31. Sugar can cause hemorrhoids.
32. Sugar can cause varicose veins.
33. Sugar can elevate glucose and insulin responses in oral contraceptive users.
34. Sugar can lead to periodontal disease.
35. Sugar can contribute to osteoporosis.
36. Sugar contributes to saliva acidity.
37. Sugar can cause a decrease in insulin sensitivity.
38. Sugar can lower the amount of Vitamin E (alpha-Tocopherol) in the blood.
39. Sugar can decrease growth hormone.
40. Sugar can increase cholesterol.
41. Sugar can increase the systolic blood pressure.
42. High sugar intake increases advanced glycation end products (AGEs)(Sugar bound non-enzymatically to protein)
43. Sugar can interfere with the absorption of protein.
44. Sugar causes food allergies.
45. Sugar can contribute to diabetes.
46. Sugar can cause toxemia during pregnancy.
47. Sugar can contribute to eczema in children.
48. Sugar can cause cardiovascular disease.
49. Sugar can impair the structure of DNA
50. Sugar can change the structure of protein.
51. Sugar can make our skin age by changing the structure of collagen.
52. Sugar can cause cataracts.
53. Sugar can cause emphysema.
54. Sugar can cause atherosclerosis.
55. Sugar can promote an elevation of low-density lipoproteins (LDL).
56. High sugar intake can impair the physiological homeostasis of many systems in the body.
57. Sugar lowers the enzymes ability to function.
58. Sugar intake is higher in people with Parkinsons disease.
59. Sugar can increase the size of the liver by making the liver cells divide.
60. Sugar can increase the amount of liver fat.
61. Sugar can increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in the kidney.
62. Sugar can damage the pancreas.
63. Sugar can increase the body’s fluid retention.
64. Sugar is enemy #1 of the bowel movement.
65. Sugar can cause myopia (nearsightedness).
66. Sugar can compromise the lining of the capillaries.
67. Sugar can make the tendons more brittle.
68. Sugar can cause headaches, including migraine.
69. Sugar plays a role in pancreatic cancer in women.
70. Sugar can adversely affect school children’s grades and cause learning disorders.
71. Sugar can cause depression.
72. Sugar increases the risk of gastric cancer.
73. Sugar and cause dyspepsia (indigestion).
74. Sugar can increase your risk of getting gout.
75. Sugar can increase the levels of glucose in an oral glucose tolerance test over the ingestion of complex carbohydrates.
76. Sugar can increase the insulin responses in humans consuming high-sugar diets compared to low-sugar diets.
77. A diet high in refined sugar reduces learning capacity.
78. Sugar can cause less effective functioning of two blood proteins, albumin, and lipoproteins, which may reduce the body’s ability to handle fat and cholesterol.
79. Sugar can contribute to Alzheimer’s disease.
80. Sugar can cause platelet adhesiveness.
81. Sugar can cause hormonal imbalance; some hormones become under active and others become overactive.
82. Sugar can lead to the formation of kidney stones.
83. Diets high in sugar can cause free radicals and oxidative stress.
84. High sugar diet can lead to biliary tract cancer.
85. High sugar consumption of pregnant adolescents is associated with a twofold-increased risk for delivering a small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infant.
86. High sugar consumption can lead to substantial decrease in gestation duration among adolescents.
87. Sugar slows food’s travel time through the gastrointestinal tract.
88. Sugar increases the concentration of bile acids in stools and bacterial enzymes in the colon. This can modify bile to produce cancer-causing compounds and colon cancer.
89. Sugar increases estradiol (the most potent form of naturally occurring estrogen) in men.
90. Sugar combines with and destroys phosphatase, an enzyme, which makes the process of digestion more difficult.
91. Sugar can be a risk factor of gallbladder cancer.
92. Sugar is an addictive substance.
93. Sugar can be intoxicating, similar to alcohol.
94. Sugar can exacerbate PMS.
95. Sugar given to premature babies can affect the amount of carbon dioxide they produce.
96. Decrease in sugar intake can increase emotional stability.
97. The rapid absorption of sugar promotes excessive food intake in obese subjects.
98. Sugar can worsen the symptoms of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
99. Sugar adversely affects urinary electrolyte composition.
100. Sugar can slow down the ability of the adrenal glands to function.
101. I.V’s (intravenous feedings) of sugar water can cut off oxygen to the brain.
102. High sucrose intake could be an important risk factor in lung cancer.
103. Sugar increases the risk of polio.
104. High sugar intake can cause epileptic seizures.
105. Sugar causes high blood pressure in obese people.
106. In Intensive Care Units, limiting sugar saves lives.
107. Sugar may induce cell death.
108. Sugar can increase the amount of food that you eat.
109. In juvenile rehabilitation camps, when children were put on a low sugar diet, there was a 44% drop in antisocial behavior.
110. Sugar can lead to prostrate cancer.
111. Sugar dehydrates newborns.
112. Sugar can cause low birth weight babies.
113. Greater consumption of refined sugar is associated with a worse outcome of schizophrenia
114. Sugar can raise homocysteine levels in the blood stream.
115. Sweet food items increase the risk of breast cancer.
116. Sugar is a risk factor in cancer of the small intestine.
117. Sugar may cause laryngeal cancer.
118. Sugar induces salt and water retention.
119. Sugar may contribute to mild memory loss.
120. The more sodas a 10 year old child consumes, the less milk.
121. Sugar can increase the total amount of food consumed.
122. Exposing a newborn to sugar results in a heightened preference for sucrose relative to water at 6 months and 2 years of age.
