2011_12_31 Side swiped

Two weeks ago, I landed in the hospital with intestinal blockage. I spent 6 days on too much pain medicine and very little food or drink. All of this has gotten better. I've not had cravings for more pain medicine - in the past I have had problems with that. All of the tests I've had have come back good. I had an upper GI Thursday and a very small ulcer was found in my stomach. So I'm on medicine for that for a month, then we'll repeat the GI scope to be sure it's healing. I'm adding papaya enzymes to my supplements to help digestion. I'm not going to start taking this medicine and stay on it (it's something like Nexium or Prilosec).

I was home for Christmas, but somehow feel I missed out on it. My shopping was done online before my hospital stay, and Hubby & Son got the tree up and decorated w/out me. Hubby even got the gifts wrapped. My mom had brought us some very wonderful food, including the makings for a great Christmas dinner. It was just the 3 of us, which was nice. Low key was what I needed. I think it's what we all needed after being apart for almost a week. That's the longest (by far) amount of time we've ever been apart.

I am in the final 5 weeks of treatment! This time really has gone quickly. I've had side effects, some quite frustrating (taste), but I've not felt as bad as I could have, or even expected to. My taste buds have gotten a bit better since stopping Incevik, as has my anemia. I still tire easily and am out of breath after the shortest walks, but it's better than before.

Friday was a trip to NOLA to see the Hepatologist. We all like her so much. She's been great support through this. They even knew I had been in the hospital (all are Ochsner facilities), and were in touch with my hospital docs. So I was able to continue my HepC meds in hospital. I only missed one dose of Ribavirin the night I was in ER. Anyhoo, I will be their first Incevik patient to finish treatment! Two other people started around the time I did, but neither qualified for the 24 week protocol, they have to go the full 48 weeks. I'll see Jen (hepatologist) again 3 months after ending treatment for another viral load test, then again at 6 months after ending treatment. At that point, assuming as I do that all tests will be negative, I will be considered cured. I've been cured since week 4 when I had my first Negative test result, but it will be nice to know they consider me cured too. I asked if I could now be a blood or organ doner, and I won't. The antibodies will always be there and a routine screen is just a test for the antibodies. Perhaps one day an easy viral load test could show I'm cured, but for now the screening eliminates anyone who tests positive for the antibodies. I'm a bit disappointed. I've always hated having to turn down requests for blood donation. And I really hate being asked if I'm an organ donor. "No" just makes me feel like a jerk. But the answer remains "No, I've had Hepatitis C". That is better than having to say "I have Hepatitis C", but still sucks.

Happy New Year!!!