Oct. 30 ~ Nov. 5 ~Well we did the PCR this week. As soon as I get the results, I'll be posting them. Hopefully I will be undetected! This week was a pretty good one. My body must FINALLY be getting used to these drugs! Not bad for being on Intron for 8 months now. I have also stopped dropping weight! I haven't lost a single pound in the last month. My dry skin seems to be getting dryer and dryer. I have to put lotion on at least 7 or 8 times a day anymore. The memory problems and confusion is still with me, but they don't seem to be getting any worse. The only real problem I had this week was the insomnia. It comes and goes but I couldn't sleep worth a darn all week.
Nov. 6 ~ Nov. 12 ~Well I missed my Dr appt. I can't believe I wrote down the wrong time for it. I thought it was at 2 but they called me at 11:30 and asked where I was! This week has been pretty lousy. I haven't slept good all week and my head has just been pounding. Even the darvocet isn't working so I'll probably take a Vicodin tonight.
Nov. 13 ~ Nov. 19 ~Well, that Intron Pen really is great! I haven't had a single bruise from this thing. I had my Dr appt on the 18th and he says the dry spots on my hand are caused by the drugs. (Big surprise there) I plan to tell the Dr I want to go on high dosage Infergen when I see him again in the middle of January. I won't go back to combo or Intron. Schering's drug had its shot at me and didn't work...so on to another drug next year! At first I felt bad that I'm still not responding, but I know that the Intron is at least helping heal my liver, and thats the important thing. In my mind, I have responded since my PCR went from 474,000 on March of 98 and down to 2,860 in November. Thats quite a drop and since my LFT's are also in the normal range for the first time in God knows how many years, I know the drugs do work to help the liver. Its onward and upward after a much deserved break from treatment!!
Nov. 23 ~ Nov 29 ~Ok so the Dr changed his mind!! He told me yesterday to start taking the treatment again. We won't do the high dosage, but stay with 3mu 3 x a week and the 1000mg Ribavirin a day. I had a week of no drugs, though and it was WONDERFUL!! I slept all night, ate food and tasted it, had NO headaches. It was a nice break but here we go again...The first shot last night was an awful lot like the very first one back in March. I got the chills real bad and the fever, up to 102, but other than that I was ok. At least I knew what to expect. Luckily I just renewed my headache pills too!
Oh! I got the Intron 'PEN' with this month's prescription. Its a handy dandy shot giver. I found out it costs no more than syringes and is much easier to use. (Ask your Dr to order it for you!) I hear it cuts down on the bruising too so I'm glad they finally got it to me.
I did get my PCR results today, tho. Its still not undetected. After 8 months straight on 3MU of IntronA its down to 2,860 but not gone. I'll find out next week if the Dr is going to stop treatment or if we will keep going for another month or so and see if it will come down to undetected. It was a pretty big letdown and it will be kind of hard to take the shot tonight, but I'll keep plugging away till the Dr says not to I guess.
I am now officially on Since the combo didn't make me go undetected in 12 weeks, we are stopping. He said I could go right into high dosage interferon, but after talking to him about it, we decided to take a break before starting that. I'd like to get my platelets and WBC back up to a better range before attacking my body again. And my body needs a break. It will be so nice to feel normal again for the holidays. And to be able to taste food, sleep all night-which I did last night for the first time in over 6 months, and generally feel much better!!
Actually, this week wasn't so bad. Even the diarrhea was minimal. I did have a constant headache but by the end of the week it had eased up alot. I have also stopped losing weight as well. I've stayed at 117 for the past 2 months now. (Which makes my mother happy!)