123. Sugar causes constipation.
124. Sugar causes varicose veins.
125. Sugar can cause brain decay in pre diabetic and diabetic women.
126. Sugar can increase the risk of stomach cancer.
127. Sugar can cause metabolic syndrome.
128. Sugar ingestion by pregnant women increases neural tube defects in embryos.
129. Sugar can be a factor in asthma.
130. The higher the sugar consumption the more chances of getting irritable bowel syndrome.
131. Sugar can affect the brains ability to deal with rewards and consequences.
132. Sugar can cause cancer of the rectum.
133. Sugar can cause endometrial cancer.
134. Sugar can cause renal (kidney) cell carcinoma.
135. Sugar can cause liver tumors.
136. Sugar can increase inflammatory markers in the blood stream of overweight people.
137. Sugar can lower Vitamin E levels in the blood stream.
138. Sugar can increase your appetite for all food.
139. Sugar plays a role in the etiology and the continuation of acne.
140. Too much sugar can kill your sex life.
141. Sugar saps school performance in children.
142. Sugar can cause fatigue, moodiness, nervousness and depression.
143. Sugar is common choice of obese individuals.
144. A linear decrease in the intake of many essential nutrients is associated with increasing total sugar intake.
145. High fructose consumption has been linked to liver disease.
146. Sugar adds to the risk of bladder cancer.
Foods To Eat On Candida Diet
Foods To Eat
CATEGORY
|
FOODS TO EAT
|
NOTES
|
|---|---|---|
| VEGETABLES | Artichokes Asparagus Avocado Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cabbage Celery Cucumber Eggplant Garlic (raw) Kale Olives Onions Rutabaga Spinach Tomatoes Zucchini | Non-starchy vegetables starve the Candida of the sugar and mold diet that feed it. You should buy your vegetables fresh and eat them raw, steamed or grilled. Avoid starchy vegetables such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, yams, corn, all winter squash, beets, peas, parsnips and beans. Olives are OK as long as they are not in distilled white vinegar. |
| LIVE YOGURT CULTURES | Probiotic yogurt Kefir | Live yogurt cultures help your gut to repopulate with good bacteria. The live bacteria in the yogurt will crowd out the Candida yeast and restore balance to your system. This is especially useful after a course of antibiotics. |
| MEAT | Beef Chicken Lamb Turkey | Eat only fresh and organic meat - processed meat (like lunch meat, bacon and spam) is loaded with dextrose, nitrates, sulfates and sugars. Smoked or vacuum packed meats are also best avoided. |
| FISH | Anchovies Herring Sardines Wild salmon | Wild salmon and sardines do contain ocean contaminants, but in much lower amounts than other seafood. Buy these fish fresh or packed in olive oil or water. |
| NUTS AND SEEDS | Almonds Coconut meat Flax Seed Hazelnuts Pecans Sunflower Seeds Walnuts | These nuts are healthy and have a low mold content. If you're still worried about mold, soak them in a diluted grapefruit seed extract solution for a few hours. |
| NON-GLUTINOUS GRAINS | Buckwheat Millet Oat Bran Quinoa | These grains contain a high amount of fiber, excellent for keeping your digestive system moving and eliminating Candida toxins. Most products derived from this list are also OK - e.g. quinoa crackers, buckwheat flour. You can find these in the gluten-free section in health food stores. |
| HERBS AND SPICES | Basil Black Pepper Cinnamon Cloves Dill Garlic Ginger Oregano Paprika Rosemary Thyme | Many herbs and spices have antioxidant and antifungal properties. They can also improve circulation and reduce inflammation. They're great for livening up food if you're on a limited Candida diet. |
| OILS | Virgin Coconut Oil Olive Oil Sesame Oil Flax Oil Coconut Oil Red Palm Oil | Use cold pressed oils where possible. Remember that heating or boiling can destroy many of the oil's nutrients. |
| SEASONING | Black Pepper Sea Salt Lemon Juice Coconut Aminos Apple Cider Vinegar (Organic, Raw, Unfiltered) | Coconut Aminos are a great alternative to soy sauce. And you can use apple cider vinegar to make some delicious salad dressings. |
| BEVERAGES | Chicory root coffee Cinnamon Tea Peppermint Tea Ginger Tea Licorice Tea | These are just a few of the herbal teas that have antifungal properties. Chicory root is also a great prebiotic (it contains 20% Inulin), so it can help to repopulate your gut with healthy bacteria too. |
| SWEETENERS | Stevia Xylitol | Stevia and xylitol can be used in place of sugar and they have a much smaller effect on your blood sugar levels. |
Foods To Avoid on Candida Diet
Foods To Avoid
CATEGORY
|
FOODS TO AVOID
|
NOTES
|
|---|---|---|
| SUGARS | Sugar Honey Syrup Chocolate Molasses Rice Syrup Artificial Sweeteners | Condiments tend to be high in sugar and can exacerbate your Candida. Stay away from the soft drinks too. Always read food labels to make sure your food doesn't contain sugar. Be careful - the aspartame in diet cola weakens your immune system can leave you vulnerable to Candida. |
| ALCOHOL | Wine Beer Spirits Liquors Cider | Alcohol is high in sugars that can feed a Candida overgrowth. It also puts stress on your immune system. |
| GRAINS & GLUTINOUS FOODS | Anything made with wheat, rye, oats or barley, e.g. white bread, rye bread, pasta. Spelt products Corn and corn byproducts Rice | Many Candida sufferers have a high sensitivity to Gluten. Give your immune system a break and stay off gluten during your Candida diet. Corn-by products like popcorn tend to be contaminated with mold. |
| FRUIT | Fresh Fruit Dried Fruit Canned Fruit Fruit Juice | The high sugar content in fruit feeds Candida, even though they are natural sugars. Fruits like melon may also contain mold. A squeeze of lemon is OK. |
| VEGETABLES | Potatoes Carrots Sweet Potatoes Yams Beets Peas Parsnips | This group of vegetables is very nutrient-dense, however they should be avoided until your Candida overgrowth is fully under control. They then can be reintroduced in small portions one at a time. |
| MEATS | All pork products Cured meats Processed meats Smoked or vacuum-packed meats | Pork contains retroviruses that survive cooking and may be harmful for those with a weakened digestive system. Processed meats like lunch meat and spam are loaded with dextrose nitrates, sulfates and sugars. |
| FISH | All fish except for wild salmon and sardines All shellfish | All shellfish and most fish contain alarming levels of heavy metals and toxins. These will suppress your immune system and leave you vulnerable to Candida. Studies have shown that farmed salmon contain high levels of PCBs, mercury and other carcinogenic agents. |
| DAIRY PRODUCTS | Cheese Milk Cream Buttermilk Whey products | Almost all dairy should be avoided except ghee, butter, kefir and probiotic yogurt. Milk contains lactose so it should be avoided. Kefir and yogurt are better because most of the lactose disappears during the fermentation process. |
| ADDITIVES & PRESERVATIVES | Citric Acid Anything you don't know or can't pronounce! | The manufactured, additive form of citric acid is derived from yeast. However the natural form, as found in lemons and limes, is OK on the diet. Additives and preservatives can disrupt your friendly bacteria and allow the Candida yeast to flourish. |
| OTHER BEVERAGES | Coffee Black & green tea Diet & regular soda Energy drinks Fruit Juices | Caffeine causes spikes in your blood sugar spikes and weakens the immune system. Coffee also contains mold. Even decaf tea and coffee are to be avoided, as they contain residual levels of caffeine. |
| NUTS | Cashews Peanuts Pistachios | This group of nuts contains a high amount of mold, which can inflame your Candida problem. |
| BEANS | Beans and other legumes Chickpeas Tofu Soy cheese Soy milk All soy products | The combination of being hard to digest and high in carbs rules out beans from the first stages of the diet. They can be reintroduced later on in small portions. All soy products are forbidden, as the majority of soy is genetically modified. |
| MUSHROOMS / MOLDS | Mushrooms Truffles | Eating some fungi can cause an inflammatory reaction if you are already suffering from Candida. On the other hand, some medicinal mushrooms are actually OK on the diet and have strong immune-boosting properties. Good examples are Reishi and Maitake. |
| CONDIMENTS | Ketchup Mayonnaise Regular Mustard Relish Horseradish Soy sauce | Ketchup, tomato paste, and spaghetti sauces all contain high amounts of hidden sugars. Condiments generally do tend to be high in sugar, and they can exacerbate your Candida. For an alternative salad dressing, try coconut aminos or a simple olive oil and lemon juice dressing. |
| VINEGAR | All vinegars, except for Apple Cider Vinegar | Vinegar is made in a yeast culture, depletes the stomach of acids and can also cause inflammation in your gut. However, one particular vinegar (unfiltered apple cider vinegar) can actually be helpful in combating a Candida overgrowth. |
| FATS AND OILS | Peanut oil Corn oil Canola oil Soy oil | Peanut, corn and canola oil are contaminated with mold. And most soy beans used in soy oil are GMO. |
Next Phase - Body Detox
After two years of post treatment side effect ie, hormonal imbalance, causing a whole raft of symptoms such as weight gain, joint aches, chronic fatigue, skin rashes & very low moods at times, I'm hoping to have got to the root of most if not some of these issues !
"Candida" is the name of my pain. It's linked to the use of antibiotics, you see antibiotics kill the good bacteria in our stomachs, which in turn creates the perfect conditions for Candida ( a yeast infection ) to thrive.
You have to cut out all sugar from your diet to rid yourself of this blight as it feasts upon sugar along with many other bit's & bobs. I will provide a list
After trying the 5-2 diet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r8OpT11RjE with little success due to low mood swings I read about candida & found a self diagnosis list... A light went on, the penny dropped.
There is no doubt that the 5-2 diet helps keep candida under control in mild cases.
That was over 4 weeks ago... Since then I have drank only water, taken no sugar, no caffeine, no lactose ( apparently I am intolerant ) & very little bread. Quite how I managed I will never know but the results are quite amazing... 70% of symptoms are gone, energy levels up, not to mention my ever decreasing waist lol
There is hardly any direct & complete information on this subject, though there are many site giving you a little snippet then trying to sell you some plan or other... typical !!!
Here is the link... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candidiasis
Here is a self test http://www.nationalcandidacenter.com/candida-self-exams/
If your experiencing any of these symptoms post treatment or know someone who has similar after antibiotic treatment maybe you should consider looking into this
Peace
"Candida" is the name of my pain. It's linked to the use of antibiotics, you see antibiotics kill the good bacteria in our stomachs, which in turn creates the perfect conditions for Candida ( a yeast infection ) to thrive.
