Let’s crack open the bubbly!

What a hard couple of weeks it’s been.

Let’s not beat around the bush, my poor body is taking a worse battering than anyone could have anticipated. Constantly tired, I can’t remember the last time I felt I had enough energy for anything. I went from marathon-fit to ‘panting-breathless-after-a-five-minute-walk’ within a couple of months. The metallic taste of bile hasn’t stopped for over 10 weeks, and nausea is becoming second nature now. Blinding headaches, insomnia, and nosebleeds have joined the party. Other side effects have also come along but I’ll save the graphic details for anyone who asks over a cup of coffee.  Reluctantly, I’ve even have to admit defeat and follow my gastric nurse’s advice to take an extended period off of work. Oh, yeah, did I forget to mention I’m anaemic now too? It’s really no longer about recharging my batteries but about making sure my body doesn’t go into full meltdown.

So, yeah, it’s been a hard couple of weeks. Health-wise, the hardest of my adult life ever, really.

And yet, I’m going to break my teetotalism today and have a bit bubbly to celebrate. Why, you ask? Well, at week 10 (this current week) of my treatment, my liver function test result is 36 – the first time it’s been within ‘normal’ boundaries in nearly two decades. My poor liver is having  a well deserved break. And that’s not even the good news. I’m typing this after getting off the phone with my gastric nurse who called me with the results of my viral load for Hepatitis C and they’re ‘undetectable’. Allow me a moment for a little cry here. Let’s say that again because it bears repeating, my bloody Hepatitis C results have come back negative! At week 10! It’s exactly the trajectory we wanted them to take if this horrible treatment is going to work but to be honest, I never actually expected it to work this well. Two decades of false starts and heartbreak just made me a bit cynical. But having said all that, for the first time in my adult life I’m negative for Hepatitis C as we speak. Very happy days indeed!

This all means the treatment is working beautifully and my chances of actually clearing my Hep C are good. I’ll stay on the treatment all the way until the bitter end now (Spring 2014) and we’ll hopefully not have a ‘positive’ viral load result ever again. One can only hope.

So, this is brilliant news and I’m so happy I might burst.

I’m going to ignore the fact that my gastric nurse has asked me to come in for urgent blood test with concern in her voice after I mentioned the nosebleeds. I’m going to ignore the guilt about having to take time off work. I’m going to pretend for one day that I’m full of energy and have a little party with my wife and son. I’m going to swallow my pills like they’re fudge and ride the nausea train happily. Let’s crack open the bubbly. Cheers!

Peace

  

Since I've been asked before, please feel free to share this article wherever you want. The more people who know we can beat this crap, the better! I'm over on Twitter as @gatulino and I'm using the tags #hepatitis #wecanbeatit



_

Friday

Hello,

Thanks very much to everyone for all the lovely messages of love and support. Things aren't getting any easier on my side, I'm afraid. However, instead of another post whining and complaining, I thought I'd try something different this week. Below is a little insight into a day in my life, drugs-wise.

I've got a big milestone coming up (Week 8 of treatment) in a couple of weeks, so I'll do a more 'traditional' post then.

Till then.

Peace,

E

Midnight: Boceprevir, we meet again [Pill count: 4]

8am: The Boceprevir fairy awakes me. I must take 800gs of it (4 pills) every 8 hours, otherwise my body might become resistant to the drug. Ah, the joys... [Pill count: 8]

 

 

10am: The first of my two daily doses of Ribavirin. [Pill count: 11]

4pm: Boceprevir again - here comes nausea! [Pill count: 15]

7pm: Tenofovir, my little Hep B daily reminder for the next few years. [Pill count: 16]

8pm: Ribavirin again. Yum [Pill count: 19]

10pm: My weekly Interferon injection 

Midnight: Boceprevir, we meet again [Pill count: Reset]

Onwards...

I've now been on my new Hep C treatment for nearly a month. And it hasn't been easy.

I'm drained of energy, constantly tired. The nausea after my morning and evening pills dosages is only getting worse. Insomnia is slowly creeping back into my life. The bruises on my stomach growing ever darker. My beloved runs a thing of the past. Social visits being cancelled all over the place. Working days spent instead sat at home, feeling slightly sorry for myself. So, I won't lie to you, it's been hard.

