Where's Wally?

'Most people who don't know you will think you're dead' said one of my best friends during a dinner party last weekend and although I felt it was a little dramatic, it did make me feel very guilty about the way I abandoned this blog so suddenly, leaving most people out there without any sort of closure as to my fate!

I hope no one is actually holding their breath for me but just in case, let me assure that everything is fine on my side.

As I mentioned on my last post , my treatment didn't work second time around either and I was advised by my doctors to stop it. I've seen the doctors since then and they've assured me my liver is coping well with the viruses and some new drugs are being trialled as we speak so hopefully in a couple of years I'll be able to try a new treatment. Until then I just need to take care of myself and allow life to go on.

And I have! Apart from the temporary numbness after the bad news, I haven't let this setback affect my life at all. I completed the marathon as promised [click here if you don't believe me!] and with your help managed to raise a grand total of £2328.97 for charity. I had a great summer and I'm looking forward to bigger and better things in my life.

Living with Hep doesn't have to be difficult and since Mr B and Mr C are sticking around for a while, it seems, I'm going to ensure that they affect my life as little as possible.I won't make any promises about the blog this time but I am keeping my eye out for helpful info that I can start indexing here again and I also have a few more ideas for the immediate future of this blog so look out for that.

In the meantime, if you miss me too much, follow me on twitter .

Stay safe and remember to get tested!

Still runnin'

'1000 visitors to Prometheus!' greeted me the message in my inbox this morning. In little over 8 months, writing posts about disease and drugs, with no viral campaign or celebrity endorsement and next-to-no respect for deadlines, here we are: a 1000 visits to this humble blog. A milestone of sorts and yet I couldn't help but feel guilty about the whole thing. It's been over a month and nearly 120 visits to the site since my last post and I feel that I've somehow been neglectful not only of this blog but the loyal readers who have been with me in one way or another since the start of this experience. I’d like to apologise for that and try to offer the following as a way of explanation.

I mentioned in my last post that I was waiting to hear from my doctor as the treatment didn't seem to be working for me. When I received the phone call, it was indeed the news I didn’t want to hear. The viral load in my body had gone back to the pre-treatment levels which effectively meant my treatment was just not working at all and I was adivised to comlo off the treatment straight away. Not the best piece of news as you can imagine! I found all of this out over the phone [much to the chagrin of my loved ones] and I haven’t seen the doctor since then. I have an appointment on Friday but regardless of anything they might say, I now know I’ll have to wait at least a couple of years for a stronger version of the treatment to come onto the market. In the meantime, we might try and see what we can do with the Hep B but I’ll find out a lot more on Friday and I’ll be sure to post. Promise!

I've been drug-free for over a month now and needless to say it has been a period of reflection and big changes. I'll be sure to share this with everyone on a future post.

On the marathon front, things are going well and perhaps one of the very few silver linings from this situation is that I can now train without having to cope with the side effects of Interferon. Mind you, the withdrawal effects were quite strong and it's only in the last few days that I’ve felt like I’ve gone back to being pretty much me pre-Interferon. Now I ache and I’m very tired but it’s all down to the running!

Before I leave you let me thank you again for helping me to get this far and even though we didn't get the result we wanted this time around, the battle continues and I don't give up easily!

See you next week.

Peace!

Hepatitis can fight back too, apparently...

I've been feeling really guilty. It's been far too long since my last post and some amazing things have happened since then. I announced my intention to run a marathon in that post, asking for people's support and the response has been amazing. It was overwhelming to see how supportive and just how brilliant people can be. It was beautiful. I had a well deserved 3-weeks break with nothing to do but sit at home, eating biscuits and watching bad television. Needless to say, my batteries were nicely recharged. I had a great Christmas and a very fun New Year's Eve. My training for the marathon is going alright. I've given up smoking. In short, a great load of good, positive things have happened in my life since my last post.

However, 2008 being the kind of year it was, left me with a little present very much running along the lines of the one I received right at the beginning of the year. My doctor informed me right before Christmas that the treatment seems to have stopped working [based on test results from 13 weeks into treatment], meaning my recovery has reached a plateau and there is a very real possibility now that the last 6 months have been fruitless and the doctors might suggest I stop the treatment as it would make no sense to keep forcing my body through such a demanding course of drugs.

So, this news bookended 2008 for me and resulted in the long period of silence unwillingly imposed on this blog. I've really struggled to commit words to paper and even now I'm struggling to flesh out this post. I had some new tests taken just before Christmas and I should hear back from the doctor next week. I felt it was the right time to update the blog, even if I didn’t feel much like writing. Hopefully, next week I’ll have some better news and a much better post for the blog.

In the meantime, thanks again to everyone who’s been so kind and supportive in the marathon push! Your help, thoughts and generous donations are very much appreciated.

Peace