You have to cut out all sugar from your diet to rid yourself of this blight as it feasts upon sugar along with many other bit's & bobs. I will provide a list
After trying the 5-2 diet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r8OpT11RjE with little success due to low mood swings I read about candida & found a self diagnosis list... A light went on, the penny dropped.
There is no doubt that the 5-2 diet helps keep candida under control in mild cases.
That was over 4 weeks ago... Since then I have drank only water, taken no sugar, no caffeine, no lactose ( apparently I am intolerant ) & very little bread. Quite how I managed I will never know but the results are quite amazing... 70% of symptoms are gone, energy levels up, not to mention my ever decreasing waist lol
There is hardly any direct & complete information on this subject, though there are many site giving you a little snippet then trying to sell you some plan or other... typical !!!
Here is the link... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candidiasis
Here is a self test http://www.nationalcandidacenter.com/candida-self-exams/
If your experiencing any of these symptoms post treatment or know someone who has similar after antibiotic treatment maybe you should consider looking into this
Peace
Latest News
Hi guys
After returning home from a morning spent at the hospital I have decided to write a post updating my situation...
First of all it' s good news I'm happy to say, not only did my liver scan come back all clear ( well, as all clear for one who has cirrhosis can be lol ) & my tumor markers ( Alpha proteins ) read normal but best of all my RNA test shows HCV is still undetected :-))
I'm clear of methadone & all other drugs thankfully... My hormone levels are still up & down mainly testosterone but hopefully they should improve, time will tell I guess.
I'm now in a relationship albeit a long distance one, it's been 6 months now, she's a teacher & she knows everything about me... Who'd have thought it ! I'm happy & so is my son.
I started off writing this blog anonymously but then stepped out into the light after treatment success. I wanted to share my story so that others might find hope within it... I hope they do !!!
Remember, it was HCV treatment that helped me beat drugs, a natural progression forged within the trauma of those desperate years... From every negative comes a positive, I prey it continues.
In January 2014 it will be 6 years since my battle with HCV began, it's been a long hard road, I've lost many friends along the way & had many also beat this virus, personal friends & virtual friends here on the net, people from all over the world...
I'm so pleased to share some good news for a change, my thoughts are also with those still fighting & about to fight as always.
Peace !
After returning home from a morning spent at the hospital I have decided to write a post updating my situation...
First of all it' s good news I'm happy to say, not only did my liver scan come back all clear ( well, as all clear for one who has cirrhosis can be lol ) & my tumor markers ( Alpha proteins ) read normal but best of all my RNA test shows HCV is still undetected :-))
I'm clear of methadone & all other drugs thankfully... My hormone levels are still up & down mainly testosterone but hopefully they should improve, time will tell I guess.
I'm now in a relationship albeit a long distance one, it's been 6 months now, she's a teacher & she knows everything about me... Who'd have thought it ! I'm happy & so is my son.
I started off writing this blog anonymously but then stepped out into the light after treatment success. I wanted to share my story so that others might find hope within it... I hope they do !!!
Remember, it was HCV treatment that helped me beat drugs, a natural progression forged within the trauma of those desperate years... From every negative comes a positive, I prey it continues.
In January 2014 it will be 6 years since my battle with HCV began, it's been a long hard road, I've lost many friends along the way & had many also beat this virus, personal friends & virtual friends here on the net, people from all over the world...
I'm so pleased to share some good news for a change, my thoughts are also with those still fighting & about to fight as always.
Peace !
How to beat Hep C
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 !!!
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
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| #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.
Why is the media failing Hepatitis C
11.11.11
It's funny how things happen, the other night I was surfing around twitter whilst posting the odd tweet. The annual meeting of the AASLD ( American Association for the Study of Liver Decease ) is in session, it's the night of the 8th Nov & the latest news flash from them is posted... Deaths related to Hepatitis C "significantly " outnumbered those of HIV !
HIV & HCV are both blood born virus.They are both terminal. HCV lives longer outside the body than HIV.
It is the later fact that makes this so deadly as we now begin to discover all the avenues HCV uses to infect innocent people around the world every day, in tattoo parlours, in barber shops by scissors & clippers, in nail salons by tweezers & poorly cleaned equipment ( household bleach kills HCV ), in hospitals & dentists during blood transfusions & once again poor hygiene around equipment & last but not least around the home from toothbrushes, razors, tweezers, clippers & scissors, son & wife uses fathers razor sister uses sisters razor, brother uses brothers razor even a guest may use a razor or a toothbrush & so on.
Not to mention the obvious ways we take for granted of sex & drug use through needles & snorting tubes that are shared.
Take all that then add the factor of stealth ( HCV can lay dormant, it's symptoms can remain undetected for as many as 30 years) & apply the factor of stealth that to the number of avenues of infection & the combinations of friends & family transmission & you come up with a medical nightmare of untold proportions gaining momentum daily, a crisis that has been forecast for some time is the one of decompensated liver decease, as I said undetected for 30 years so in many cases the first time they discover a problem is when it's in what's termed as" end-stage liver decease " were the liver has swollen so much & may even be beginning to fail & as the mid sixties is noted as a boom time for HCV growth, then it's now we will start seeing these cases of end stage coming home to roost, placing a massive demand on an already over stretched organ donation framework, combined with a factor of young people wrecking their livers by binge drinking cheap & counterfiet booze, making for an almost impossible scenario.
SO WHY DO THE MEDIA IGNORE WHAT IS STARING THEM IN THE FACE... NEWS THAT IS VITAL FOR THE GOOD OF THE PEOPLE.
Social media is now being recognised in many aspects of data gathering as a valuable tool & it is surely a force for change as the middle east has shown. So let's re-tweet the media when they post on HCV & hound them when they don't, write emails to editors like the guy in shawshank redemption, if you get a reply start writing two a week. The social media network is the perfect tool to put disgust, disagreement & dispute down on any organisation as a soldier puts rounds down on an enemy target. This may not be war but it will be a fight & we must fight together, it is the only way forward.
Peace.
Peter Rabbit
It's funny how things happen, the other night I was surfing around twitter whilst posting the odd tweet. The annual meeting of the AASLD ( American Association for the Study of Liver Decease ) is in session, it's the night of the 8th Nov & the latest news flash from them is posted... Deaths related to Hepatitis C "significantly " outnumbered those of HIV !
Now this is something that doesn't surprise me as we know the worst of HCV is yet to come but it struck a cord with me & so I set to work posting & re tweeting everything I could find on this. I also started sifting through the tweets of major news corporations health arms to see if they had picked up on this little gem of controversy & hysteria, feeling sure they would have I was shocked to see not only had they missed this nugget but on closer inspection it began to dawn on me that they had nothing on HCV in some cases for Nov & a couple at best from another. I found a poor 4 tweets from 6 prominent corporations during NOV.
So the penny had dropped, the major news networks are paying little attention to Hepatitis C, I noticed that HIV didn't do that much better. I don't expect HCV to have a monopoly in the news, they seem to spread their health news thinly & evenly, I do expect health issues in crisis to get much higher rate of discussion & they usually do flu pandemics & so on but to me that's where they're missing the point. HCV can't be pinned down like AIDs can, if we played top trumps with these deceases, we'd understand just how sinister & elegant HCV truly is...
HIV & HCV are both blood born virus.They are both terminal. HCV lives longer outside the body than HIV.
It is the later fact that makes this so deadly as we now begin to discover all the avenues HCV uses to infect innocent people around the world every day, in tattoo parlours, in barber shops by scissors & clippers, in nail salons by tweezers & poorly cleaned equipment ( household bleach kills HCV ), in hospitals & dentists during blood transfusions & once again poor hygiene around equipment & last but not least around the home from toothbrushes, razors, tweezers, clippers & scissors, son & wife uses fathers razor sister uses sisters razor, brother uses brothers razor even a guest may use a razor or a toothbrush & so on.
Not to mention the obvious ways we take for granted of sex & drug use through needles & snorting tubes that are shared.
