I just wrote this post on an excellent support group forum I found and made friends at HCVSupport – I thought I would share it with my blog readers:
Sorry all for abandoning you. I have really struggled with this TX and did not want to say anything about it for I had nothing good to say. BUT I thought about it and I do have much to be thankful for. First, being able to even get the treatment. Second, it is working – undetectable at week 4, 8 and 24 so far. Thankful that I have a great wife and family (8 kids) that have really helped me along the way so far. Thankful for my friends that give me the “space” I need at this time. Thankful for my boss at work (he is my pastor too as I work for a church) in being 100% totally understanding about my struggles with this tx. He spoke with some people he knew who did bad on the tx and who it failed for, so he knows. I have been to work only one day or so a week since being on treatment. I get much of my duties done from home on the computer.
Thankful I was able to get to Niagara Falls last week for two days with the family – see my blog post on the adventure:
http://frankbroughton.us/blog/archives/467
Tomorrow will be my 33rd injection, so only 15 weeks to go after that. After week 24 my hemoglobin was low (10.4) for too long so my doctor cut back the ribaviron. It went up (11.1) by the next month but not enough. He cut back the ribaviron once again. It went up to 11.6 but wants it up to at least 12.5. I get some blood work done tomorrow so we will see if the second cutback has worked.
My last day of the ribaviron will be on Christmas day. So looking forward to that. It has been a long road so far with some very bad days along the way and many sleepless nights. There are days when I feel lousy but I am able to pretend that I am not – the days when I cannot even pretend I feel good are killer.
Thank you to the numerous members here who sent me words of encouragement though PM’s! I just answered a bunch of them.
I will add here I too am thankful for all of you who have mentioned to me that you are praying for my treatment and health. I do appreciate it very much. A couple of my aunts have been a great encouragement to me to keep going. They both have had close family members on the same TX, so they know of the ordeal.
Christmas day! What a day that will be if the Lord wills! and then I would turn 50 on January 9! I think I just might shoot off some fireworks in celebration. A word of caution: I have not succeeded yet in this treatment there is a percentage chance the virus can come back – but God is good and He knows of my uprisings and downsitting, knows the amount hairs on my head (getting easier to count these days haha) so He is in charge of my life.