Now that we've got that sorry business out of the way, on to the good stuff. My liver function tests results - usually hovering over the 150 mark over the last three years (anything over 40 is usually considered abnormal) - have dropped to 54. That's the best they've been in a decade! If nothing else, my poor liver's had a bit of a breather so that's good news.

I'm seeing my gastric nurse this Friday (19th July), and we'll be starting on the Boceprevir - the very reason why we're going through this all again. I understand it'll be quite hard for a couple of weeks at least, but the truth is we don't really know what's going to happen. This cocktail of drugs is fairly new - My very, very experienced and wonderful gastric nurse tells me I'm only the second patient with both Hep B and Hep C going through this treatment in her care ever. And the other poor sod is only a couple of weeks ahead of me, from the sound of it.

So, onwards we go into uncertain territory. It's been hard so far, and no doubt it's about to get harder. But I'm still hoping - hoping this is the start of a Hep C-free me.

I might not be sleeping, but no one said I couldn't still dream, right?

Peace,
E

And whilst you're here,  Word Hepatitis Day is coming up... Please, get tested!



If you can't wait to hear from me [!], 'Like' my Facebook page here, or follow me on Twitter here

New Beginnings...

One of my favourite writers once wrote that history has a knack of repeating itself, first as a tragedy and then as a farce. What the lovely bearded fellow forgot to add is that sometimes twice is not enough for history, and like a Sysyphus-deflating rock, history rolls heavily down the hill once again – no longer a tragedy, or even a farce, but now simply a monotonous expectation.

It’s been a while since I posted here. A mistake, really. Reading back through some of the older posts was very helpful in reminding me what undergoing treatment for Hep B and C was like, and it was nice knowing that people had come along for the trip whilst it lasted.

And it was a mistake because there have actually been loads of developments in my life. I’m a little older, perhaps a little wiser, married, and father to a wonderful boy, blessed with a loving family who has kept me going strong, in spite of the many setbacks.  

But perhaps the most important development in terms of this blog was the fact that I started treatment for my hep B about a year ago. I’ve been taking a daily dose of Tenofovir – a drug most commonly associated with HIV treatments – and the treatment seems to be doing the trick. My viral load for Hep B is at the lowest it has been for nearly two decades, which is great news. Tenofovir is not a cure, however, so I’ll have to keep taking the little blue pill every night for the next few years.

There are some side effects to Tenofovir, the one that’s been more prominent this year being the constant state of tiredness – also a common side effect to new parenthood, I grant you.

So, why the sudden blog update, I hear you ask. Well, my consultant has suggested I have another go at Hep C treatment too, and I must say it was difficult to say no. As always, if there is even a little chance of clearing these nasty bastards, I must take it with both hands.

I’ll be undergoing another whole year of treatment with Interferon – the same drug I’ve already failed twice on – and they will add a new one (Boceprevir) at Week 4, which will hopefully make a difference this time around.

So, here we are, Week 1 once again. I had my first injection on Friday, I’ve been taking six pills a day since, on top of the one Tenofovir. The familiar tiredness has set in. Nausea has been an unwelcome addition. A little bit of gloom overall, if I’m honest.

But, also, hope. They can’t take that away from us. So, here we go again. I’ll blog about this new stage of the journey regularly.

Peace.

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

Euclides Fights Back! [Part 1]

For the last few months I’ve had a weekly date every Friday with a very cold and piercing individual whom, truth be told, I really hate but whose weekly kiss upon my body is hopefully helping me to rid myself of the horrible viruses that run in my bloodstream. Whenever the needle breaks through my skin, I feel a little prickly sting that then turns into a dull itchy pain when the cold contents of the small syringe enter my body. And then, almost straight away, I feel when the drugs hit my system. My head goes a bit light, I feel my shoulders drop while I sink on whatever chair I happen to be sitting, I stare for a few seconds at whatever is in front of me and then I start to feel my whole body being drained of all the energy I might have had up to that moment. A quite unfortunate situation really because since my weekly dates started, ‘energy’ is something I haven’t really had for any period of time. After the first injection, my body has felt like its batteries had been taken out and it hasn’t recovered since. So, when on Fridays my energy is drained again, the drugs are simply taking the little reserves I’ve built up over the week, taking me back to square one, needing to start building my weekly energy for the days ahead.