Take all that then add the factor of stealth ( HCV can lay dormant, it's symptoms can remain undetected for as many as 30 years) & apply the factor of stealth that to the number of avenues of infection & the combinations of friends & family transmission & you come up with a medical nightmare of untold proportions gaining momentum daily, a crisis that has been forecast for some time is the one of decompensated liver decease, as I said undetected for 30 years so in many cases the first time they discover a problem is when it's in what's termed as" end-stage liver decease " were the liver has swollen so much & may even be beginning to fail & as the mid sixties is noted as a boom time for HCV growth, then it's now we will start seeing these cases of end stage coming home to roost, placing a massive demand on an already over stretched organ donation framework, combined with a factor of young people wrecking their livers by binge drinking cheap & counterfiet booze, making for an almost impossible scenario.
SO WHY DO THE MEDIA IGNORE WHAT IS STARING THEM IN THE FACE... NEWS THAT IS VITAL FOR THE GOOD OF THE PEOPLE.
 |
| Stand Together for Hepatitis C |
We must start to lobby the press & all media giants CBS news has almost two million followers, until we understand the reasons why they choose to leave such issues. Whether it has something to do with the stock market values of these illnesses. The share value for major companies producing medicines in demand must be worth a fortune, I don't know, all I do know is it's under reported & we must try & make a difference. New inforamtion has come to light since I first wrote this post which seems to point out my suspisions...
EASL Gives Wall Street's Privileged Investors Sneaky Preview to Key Hep C Data
…if you want an advance look at potentially market-moving hepatitis C drug data, you’ll have to be an EASL member or a registered attendee of the EASL meeting — a group which includes hedge fund and mutual fund portfolio managers and sell-side analysts, all of whom can pay for early access.
EASL plans to selectively distribute hepatitis C drug research abstracts to these folks on Thursday. The same documents will not be made available to the public. That means a select group of investors will have access to potentially stock-moving clinical data while a majority of investors will be kept in the dark.
Journalists registered to cover the EASL meeting will also be granted early access to hepatitis C research abstracts but they are barred by EASL’s restrictive embargo rules from writing about any new data until the start of the April meeting... Hmm
Adam Feuerstein
EASL Gives Wall Street's Privileged Investors Sneaky Preview to Key Hep C Data
…if you want an advance look at potentially market-moving hepatitis C drug data, you’ll have to be an EASL member or a registered attendee of the EASL meeting — a group which includes hedge fund and mutual fund portfolio managers and sell-side analysts, all of whom can pay for early access.
EASL plans to selectively distribute hepatitis C drug research abstracts to these folks on Thursday. The same documents will not be made available to the public. That means a select group of investors will have access to potentially stock-moving clinical data while a majority of investors will be kept in the dark.
Journalists registered to cover the EASL meeting will also be granted early access to hepatitis C research abstracts but they are barred by EASL’s restrictive embargo rules from writing about any new data until the start of the April meeting... Hmm
Adam Feuerstein
Social media is now being recognised in many aspects of data gathering as a valuable tool & it is surely a force for change as the middle east has shown. So let's re-tweet the media when they post on HCV & hound them when they don't, write emails to editors like the guy in shawshank redemption, if you get a reply start writing two a week. The social media network is the perfect tool to put disgust, disagreement & dispute down on any organisation as a soldier puts rounds down on an enemy target. This may not be war but it will be a fight & we must fight together, it is the only way forward.
Peace.
Peter Rabbit
Onwards & Upwards !
It's almost 12 months since treatments end, treatment that saw me complete a victory over hepatitis c, sadly my high was followed by a low that served to bring me to my knees, completely overwhelmed by depression that came out of nowhere.
After a series of blood tests, it appears that a low testosterone count could well be to blame or at least a large factor in this period of depression. Now I am ready to start over & reddress the balance through a strict regime of exercise & diet, nothing new there then, exercise & diet have been the cornerstone of my hep c treatment protocol for the past four years.
So I have come up with a way to help Hepatitis C awareness & my current health issues together, it takes the form of http://www.thethreepeakschallenges.com/ The Yorkshire three peaks challenge. I would welcome anyone who would like to attempt this challenge as well, but please remember that this is a difficult undertaking that requires a high level of fitness. You can email me at 1.alpharabbit@googlemail.com I would also appreciate very much any advice from people who have done this challenge or anyone who could offer help with logistics. I look forward to writing & recording this adventure & moreover enjoying, experiencing & completing it.
As my training moves on & the challenge draws near I will be posting a link to " Just Giving " so people can donate, directly to the hep c trust.
Peace.
After a series of blood tests, it appears that a low testosterone count could well be to blame or at least a large factor in this period of depression. Now I am ready to start over & reddress the balance through a strict regime of exercise & diet, nothing new there then, exercise & diet have been the cornerstone of my hep c treatment protocol for the past four years.
So I have come up with a way to help Hepatitis C awareness & my current health issues together, it takes the form of http://www.thethreepeakschallenges.com/ The Yorkshire three peaks challenge. I would welcome anyone who would like to attempt this challenge as well, but please remember that this is a difficult undertaking that requires a high level of fitness. You can email me at 1.alpharabbit@googlemail.com I would also appreciate very much any advice from people who have done this challenge or anyone who could offer help with logistics. I look forward to writing & recording this adventure & moreover enjoying, experiencing & completing it.
As my training moves on & the challenge draws near I will be posting a link to " Just Giving " so people can donate, directly to the hep c trust.
Peace.
9 months post tx
My writing has taken a back seat to depression since treatment's end, as mentioned in a previous post, the " undetected " result found me floundering, unable to find a focus point, now that the enemy was well & truly vanquished. Then came the decision to reduce my Valium, it seemed like a good idea at the time, thinking I may as well kill two birds with one stone ie, if Valium can't lift my mood then I'll leave it out for good ! turning a negative into a positive, as is my way. This act sent me spiraling headlong into " depression," for the first time I can remember, in that no matter what I did my spirit spiraled down & down to the point of despair. For the first time in my life I truly understood how terrible the state of depression is. The feeling of pure & utter hopelessness, of being trapped in the darkest of places & that it will never end...
Today is the first day that upon waking I lay there & thought positive thoughts, a pro- active positivity that in turn kick-stars my mind to churn out the ideas one after the other, ideas that have legs, that need ignition so here I am giving life to the new wave of new life... let's hope this moment lasts forever. Yes, with the good comes the bad, the trick is to hang in there & never give in. Treatment for hepatitis c has been a very long hard road that is still unwinding before me, pulling in every direction in every which way, all I know is that now I'm back in the right place... the driving seat.
Onward & upward,
Peace out,
Rabbit.
Today is the first day that upon waking I lay there & thought positive thoughts, a pro- active positivity that in turn kick-stars my mind to churn out the ideas one after the other, ideas that have legs, that need ignition so here I am giving life to the new wave of new life... let's hope this moment lasts forever. Yes, with the good comes the bad, the trick is to hang in there & never give in. Treatment for hepatitis c has been a very long hard road that is still unwinding before me, pulling in every direction in every which way, all I know is that now I'm back in the right place... the driving seat.
Onward & upward,
Peace out,
Rabbit.
Life after beating hep c.
A month has passed since receiving the news I had for so long dreamed of hearing, " the hepatitis c virus is no longer detected in your blood ."
Fact is I have been quite low since that day & this has no doubt affected my son as well, thankfully I was given a print out of my blood test, otherwise he may have wondered if it had indeed been a success, given my low moods. My spirit is slowly rising, it seems there is so much to take in, first of all there is a big hole where the cause of fighting hep c, (which took every waking thought & action ) used to be. Starting to rebuild a life, where before just maintaining ones self was the only aim, now having as brighter future as most other people take for granted.
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| Jnr drawn in Paris |
This is the point where I shake off the sombre past & realise just what I, WE, have achieved & that now what is needed is to applie the dedication devoted to the exorcism of HCV from body & now soul, to making a secure future for the two of us. I should mention that my son Peter has cerebal palsy, a fact I have not mentioned before, only because we are normal decent people & don't want or seek sympathy from any quarter. Though now those of you who have followed our story, will understand the true depth of meaning to the phrase " I am so proud of my son ."
