It has been a long 9 weeks on treatment so far. This past weekend had to be the worst yet for side-effects. By Saturday evening I was totally wiped out. Picture this: nasty chest cold, upset stomach, diarrhea, and the flu and you can begin to understand how my weekend went. Last weekend was almost the same. The cough is not from having a cold- my lungs are clear – it is a nasty side effect of the Ribavirin. The upset stomach and the nasty d word went away by Sunday evening. I had my best sleep last night that I have had in two months. I feel kind of decent this morning. I am going to go and get out of the house. I bought some new hiking boots last week so I think I shall try to break them in on a short hike with Frank Jr. this afternoon. I think I am up to it.
I am waiting for the doctors office to call me with analysis of my week 8 blood work. Red blood cells get killed off with this treatment and if they go too low others meds are prescribed. I do not want to go that route – hoping the red blood cell count is okay. Also white blood cells get killed off – a very important one is Neutrophils. This is the wbc that fights off infection. If this one gets too low a med is prescribed – also do not want to go there! I pray my Neutrophils are at an okay level.
On a good note – I have lost 12 pounds so far. Only 40 more to go!
Thank you again to all the support so many of you have been to me. This has been a very hard time. The mental battle is tough let alone the physical.