Regrettably, this lack of energy has slowly but surely taken hold not only of my body but my life too. What started as a tired weekend [I have my injections on Friday nights so they affect my work as little as possible… the bills still have to be paid!] has turned into a daily struggle to remain upbeat, positive and to find the energy to carry on with my life as normally as I can, finding the energy the drugs have denied me in other unlikely sources. A good book, a nice cup of coffee, little personal projects here and there. But more importantly, I’ve found that energy in the love, patience and support of my wonderful partner, my amazing family, my dearest of friends and my understanding workplace who have never allowed my constant cancellations, my lethargic chats, my tendency to just crash on the sofa staring at anything to diminish the amount of energy they inject into my life every day. However, it’s hard sometimes not to allow the tiredness to just take hold and it’s very easy to slip into a vicious circle of tiredness and lethargy and if I cannot find ways to fight it, once it takes hold I might be stuck with it for the next 6 months [or maybe even the next 18]. So, I’ve talked a lot before about trying to fight this but have never taken decisive action. Well, that changes from now and the fight back starts here!

Euclides is running from Hepatitis

I don’t give up easily and I’ve never been one to run away from my troubles. In fact, I’ve never been a runner in any sense of the word, occasionally mocking the courageous winter joggers in Hampstead Heath whilst I slowly strolled in search of a good cappuccino. But I’m making an exception this time and I’m running from hepatitis, or rather, I’m racing it! I’ve decided that the best way to fight the constant state of drug-induced slumber my life has become is to run the Edinburgh Marathon on behalf of a charity. ‘Erm… how’s that the best way Euclides?’ I hear you ask. Well, here’s how.

Firstly, it is a way for me to start wrestling control of my life and my health away from my treatment. This isn’t a reckless, spur-of-the-moment decision and I’ve discussed it with my doctor. I’m aware it is going to be very hard to train up to 5 times a week whilst the interferon is working its magic on my body but the fact that my training will help me get fitter to deal with the drugs and the even healthier lifestyle I’ll have to adopt will increase the chances of my treatment working should hopefully offset the nastiness of very cold 6 AM runs in the months to come.

Secondly, and more importantly, there are two worthy causes that will benefit from my efforts. The first one is the issue of raising awareness of hepatitis in our society. When 1 in 12 of us is suffering from hepatitis and as a society we don’t seem to offer the levels of awareness needed to prevent and raise the standard of treatment of such an ailment, it is important for individuals to make as much noise as possible to draw attention to the issue. That was initially the purpose of this blog but somehow along the way, I never actually came out of the Hep closet. I opened its doors wide open for anyone who would want to make the effort and take a peek but I truly remained perched on the floor of the closet. Not anymore. By taking this decision, I’m effectively coming out of the closet and because I need to raise as much money as possible, I will have to make all the noise I possibly can, hopefully raising awareness about these illnesses along the way.

The other cause is the charity that will benefit from the funds I raise during my training. As I mentioned above, the situation I’m going through at the moment would have been unimaginably worse without the love, support and encouragement of my close network of loved ones who have been there willing me on in one way or another. However, there are millions of people around the planet who are going through situations many times worse than mine and who lack the help they so badly need to continue. Amnesty International is one of the few charities whose unflinching commitment to provide a word of hope for those people while at the same trying to raise awareness of these issues worldwide has never wavered. Their work is very important, especially right now, and it’s essential that we try and help them whichever way we can. That’s why I’ve decided to do my bit.

Over the next few months I’ll talk a bit more about these things but this is a very long post as it is and I think I’ve bored you enough for one week. Incidentally, if you’ve just been sent here by a link in an email/forum/fundraising page, please stick around and have a look at the blog, there’s a lot more about me, hepatitis and other things. And if you’re one of the loyal readers of the blog, thanks for helping me get this far!

Last [but most certainly not least!] please go to my fundraising page here to be effectively mugged by me!

Thanks for reading and see you next week.

No more Mr Reluctant-Blogger!

Hello everyone…

I’ll put my hands up from the start and admit that it’s been a long time since my last post. I wish I could say that I’ve had too many things happening [and I have] but the sad truth is that I’ve just been struggling to commit words to paper lately. Lethargy has quite settled in over the last month and I feel like I’m living inside a little bubble that consists of a perfect balance of 'waking up-getting angry on the tube-working-getting angry on the tube-crashing on my sofa-going to sleep'.