My son has been at my side all the way through, fed me shopped for us whilst holding down his university education, it is thanks to him that my punctuation is much better ( I left school at 14 ), something he has taught me, as an English student himself. Now he has his father on the mend & together we face a brighter future. He is now a very good cook, something that stands him in good stead with his contempories, on study evenings they peel chop & wash up, whilst he works his magic in the kitchen, they save a few quid & enjoy a good meal in return. We are on the up, lord knows we deserve it, nothing is said, we rub along quietly both taking care of our chores, but we know we're on the up, as I sit & type I can hear his TV in his room, it is so quiet where we live, peaceful.
We have been invited to our friends villa in Cyprus & as soon as my passport arrives I will make the arrangements. Since I began treatment in January 08 I have lost 6 friends to cancer 3 to liver cancer, those are just the people I've heard about.
All our futures are uncertian to a point, my dear friend Alan reached that point, where his future was very certian, he was given 3 months to live, it was near enough.
I wrote a tribute to him on this site, king of the one-liners.
I often think of him, I hoped he was doing all he could for me from the other side, I think of him being happy that at least one of us beat hep c. His last words to me were, You have yourself a good life & remember to have some fun... I intend to take his advice
Peace to all,
Rabbit .
A FINAL HIT
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| You out Sucka ! |
A week ago today I returned to my local hepatitis clinic to receive my treatment result, the final blood test result taken 6 months post tx, the Polymese chain reaction test commonly known as the PCR.
Rather than go into some long winded description of my emotions building up to that afternoon what I will say is, yes I was about as emotionally taught as one could ever be. The day was a carbon copy of the day just over two years earlier on which I had completed the same journey to the clinic, blue skys all day. Then to be told my final PCR test. That day it came back ' virus still detected.
This time I arrived sat down & immediately my name was called, I followed the doctor back into her desk, sat down & placed my ipod into my bag which I placed between my feet as I raised my head up to steal myself for the worst, her big beaming smile said it all, she was holding out a sheet of A4 announcing " you will want to read this, I had it printed out for you, "
CONFIDENTIAL RESULT
Reported Speciality Location Clinician Status
22 Mar 2011 10:46 Virology/Serology xxx xxxxx (MWM) F
Order Comment:
Sustained virological response (SVR) .
Sample Ns 298566R (SERUM) Collected 14 Mar 2011 15:10 Received 14 Mar 2011 17:12
Hepatitis C PCR
Hep C RNA Not detected
HCV Quantification Number 0
HCV Quantification Log 0
HCV PCR Lower detection Limit 15.00 IU/ml
End of report
I sat & gazed at the page not trying to read it I knew very well it contained the news I had so long waited to hear.
So there it is my battle with hepatitis c is over, now I find a giant hole in my life, all of a sudden the very thing that has been driving me along, the enemy I have fought in so many ways, using every ounce of energy & every waking thought to achieve this one aim, that focus is gone & believe it or not I'm finding it hard to take in. No jumping for joy no wild celebrations, just still in the same routine eating, resting, walking & sleeping, only now the phantom aches of the phcycologic variety are all but gone & a sense of inner peace has descended.
Twenty five or more years ago I made a big mistake & since my HCV was detected & explained to me 14 years ago I've been paying for that schoolboy error. Not even expecting to be rid of it for 10 years. 4 years ago treatment became a reality, after mother passed away & I grasped it with my heart & soul... I stood on the edge of the abyss, lost & now found. The future is unsure ( but who's is ?) of that we can all be sure...
Now life really begins... One day at a time.
I dedicate this blog to the memory of my Mother Mary and My old Doctor who threw me a lifeline, then got me to treatment, Annabelle M.
I also wish to thank all who work in hepatitis clinics up & down the country, without you we have nothing.
Peace.
Just Another Pin-Prick
TREATMENT COMPLETE
Today is Wednesday 16th March, on Monday the 14th I attended my local hep c clinic for the penultimate time in this latest term of treatment. There to give my final blood test, only this time there's no LFT & so on, just one vile with a tablespoon of blood within is required but to me it is the most important drop of blood ever shed, for within it lies the answer to whether the virus has been purged or if it still remains.
Within this blog is the story of my up's & downs, how I first found I had contracted the hep c virus & that I have could have carried it for some 25 years. For twenty years I never dreamed that a treatment would come along & like so many others, learned to live with it, coming to terms with it yet some times being drawn down into the murky depressive depths giving little thought to any possible future of happiness of my own, never mind one with a partner, preferring to avoid entertaining thoughts of relationships that appealed greatly & maintain a course that was governed by events around me rather than choices made.
So here I am, 6 months post treatment, a treatment that lasted 50 weeks, basically 18 months since the start, fortunate to be virtually virus undetected at 4 weeks with a count of 43 then virus undetected at 8 weeks and it stayed undetected right through treatment to the end. The big question now being has my body been able to fight the virus on it's own without the aid of Ribavirin & Viraferon and maintain what is known as a Sustained Viral Response or SVR & that is indicated by the blood test I now write about, called a Polymerase Chain Reaction or PCR test.
They say time flies when your having fun, well it wasn't fun but time has certainly passed quicker than during the previous 6 months treatment period, yes the 12 months of treatment flew by, apart from the last month or so, it seems when a target is within reach it suddenly slows down to a nail biting snails pace. That last month of agonising wait is pure child's play when it comes down to the months leading up to treatments result. Whilst I find myself recovering physically very well & all my other tests i.e; metabolic bone scan, abdominal ultrasound scan & all other bloods came back as normal, apart from my thyroid levels which were out of whack at tx end but now returned to normal, the thought of treatments success has played havoc with my mind.
The liver like the brain does not feel pain, that is to say when we think we can feel pain in either organ in fact we can not, any pain we feel comes from the surrounding areas due to different causes, yet I & am sure many others experience phantom pain the conjures up the worst imagery.
Fact is what's done is done & this particular story of treatment is nearly over, I thought about keeping a lid on my situation so should tx fail I could get my head around it & announce the result when ready, but blog or no blog doesn't change my course. I have laid my thoughts & experiences out before all of those who have read & I feel I owe it to myself to maintain this process to the very last.
In the UK it takes two weeks to get the result of a PCR test, I 'll post a result blog around that time so for now... that's all folk's !
Peace,
Peter.
Today is Wednesday 16th March, on Monday the 14th I attended my local hep c clinic for the penultimate time in this latest term of treatment. There to give my final blood test, only this time there's no LFT & so on, just one vile with a tablespoon of blood within is required but to me it is the most important drop of blood ever shed, for within it lies the answer to whether the virus has been purged or if it still remains.
Within this blog is the story of my up's & downs, how I first found I had contracted the hep c virus & that I have could have carried it for some 25 years. For twenty years I never dreamed that a treatment would come along & like so many others, learned to live with it, coming to terms with it yet some times being drawn down into the murky depressive depths giving little thought to any possible future of happiness of my own, never mind one with a partner, preferring to avoid entertaining thoughts of relationships that appealed greatly & maintain a course that was governed by events around me rather than choices made.
So here I am, 6 months post treatment, a treatment that lasted 50 weeks, basically 18 months since the start, fortunate to be virtually virus undetected at 4 weeks with a count of 43 then virus undetected at 8 weeks and it stayed undetected right through treatment to the end. The big question now being has my body been able to fight the virus on it's own without the aid of Ribavirin & Viraferon and maintain what is known as a Sustained Viral Response or SVR & that is indicated by the blood test I now write about, called a Polymerase Chain Reaction or PCR test.
They say time flies when your having fun, well it wasn't fun but time has certainly passed quicker than during the previous 6 months treatment period, yes the 12 months of treatment flew by, apart from the last month or so, it seems when a target is within reach it suddenly slows down to a nail biting snails pace. That last month of agonising wait is pure child's play when it comes down to the months leading up to treatments result. Whilst I find myself recovering physically very well & all my other tests i.e; metabolic bone scan, abdominal ultrasound scan & all other bloods came back as normal, apart from my thyroid levels which were out of whack at tx end but now returned to normal, the thought of treatments success has played havoc with my mind.
