… my adventures, scenic photography, tech tips, opinion & more
I keep getting smaller – yipee ya hooie! Starting at 257 back on January 19th I weighed in today at 220.8 – 36.2 pounds less! I did not want to say, but I weighed 269 pounds back yonder last year. The heaviest ever – yikes 48 plus pounds of that person is gone! I am close the removing that ole bag of cement. I feel so much better and have way more energy.
Just felt like bragging today! Hope I did not jinx myself… haha
Yesterday I received the best news I could about my 48 weeks of HCV treatment. Six months after being off the medicines the virus is still undetectable. That means I have achieved a sustained virologic response SVR! That was the goal of the treatment. See this article for more info on this: What Is a Sustained Virologic Response or “SVR”? SVR is a good thing. Studies have shown that with a six-month SVR (which means no detectable virus in your blood for six months after finishing treatment), relapse occurred in only 1-2% of patients. So, for every 100 people who finished treatment and attained SVR, the virus will return in only 2 of them.
A big thank you to all my praying friends who through the past 18 months have prayed to the Lord on my behalf. Thank you to my family and especially my wife Carol for your untiring support during this long and trying treatment. Most of all thank you to God who showed me mercy! You see treatment for hepatitis C is notoriously difficult, and the side effects are so debilitating that many patients decide to stop therapy rather than endure the consequences. In addition, treatments are curative in less than half the people who receive them. I was able to finish with God’s help. Thank you Jesus!
What is next? I need to do as all of us need to – eat healthy foods, get some exercise and stay away from stress!
Glad to report a small size bag of cement has been removed. I started at 257 pounds (was up to 260 at one point arg!) and now the scale says 226! Starting to feel much better. Still have 20 or so more to go! I am determined.
Be it known to the whole world. I support Israel and agree totally with the words of Charles Krauthammer in his Washington Post article:
Krauthammer: Those troublesome Jews
“The liberties of our country, the freedoms of our civil Constitution are worth defending at all hazards; it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors. They purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood. It will bring a mark of everlasting infamy on the present generation – enlightened as it is – if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of designing men.” – Samuel Adams
Hello my friends. I will get right to it. I have great news to report. I am still undetectable after 3 months! I went in 2 Mondays ago, but just received the results late this week. The lab lost some of my blood. Man, it was enough to have to wait the 4 days for the results but they added 6 more days to the wait. It was worth it though as the virus has not come back. In 3 more months I get tested a final time, if still undetectable I have reached SVR and have a 97% change of it never coming back. They say I am one of the lucky ones (only 35% or so are successful with the treatment) but I know better. I fully acknowledge it has been because of prayer, prayer that some of you have joined in with me on and for that I thank you.
I recently came across two nice articles from google that will help webmasters practice good techniques to help their websites get higher listings on search engine result pages. Here ya go:
Google’s Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide
Google says “These optimizations are intended to not only help search engines understand the content of our pages better, but also to improve our users’ experience when visiting our sites. Simple steps such as fixing 404s and broken links, simplifying URL choice, and providing easier-to-understand titles and snippets for our pages can benefit both users and search engines.”
Here is a free tool to check your site’s SEO: SEOrush – give it a whirl.