Well, I’m tired of that and I’ve decided to put a stop to it. I’ve made some major decisions [one of which you’ll hear about a lot in the next few blogs!] and I’m taking control of my life again. The treatment has been setting the rules of the game for a while but I’m not playing ball anymore. So, once again, I promise to keep the blog updated in the weeks to come and thanks to those who keep coming back to the blog even though there’s been nothing new to read lately.

The monthly update on my health is not that different from the last few blogs: Tired, tired and tired. Getting out of bed every morning is a big battle and that’s a battle I only win when I get back into bed at night. Apart from that, I think I’ve been coping alright with everything that’s been happening and if that changes, you’ll all hear about it!

I’m working on the big news that will come probably in the next post and please come back for it because, rest assured, I’m going to need all the help and support that you can give me!

In the meantime, please check this out and show your support. Every little helps! Many thanks…

See you next week!

Heppy B-day!

I’ve never been in a fight. Ok, that’s not exactly true. I’ve been punched a couple of times but they don’t qualify as fights because I was either too confused or too restrained in order to respond. So, I feel I can say I’ve never been in a fight.

However, if I had ever been in a fight with 5 big, strong men who proceeded to beat the fear of life into my bones and knocked me out and then when waking up I realised how extensive the kicking was, I think I would’ve felt exactly how I felt when I woke up the day after my last post.

It seems that posting on this blog acts as a harbinger for future aches and my last post fulfilled its Delphic purpose wonderfully. I mentioned that I was still aching, being extremely tired and worrying about possibly being at the doors of a mood swing but then I candidly said that I hoped ‘my fears were unfounded’. Well, they weren’t unfounded, they were just misread.

The achiness of my body, the tiredness and the general feeling of ‘urgh’ have just turned the volume up and over the last few days [and even as I write this] I’ve been feeling like I have been hit by a big truck and this just seems to be a progression of the side effects I’ve been experiencing ever since I started my treatment. I’ve been quite lucky so far by avoiding the more horrible of the side effects but I’m starting to realise that the ones I’m actually experiencing are pretty tough as well. I don’t like complaining too much but, at the moment, I just want to say ‘ouch’!

Ok, I’ve already complained so let’s turn to positive things. Feeling crappy hasn’t stopped me from going to work, seeing family and the sort so I’m happy that the painful lethargy is not crippling the limited social life I’ve got at the moment.

My 26th birthday is on Friday [incidentally, it happens to be my partner's bday too so happy bday R... Love you] and, even though I’ve never been a ‘let’s-celebrate-my-birthday’ kind of person, I’m planning to make this one count because, after all, I’m a lucky man and I’m happy to add another year to my life.

So, here’s to a long and fruitful life and we’ll talk next week!

Peace

The Needle Has Landed!

I’ve been back from holiday for a whole, long week now. For those interested, it was amazing and it was great to have the opportunity to relax and not worry about anything whilst away. It was helpful to just enjoy a little break from everything and I felt a lot better for it.

I had to take my drugs on holiday with me and I was a bit concerned that trying to take a needle into the plane would be a bit of an ordeal. I had letters from my doctors confirming that I was undergoing treatment and that the needle’s purpose wasn’t malevolent in any shape or form. However, I didn’t have to worry about that at all as the bag went through check in without any problems and the needle even made the trip back home [as it needs to be disposed of in an appropriate manner] without any inconveniences whatsoever. So that was very good!

Now, back in the real world, I had my monthly appointment on Friday and it was, as it’s becoming the rule, a mix of good news and not-so-good news. The good news: My blood levels are all normal, my liver function is fluctuating but it’s still within reasonable levels under the circumstances, my body is reacting well to treatment and I now have to see the doctor in three months time [with a few blood tests along the way]. The bad news: As was expected, the interferon has not helped at all with my Hep B and it is now a distinct reality that at the end of this treatment [regardless of whether the interferon actually helps me rid myself of the Hep C virus], I will have to start yet another treatment for the Hep B. This treatment will be ‘very expensive’ apparently and I’ll have to apply for it on ‘compassionate grounds’ to see if I can get it subsidised by the NHS. So, as you can see, a mixture of good news and not-so-good news.