The liver like the brain does not feel pain, that is to say when we think we can feel pain in either organ in fact we can not, any pain we feel comes from the surrounding areas due to different causes, yet I & am sure many others experience phantom pain the conjures up the worst imagery.
Fact is what's done is done & this particular story of treatment is nearly over, I thought about keeping a lid on my situation so should tx fail I could get my head around it & announce the result when ready, but blog or no blog doesn't change my course. I have laid my thoughts & experiences out before all of those who have read & I feel I owe it to myself to maintain this process to the very last.
In the UK it takes two weeks to get the result of a PCR test, I 'll post a result blog around that time so for now... that's all folk's !
Peace,
Peter.
ATTENTION !!! Infected pre-injection Swabs !
Just received the letter posted here, from Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) registered in the UK.
I called my local hospital pharmacy, which dispensed my ViraferonPeg prefilled pens,( IntronA is also mentioned ), which include two alcohol swabs in each box, ( have also included a photo of a swab from such a box ). The hospital pharmacy informed me that the problem regarding swabs that " potentially " contaminated microbial organisms, as stated in the letter, goes back to early 2007. They suggested that any infection would have become apparent within 48 hours of infection & could manifest as a skin infection & a feeling of being unwell. The number to ring is Hertfordshire 01992 467272. They also suggest contacting your own clinic or Dr.
I am not trying to stir up this issue just make users aware. This is as much as I know & what the full implications are we must discover as individuals. There seems no need to worry if you haven't had such an infection, what I would say is those of us that suffered badly with ribo-rash could have had our symptoms aggravated by these swabs.
MEDICAL DEVICE ALERT !!! READ LINK BELOW
Here is the link for the UK RECALL circular... http://ow.ly/41JBU
The Hepatitis c trust have recently posted the above information on their home-page. The above link shows the full document sent out to all relevant medical organisations within the UK.
Parents Blame babys death on infected swabs... Link
THE ABOVE LINK SHOULD BE READ !!!
The Above Video Shows Some Safe Swabs. these are in the USA I guess The one I picture is confirmed as a Brand included the contaminated swabs Recall in the UK.
Take Care,
Peter.
Twisting fate
More food for thought regarding my thoughts on issues surrounding transmission, safety & good practice. I recently read an article about a convict suing another for infecting him with hepatitis c during the course of a fist fight that occurred in jail. So all of a sudden we find another way the virus is moving around, suddenly anyone who has had a fight with an infected person & blood was spilled could now be another potential carrier, then apply the household transmission scenario & another potential disaster exists.
This is where I get to my first new issue regarding hepatitis c treatment & with-holding the truth about your HCV status to your family & close friends..." What goes around comes around "
Let's say you've had hep c for 10 years, could be 25-30 in some cases, but the later group generally have made close family & friends aware of their situation, if for no other reason than they didn't understand the severity of what HCV is & it's nature. You have a sisters & a brother, they have 5 kids between them, three uncles one aunt & so on.
So you've kept it a secret from all innocents around you, after all you don't want your parents thinking your capable of being a drug user, no you want to carry on living the lie, you want to sleep with & form partnerships with people just as you would have before becoming a living bio-hazard. So let's say you had 3 relationships, one child & stayed at your parents home for a total of 9 months over the past 10 years. Maybe your total family were very lucky & only 3 have been infected, one of them is your child.
One day you visit your doctor & decide to attend your local hep c clinic, your good for treatment & circumstances within our current life-style allow you a 12 month window, just perfect to do tx & even better your tx is a 6 month one.
Now I could really draw this scenario out, but instead, let's just cut to the chase...
Treatment is over & your clear of the virus, your still clear at the post 6 month PCR & therefore in the eye's of the clinic " cured ."
Now think about this... All the people you have interacted with & could have potentially infected suddenly become your biggest threat. They'll continue to borrow your razor, your toothbrush, bleed around your environment & why should they give these act's a second thought, WHY, because you kept it a secret & never for one minuet thought of anyone other than yourself.
Well know you need to do some serious thinking & maybe you'll do the right thing. This is meant as a wake up call, not just for those with hep c but for anyone who lives, mixes or has lived or mixed with anyone who falls into the at " RISK " category
This is where I get to my first new issue regarding hepatitis c treatment & with-holding the truth about your HCV status to your family & close friends..." What goes around comes around "
Let's say you've had hep c for 10 years, could be 25-30 in some cases, but the later group generally have made close family & friends aware of their situation, if for no other reason than they didn't understand the severity of what HCV is & it's nature. You have a sisters & a brother, they have 5 kids between them, three uncles one aunt & so on.
So you've kept it a secret from all innocents around you, after all you don't want your parents thinking your capable of being a drug user, no you want to carry on living the lie, you want to sleep with & form partnerships with people just as you would have before becoming a living bio-hazard. So let's say you had 3 relationships, one child & stayed at your parents home for a total of 9 months over the past 10 years. Maybe your total family were very lucky & only 3 have been infected, one of them is your child.
One day you visit your doctor & decide to attend your local hep c clinic, your good for treatment & circumstances within our current life-style allow you a 12 month window, just perfect to do tx & even better your tx is a 6 month one.
Now I could really draw this scenario out, but instead, let's just cut to the chase...
Treatment is over & your clear of the virus, your still clear at the post 6 month PCR & therefore in the eye's of the clinic " cured ."
Now think about this... All the people you have interacted with & could have potentially infected suddenly become your biggest threat. They'll continue to borrow your razor, your toothbrush, bleed around your environment & why should they give these act's a second thought, WHY, because you kept it a secret & never for one minuet thought of anyone other than yourself.
Well know you need to do some serious thinking & maybe you'll do the right thing. This is meant as a wake up call, not just for those with hep c but for anyone who lives, mixes or has lived or mixed with anyone who falls into the at " RISK " category
Wash up Post Treatment
Upon waking, the very next morning after receiving the "Virus still detected" result. I Set straight about the business of getting to grips with my situation & my options ! Usually there would be the walk to the kitchen, kettle on & so on. Not today, I reached out & grabbed the laptop, sat up crossed legged on the bed & flipped it open.
"Hmm, right let's think", suddenly Pongos "Hepc trust" came to mind, typed in the name & hit the link. Then spent some time just reading, sent them an email, with a brief outline of my circumstances & carried on reading. All of a sudden I began to realise I'd missed a vital part of any patients treatment or even diagnosis, process, "Information."
How foolish I began to feel, after the lessons learned, through looking after mother, researching our human rights, the patients charter & many other things, now when it came to my own plight I'd sat back & left it to the clinic.
Thinking well all there is to do is give my bloods, do the tests & take my med's, after that what will be will be, Right ! Wrong, within ten minuets of reading I discovered people were being offered extended treatment (tx). That in turn made me think about all that bother about going back to do another blood test at the clinic, after tx had been completed. A reply came in from the hep c trust," Sorry to read of your news, I'm in all morning if you would like to talk", Catherine Corr.
I rang them up & asked to speak to the person who'd replied. We chatted for some time, if ever anyone needed an understanding ear, now was the time. They Gave me a load of positives that boosted me even more, how my liver had at least had a rest, that there were new drugs on the way. The outpouring, the release was the greatest help & for that I will always be grateful.
Before I knew it nearly two hours had passed, still sat up in bed, my feet had yet to touch the floor. without realising it my come back had already begun. Time for a coffee.
On my way to the kitchen I woke up Jnr & told him how it had played out at the clinic yesterday, followed by my new insight into hep c tx & the new drugs & all the positives that your liver gets from completing tx. He never really let on how he felt about tx failing but he's like his dad, maybe even stronger. After making some what was by now lunch, I decided on a walk, it was another beautiful June afternoon, just what the Dr ordered.
Walking along the road, nearing the bridle path where I turn off into the forest, I noticed a person getting ready for a walk stood by an estate car, they opened the back to let out a labouradoodle, as I got alongside the pair, a voice called out " Peter," I turned to see my old pharmacist, she'd coloured her hair & looked quite different.
This lady was a saint, One of the nicest people I have ever met. Like my Dr she had seen me through most of the 10 years spent looking after mother & Jnr, I'd ask her about mothers med's. One time she even researched new dressings that used a honey from Newzealand & printed out a fact sheet for me. I'd met her parents. We were very good friends as much as a customer could be, but it was the way she cared, for instance if the dr had made a mistake in a script & I had to go all the way back, not only would she stay open for me, but she'd ring up the surgery & tell the staff that she would stay open for me, whilst asking them why it was taking them so long to see to me. This made me fell ten feet tall & gave my dignity a much needed boost.
We walked & talked, she had left the chemist & now worked nearby, we had kept in touch through the old girl who still worked there & so we passed messages through her. So it was, that I knew her sister had passed away some months earlier. As we talked we began to unload our emotional baggage, She remarked that she found this year harder than last when she'd lost her sibling, "that's because you were on auto pilot" I said, I knew all about that, after all it was barely 18 months since mother had passed. I'd been on auto for 10 years. We stopped & talked comforting each other.
I called the trust again a couple of weeks later & spoke to the same lady & told her of the events that afternoon, she like me had drawn the same conclusion, that we had been sent, each other, our meeting was no accident.
The clinics blood test request had also become clearer. They were thinking of offering me extended tx but why they didn't give me a bigger clue, I'll never know. Tough, when all is said & done I refused point blank their request to go back, so what can you do, shit happens. I made a lot of fuss during tx at times I had cause but my mental state during tx didn't help, I hope they understand that.
Everything happens for a reason , so it is that I sit here now, 16 months on from that still detected result & the afternoon walk with my old chemist. Only now I have redone tx, (12 months this time). I was virus undetected at 8-12 weeks & remained so all the way to tx end. That was 2 months ago ( I kept a diary of my months on Treatment on twitter).
All I can say right now is this time I covered every base, armed myself to the teeth with as much information clinical, medical, practical, spiritual, natural & sensible. Also picking up tips from people like me, who have shared their journey & advice learned. Learned in the best way possible, by "Experience."
This blog has been written because I'm still in the best place to share, as I could still fail. I have noticed The difference between the cleared & failed so my hope is that my words will be taken in the spirit offered. It's also written to keep me busy. Trust me there are some good tips in here, I learned from my mistakes last time. Come the final result I say, Win, Lose or draw, I can look in the mirror & say to myself, "Well kid, you did all you could." As results go they don't get to look much better than this at this point, the virus has been banished, through my own work & effort. The big question is where has it been banished to, some dark decaying corner of my liver or totally routed, April 2011 will be D-Day.
Never say never, my failure plan is to take 5yrs out & live life, then take a look at what's available, what I can say is "there's still some fight in the old dog yet" !
Peace.
"Hmm, right let's think", suddenly Pongos "Hepc trust" came to mind, typed in the name & hit the link. Then spent some time just reading, sent them an email, with a brief outline of my circumstances & carried on reading. All of a sudden I began to realise I'd missed a vital part of any patients treatment or even diagnosis, process, "Information."
How foolish I began to feel, after the lessons learned, through looking after mother, researching our human rights, the patients charter & many other things, now when it came to my own plight I'd sat back & left it to the clinic.
Thinking well all there is to do is give my bloods, do the tests & take my med's, after that what will be will be, Right ! Wrong, within ten minuets of reading I discovered people were being offered extended treatment (tx). That in turn made me think about all that bother about going back to do another blood test at the clinic, after tx had been completed. A reply came in from the hep c trust," Sorry to read of your news, I'm in all morning if you would like to talk", Catherine Corr.
I rang them up & asked to speak to the person who'd replied. We chatted for some time, if ever anyone needed an understanding ear, now was the time. They Gave me a load of positives that boosted me even more, how my liver had at least had a rest, that there were new drugs on the way. The outpouring, the release was the greatest help & for that I will always be grateful.
Before I knew it nearly two hours had passed, still sat up in bed, my feet had yet to touch the floor. without realising it my come back had already begun. Time for a coffee.
On my way to the kitchen I woke up Jnr & told him how it had played out at the clinic yesterday, followed by my new insight into hep c tx & the new drugs & all the positives that your liver gets from completing tx. He never really let on how he felt about tx failing but he's like his dad, maybe even stronger. After making some what was by now lunch, I decided on a walk, it was another beautiful June afternoon, just what the Dr ordered.
Walking along the road, nearing the bridle path where I turn off into the forest, I noticed a person getting ready for a walk stood by an estate car, they opened the back to let out a labouradoodle, as I got alongside the pair, a voice called out " Peter," I turned to see my old pharmacist, she'd coloured her hair & looked quite different.
This lady was a saint, One of the nicest people I have ever met. Like my Dr she had seen me through most of the 10 years spent looking after mother & Jnr, I'd ask her about mothers med's. One time she even researched new dressings that used a honey from Newzealand & printed out a fact sheet for me. I'd met her parents. We were very good friends as much as a customer could be, but it was the way she cared, for instance if the dr had made a mistake in a script & I had to go all the way back, not only would she stay open for me, but she'd ring up the surgery & tell the staff that she would stay open for me, whilst asking them why it was taking them so long to see to me. This made me fell ten feet tall & gave my dignity a much needed boost.
We walked & talked, she had left the chemist & now worked nearby, we had kept in touch through the old girl who still worked there & so we passed messages through her. So it was, that I knew her sister had passed away some months earlier. As we talked we began to unload our emotional baggage, She remarked that she found this year harder than last when she'd lost her sibling, "that's because you were on auto pilot" I said, I knew all about that, after all it was barely 18 months since mother had passed. I'd been on auto for 10 years. We stopped & talked comforting each other.
I called the trust again a couple of weeks later & spoke to the same lady & told her of the events that afternoon, she like me had drawn the same conclusion, that we had been sent, each other, our meeting was no accident.
The clinics blood test request had also become clearer. They were thinking of offering me extended tx but why they didn't give me a bigger clue, I'll never know. Tough, when all is said & done I refused point blank their request to go back, so what can you do, shit happens. I made a lot of fuss during tx at times I had cause but my mental state during tx didn't help, I hope they understand that.
Everything happens for a reason , so it is that I sit here now, 16 months on from that still detected result & the afternoon walk with my old chemist. Only now I have redone tx, (12 months this time). I was virus undetected at 8-12 weeks & remained so all the way to tx end. That was 2 months ago ( I kept a diary of my months on Treatment on twitter).
All I can say right now is this time I covered every base, armed myself to the teeth with as much information clinical, medical, practical, spiritual, natural & sensible. Also picking up tips from people like me, who have shared their journey & advice learned. Learned in the best way possible, by "Experience."
This blog has been written because I'm still in the best place to share, as I could still fail. I have noticed The difference between the cleared & failed so my hope is that my words will be taken in the spirit offered. It's also written to keep me busy. Trust me there are some good tips in here, I learned from my mistakes last time. Come the final result I say, Win, Lose or draw, I can look in the mirror & say to myself, "Well kid, you did all you could." As results go they don't get to look much better than this at this point, the virus has been banished, through my own work & effort. The big question is where has it been banished to, some dark decaying corner of my liver or totally routed, April 2011 will be D-Day.
Never say never, my failure plan is to take 5yrs out & live life, then take a look at what's available, what I can say is "there's still some fight in the old dog yet" !
Peace.
Judgment day...Treatments End
Treatment was finished, 24 jabs of Viraferon & several boxes of Rebetol (ribavirin), many gallons of tap water, boxes of yogurts & 3-4 banana trees not to mention the staple of homemade butternut, carrot, sweet potato soup mopped up with more bread than you could shake a baguette at !Chained to the alarm (my mobile) twice daily. Driven to the edge of madness along with very little left of a fine head of hair. The skin & appearance of a leper. Now all this was over & boy was I glad.
The month was June, talk about hot & bothered, the hospital wanted me to go back in for more blood tests & the memory of that phone call will stay with me for a while yet...