Anyway, I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. In the meantime, I’m being very good with my current treatment and it seems to be working very well. The doctor is very happy with the progress and it all seems very positive overall.

On a personal level, I’m still as exhausted as I’ve been for the last three months and my muscles still ache all over but I’m still coping well with that. The people close to me have started to ask lately whether I’m ok [I’ve felt ok] so I’m hoping I’ve just been having a few days off and this is not the start of undesirable mood swings that I haven’t noticed. Hopefully that’s not it and I’ll be posting next week that my fears were unfounded.

Ok, I think I’ve taken enough of your time now. I’m signing off here but if you want to find out more, get in touch.

Peace!

Results are in!

11 injections in! That’s where I am at the moment! That means I’m kicking off week 11 of my treatment! Woo hoo… Look at me!

Ok, enough of that. Hehe…

You might notice I’m a bit more cheerful than usual. Why is that I hear you asking? Well, I found out at the end of last week that blood tests taken 7 weeks into my treatment showed that the viral load for the Hep C had more than halved in my system. That means that my liver is having to work half as hard as it normally would have to. In other words, the treatment that’s sucking the energy out of my body is also, thankfully, helping me to rid myself of Hepatitis C! In health terms, I’m very, very happy.

Having said that, and being a natural-born cynic, I’m taking the results with a pinch of salt. The good news: The treatment is working, I’ve got 37 weeks to go and, hopefully, at the end of it, I’ll be free from Hep C. I don’t know about you but I think that’s pretty good news. The flip side of that is that I’ve got a long way to go and my body is not fighting your salt-of-the-earth cold. I’ve already believed once I got rid of this so, understandably I hope, I’m taking the news with happiness but a fair share of trepidation.

Just for the record, I’ve tried writing this post a few times over the last week but it’s proven to be quite tricky. My heart is being overrun by conflicting feelings and it’s quite confusing being very happy and very concerned at the same time. I’m off to sunny Greece with my beautiful partner for a week so hopefully by the time I get back, my feelings and thoughts on this will be clearer.

In the meantime, let’s go all out and join the part of me that’s ecstatic and enjoying the good news. Woo hoo…

As for the update on my health status, my white blood cells levels have fallen a bit but nothing to worry about, I’ve put on a bit of weight and I’m still very tired but coping. All in all, a good week!

You know the drill, drop us a line if you want to know a bit more but don’t expect a prompt response because I’m on holiday!

See you all in a bit…

Story Of A Broken Toe

As many of you might have noticed already, it's been over four weeks since my last post. I promised when I started this blog that I would update it weekly and that, overall, I would take good care of it. However, I didn't take into account how exhausting my treatment would be when coupled with unforeseen complications [more on this in a bit] and the last few weeks have just proven to be a bit too much for me and I didn't feel like updating the blog at all. I even considered scrapping the whole thing a week ago when, after falling victim to an over-sensitised feeling of ennui, I felt that there really was no point in maintaining this blog since only a couple of people seemed to be really interested in it, noticing the unnatural lack of updating. Self-pity is not one of my favourite traits, hence that wasn't one of my proudest moments it must be said! Now, having remembered that this blog wasn't set up for the masses but for those people interested in knowing how this silly boy is doing, collecting useful info in a nice friendly way and for me to be able to chronicle this year of my life, I found my fingers itchy at work, desperate to write a new post for the blog.

So, I suppose I should start by explaining what gave rise to this period of over-the-top melancholy and like all good stories, it starts with a broken bone*! The day after my last post, on a rare mid-week night out, I broke a toe. It was a dramatic break too. Blood everywhere, toenails hanging by quite literally just a thread and the sort. The incident itself is a story that, for the purposes of this blog, is too long and not-wholly-relevant so it won't be included here, but you can read about it if you want to by clicking 'A Tale Of Toe Cities'.

So, after spending a good 3 hours in A & E ['Emergency Room' for those reading outside Britain] that night, feeling quite a lot of pain, stressing over blood spillages [see 'A Tale Of Toe Cities'] and getting home after 4am in the morning, I took stock of the situation and it wasn't good. I had to have a whole week of antibiotics [on top of my interferon treatment], limp all over the place [exerting even more effort on an already-exhausted body] and come to the realisation that, in spite of acting like nothing was happening in my life, I needed to be more careful with my health. It was a very tiring experience overall. I guess I'm only saying all this to try and trick you into liking me and overlook the fact that, through my own stupidity, I put my body through a lot of unnecessary strain.