"Peter, we need you to come in & do your bloods again"
"No way, I'm done & dusted, I've taken my med's, done all my bloods, So what will be will be...sight you later. "The significance of that call would come to me later, but at that point I thought I,ve done everything I can & if it was vitally important, they would insist. They did not. They got the picture & we left it at that, well apart from the fact... I remember getting the sense that something was amiss, due to a previous phone call from the nurse who, upon my last visit had told me how to finish my med's thus ending tx.
"Do your last jab then take your usual dose of Rebetol for the following week & that's it"
"Roger, got that loud & clear "
After all that, she was called me back a couple ofweeks later, to ask me when I'd had my last jab ?
"when did I do my last jab ! you should know your the one who talked me through it."
"I do apologise Peter. I hope all goes well for you "
"Words just words ! "
My experience with the hep c clinic staff was by now fraught, to say the least. There was one nurse in particular, she had a habit of exclaiming...
" You have lost quite a lot of weight or your blood pressure is very high". I usually gave no reply, instead , I took to letting out a large sigh, to explain my feelings & that I was on to her the wined up. She will be referred to as nurse C, from here on.
Treatment was now 3 months past, I was on the mend & gaining in stamina & strength weekly. The 3 month point brought me back to clinic for the usual bloods & general debrief. I felt good, yet still mentally vulnerable to upset & quick to temper, but still in control. The visits to the clinic could pick me up on occasions when results were good. I'd elected a specific Dr to be the one to deliver the verdict in 3 months time, but decided on this visit that nurse C would do, by way of mending fences. She seemed quite decent that day.
Which was a far cry from the Tactless argumentative nurse I'd crossed swords with before.
They tell you, when you 1st attend the clinic..."we're always here call anytime, should you need us"
So when I called to tell them that, my dentist appointment was to clash with one at the clinic & I'd be late. That I thought it proper to call & explain, rather that just waltz in unannounced, with some old load of pony...NurseC replied "what do you mean turn up announced". Peter you can't just turn up when ever you please & on it went, she was really out for an argument, knowing full well she'd get one from me. I made an unofficial complaint to a nurse I knew would do right..."After the chat I've just had with nurse C & now I'm fuming , bouncing off the walls up here. I could imagine hitting the bottle if I was so inclined. That is no way to handle a patient on tx, so I'm marking her card, anyway I'll say no more, simply a word to the wise."
Six months had now passed post tx, time to return to the clinic for the result. I got dressed put on my Mothers gold ring, which had been altered to fit me, told my son I would text him with the news & walked out the door into a beautiful crisp summers morning. Such days are few & far between in a persons lifetime, one of those firsts, 1st girlfriend, 1st car, Most Memorable. With haircut short, tanned & freshly shaved I swaggered into the clinic, took my seat & was duly summoned by nurse C, all smiles we exchanged greetings, she telling me how well I looked as we took our seats, she leafed through my notes for a moment, then turned to me & announced that the virus was still detected...
"You see Peter, if you had come in for those blood tests."( remember that phone call, mentioned earlier )
"Hang on, I took my med's I did my bloods are you trying to say that it's my fault I failed ?"
"Oh no, no, not at all !"
My heart sank to a place visited once before, that being the time the surgeon told Mother & I how Father had passed away on route to the operating theater. That happened in the same hospital I know sat, putting the biggest front on since WWII. There was no way I would let this ONE see how deeply she had just pierced me.
As I remember it's amazing how quickly you seem to hit your default emotion overload switch & calm down, whilst they go into SOP...
"Well, your liver has had a good rest, the virus had all but gone at treatments end, we hoped it might have still cleared," along with the other pluses that they can throw you, by way of compensation.
So it was that I walked down the front of the hospital like so many times before, head full of if, ands, buts & maybes. Only this time feeling like the condemned man.
The month was June, talk about hot & bothered, the hospital wanted me to go back in for more blood tests & the memory of that phone call will stay with me for a while yet...
"Peter, we need you to come in & do your bloods again"
"No way, I'm done & dusted, I've taken my med's, done all my bloods, So what will be will be...sight you later. "The significance of that call would come to me later, but at that point I thought I,ve done everything I can & if it was vitally important, they would insist. They did not. They got the picture & we left it at that, well apart from the fact... I remember getting the sense that something was amiss, due to a previous phone call from the nurse who, upon my last visit had told me how to finish my med's thus ending tx.
"Do your last jab then take your usual dose of Rebetol for the following week & that's it"
"Roger, got that loud & clear "
After all that, she was called me back a couple ofweeks later, to ask me when I'd had my last jab ?
"when did I do my last jab ! you should know your the one who talked me through it."
"I do apologise Peter. I hope all goes well for you "
"Words just words ! "
My experience with the hep c clinic staff was by now fraught, to say the least. There was one nurse in particular, she had a habit of exclaiming...
" You have lost quite a lot of weight or your blood pressure is very high". I usually gave no reply, instead , I took to letting out a large sigh, to explain my feelings & that I was on to her the wined up. She will be referred to as nurse C, from here on.
Treatment was now 3 months past, I was on the mend & gaining in stamina & strength weekly. The 3 month point brought me back to clinic for the usual bloods & general debrief. I felt good, yet still mentally vulnerable to upset & quick to temper, but still in control. The visits to the clinic could pick me up on occasions when results were good. I'd elected a specific Dr to be the one to deliver the verdict in 3 months time, but decided on this visit that nurse C would do, by way of mending fences. She seemed quite decent that day.
Which was a far cry from the Tactless argumentative nurse I'd crossed swords with before.
They tell you, when you 1st attend the clinic..."we're always here call anytime, should you need us"
So when I called to tell them that, my dentist appointment was to clash with one at the clinic & I'd be late. That I thought it proper to call & explain, rather that just waltz in unannounced, with some old load of pony...NurseC replied "what do you mean turn up announced". Peter you can't just turn up when ever you please & on it went, she was really out for an argument, knowing full well she'd get one from me. I made an unofficial complaint to a nurse I knew would do right..."After the chat I've just had with nurse C & now I'm fuming , bouncing off the walls up here. I could imagine hitting the bottle if I was so inclined. That is no way to handle a patient on tx, so I'm marking her card, anyway I'll say no more, simply a word to the wise."
Six months had now passed post tx, time to return to the clinic for the result. I got dressed put on my Mothers gold ring, which had been altered to fit me, told my son I would text him with the news & walked out the door into a beautiful crisp summers morning. Such days are few & far between in a persons lifetime, one of those firsts, 1st girlfriend, 1st car, Most Memorable. With haircut short, tanned & freshly shaved I swaggered into the clinic, took my seat & was duly summoned by nurse C, all smiles we exchanged greetings, she telling me how well I looked as we took our seats, she leafed through my notes for a moment, then turned to me & announced that the virus was still detected...
"You see Peter, if you had come in for those blood tests."( remember that phone call, mentioned earlier )
"Hang on, I took my med's I did my bloods are you trying to say that it's my fault I failed ?"
"Oh no, no, not at all !"
My heart sank to a place visited once before, that being the time the surgeon told Mother & I how Father had passed away on route to the operating theater. That happened in the same hospital I know sat, putting the biggest front on since WWII. There was no way I would let this ONE see how deeply she had just pierced me.
As I remember it's amazing how quickly you seem to hit your default emotion overload switch & calm down, whilst they go into SOP...
"Well, your liver has had a good rest, the virus had all but gone at treatments end, we hoped it might have still cleared," along with the other pluses that they can throw you, by way of compensation.
So it was that I walked down the front of the hospital like so many times before, head full of if, ands, buts & maybes. Only this time feeling like the condemned man.
My first clear thought was for my son & how to break the news, impossible. My second was of getting stoned, Out of the question. Then came the 1st positive out of this disaster...
"There is no way I'm letting nurse C's news be my undoing, I'll show her my true caliber !" I guess she was in fact the perfect person to hand me the bad news. It all sounds a bit immature but my world evolved around hospital & home & those within, add the state of mind tx created for me & that's it.
I headed home, climbed into bed, curled into a ball & stayed there. My son came in late on, "No Good" I called out, he acknowledged & went to bed. Words were of little use to either of us at that point. "Shell-shocked" is the only description that fits.
Tomorrow was another day, let's see what it brings & with that thought I fell back to sleep.
Peace
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