I won't keep going on about broken toes anymore but instead I'll do what this blog is supposed to do and tell you how my Hep treatment is going. I'm still very tired but I've accepted that this might be the case for the next 40 weeks [Can you believe I've already gone through 8 weeks of treatment?] so I'm finding ways to just get used to it. I'm about to start going to the gym, playing football again and get on with my writing [i.e. Start writing!]. In short, just assimilate tiredness into my life and get on with it. Probably easier said than done but I guess we'll find out.

Apart from that and the bout of melancholy [already discussed at length! I promise I'll stop now] everything else is going fine. So, I'm pretty happy still and trying to stay as positive as possible.
Just to reiterate that I haven't forgotten about the blog, I will post a few interesting links I've come across over the last three weeks in the next few days.

And, finally, no matter what, I'll be posting next week without fail. So, welcome back and drop me a line if you want to!

*Disclaimer: I know of no great stories that start with broken bones!

For whom the bell tolls...

I live in a beautiful place in London, not that far from a very old clocktower that gives our neighbourhood a nice village-y feel where people come to bring up kids and have a nice, easy time on Sunday mornings. I love it!

However, as an insomniac, the clocktower plays the part of a torturer whenever I can't get to sleep at night. And never has that been so true as this week. Before my treatment started, a couple of sleepless nights were annoying but I could cope with it. This week, after a few weeks of tiredness, a night of sleeplesness resulted in me missing a day of work and feeling like I just wanted to bury my head in the ground and sleep for weeks on end. It was very hard.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that it was a dificult week. Being tired all the time is becoming increasingly wearing as time goes by. I've been trying to tell you that it's not a horrible side effect but, as side effects go, tiredness is difficult. I'm starting to hate it!

That on the left is the weekly dose of drugs that are making me feel like this every week. I've had a full-on weekend [Saturday: My parent's 28th Wedding Anniversary! [Well done guys!], Sunday: Colombia's Independence Day] so this week might be hard as well. But I'll complain about that one next Sunday.

See you then!

Introducing Mr Billy-No-Weekends!

Remember when I merrily mentioned during the first week of my treatment that I was just feeling a little bit tired? And then when I worriedly mentioned last week that the tiredness and achiness remained? Well, three weeks in, I'm physically and emotionally drained! As a very active 25-year-old, suddenly facing waking up in the mornings being just as tired as I was when I went to bed and knowing that I've got a long day in front of me, it's e-x-h-a-u-s-t-i-n-g! It's pretty much like taking the juice away from the duracell bunny! Mean!

Anyway, it just means that by Friday evenings [the night of the injection] I'm ready for a wild weekend of crashing on my sofa looking like your stereotypical dope-head without the aid of recreational drugs! A barrel of laughs as you can imagine... Thankfully, my partner is an angel and life is not as bad as it could be.

Having got that off my chest, everything else is alright. The tiredness is an annoying side effect but one that relaxing under the sun will sort out nicely. I'm still very positive and I'm feeling healthy. I'm eating more than normal [I've gained a couple of kilos] and even my sleeping patterns are starting to resemble a normal person's fare.

That's my weekly update and if you want to know a bit more, you know the deal, drop me a line!

See you

Tiredness here to stay!

Second week into my treatment and I haven’t got much to report really which, depending where you’re standing, it’s either good news or bad news. As I mentioned last week , after my injection I just felt tired and my muscles a bit achy but that was it. Regrettably, the tiredness and achiness never went away and it was, needless to say, a long week. However, bearing in mind the long list of side effects I was presented with before I started my treatment, it’s going rather well!

This week I had to give myself the injection and it was a very shaky affair I must confess. I don’t know if it was fear or anticipation but my hands would not stop shaking. Thankfully I managed to do it and it was alright. The tiredness and achiness are still here and they seem to be here to stay but I’m feeling very positive and very happy that no big side effects have really kicked in so, all in all, another good week I’d say!

That’s it for this week really. If you want to find out a bit more, drop me a line as I’d be happy to hear from you.

Thanks for reading.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention something else. I have had two injections so far and I've got two big red spots in my stomach where the injections went in. It is a well-known side effect and nothing to worry about but 12 days after the first injection, the first of the lovely red spots is still going strong. They are the size of a golf ball and a bit tender to touch. Nothing really massive really but I thought I should mention it anyway.

Good news for Hep C sufferers

Hello,

The EU has just approved a shorter version of the Interferon treatment for certain patients suffering from Hep C. If you want to find out more, here's a link to the story.

Thanks for stopping by.

And Off We Go...

Well, it's not exactly soldiers landing on the beaches of Northern France but D Day is certainly here... And D stands for Drugs!

I picked up my prescription from the hospital’s pharmacy, paid the £14.20 that it will cost me every month and then I sat opposite my very nice consultant, Ms X, who once again listed the side effects I may experience, gave me some goodies to take away [disinfection wipes, booklets and a ‘cool bag’ that will come in handy when I go on holiday as the Interferon injection needs to be kept in a refrigerator] and then we got on with the serious business.

I was shown how to inject 180 micrograms of Peginterferon alfa-2a into my stomach. Apart from a little sting, that was nice, quick and painless. I’ll have to repeat the procedure 48 times in the next year, every Friday.

On top of that, I will have to take 3 200 mg capsules of Rivarin every morning and 2 every night. ‘A bit excessive’ as my mum put it but apparently it’s just as important as the weekly injection. So, I’ll have to get into the habit quite quickly because I will not want to miss any of them.

So, what’s going on then? Well, I’m pleasantly surprised, I must admit. I’ve been trying to be as positive as possible throughout the last week and I think it’s paying off. Apart from a temporary fever, that went as soon as it came after the injection, all I’ve felt so far it’s a bit of tiredness but nothing out of the particular. So far, so good. I’m not going to get overexcited yet because as someone put it [Hi R] there’s 364 days and a few hours to go, so there’s plenty of time for the side effects to kick in but tonight, it’s going very smoothly!

That was a nice post to write! I was expecting to tell you that I was depressed, willing to fight to death with my girlfriend only if I could muster enough energy to get up from the sofa… But then, again, there’s still time! Ha!

I’ll update the blog next week on Friday and hopefully it’ll be an even nicer post.

I promise that this blog won't become just a diary of my experiences but I've just started a new job so time has been a luxury. But the useful links will start rolling in again quite soon. Just bear with me!

Drop us a line if you can’t wait a whole week to hear from me, otherwise see you next Friday!

Check out the Q&A page

Why Prometheus?

Every story has a beginning...

... and, as they say, so it begins!

I had a doctor’s appointment today. THE appointment that I’ve been waiting for ever since my diagnosis. After taking the decision of going through with my treatment a month back, I confirmed it today with my consultant and the ball has finally been set rolling. The doctors were worried the treatment might bring cancer back after so long [if this is you're first time here, welcome] but I was assured that after consulting an oncologist, there doesn’t seem to be any real danger of the Interferon treatment acting as a catalyst for the unwanted return of cancer. In other words, good news!

So, after giving away a lot of blood, being weighted [78 kilos if you must ask!] and a little bit of waiting, my girlfriend and I sat next to each other whilst my consultant explained to me what’s happening next.

From Friday 27.06.08, I will be taking tablets twice a day, seven days a week and having a subcutaneous injection once a week. I’ve been advised to have the injection on Friday evenings because of the side effects [more on that later] and I will be having weekly blood tests to make sure everything is in order with my blood.

So, without further ado, the next year of my life will involve any [or none, or all] of the following side effects:

Decrease in haemoglobin levels

Decrease in white cells levels

Fatigue

Flu-like symptoms

Loss of appetite

Weight loss

Depression

Irritable moods

Decrease in fertility [And increased dangers for any child I may conceive]

[There are many other symptoms online but I’m sticking to the ones that my consultant felt important enough to warn me about]

These were the ones mentioned by my consultant but she was quick to point out that having the treatment doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll experience any of these side effects so we’ll have to wait and see what interesting cocktail the next year has in store for me!

I have a week now to get ready to start and I will be updating this blog once a week to keep anyone interested updated on the ins and outs of my treatment.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, go here. If you want to find out more, check this out, or if you're tired of reading me, go here. And if I bummed you out, have a look at this:

So, the story kicks off here. I hope you join me.

See you next week