Nov.30 ~ Dec. 6 ~  This week was a strange one. I had awful headaches after restarting the Rebetron. The insomnia has been a pain in the neck too. I didn't feel too awful badly otherwise, which is a great sign! If we are going to continue on this stuff at least I will feel half way decent. I'm pretty used to the sides I have now and they aren't anything I can't live with.
We got Larry's biopsy results. He has minimal fibrosis, Stage 1 Score 1, and isn't going to start treatment now. He and the Dr agreed to wait and recheck things in 6 months. This just proves that even the heaviest of drinkers don't always have the worst liver damage. This news was the best Christmas present we could have ever received!
We are in the process of a change in Insurance Coverage. This does not look like it's going to be any fun either. Larry's employer switched and we are now going to be covered under Prudential HealthCare. Hopefully, there won't be much to the change, but knowing Ins.Co.'s it won't be a simple change.

Dec. 7 ~ Dec. 13 ~ This should be a wonderful week. My Dr's office didn't send in the authorization for more meds so I have NO REBETRON! They all are blaming each other, which does me no good. I ran out of Ribavirin on the 7th and used my last shot of Intron on the 9th. I even ran out of needles for the pen so I had to use an old one. (Not that I would EVER advise that. I cleaned it with Hydrogen Peroxide then soaked it in Alcohol. No one at the Dr's office will let me talk to him. I have the feeling he isn't aware that I have no meds. (He will be tomorrow when I go park my butt in his office!!) Aside from that lovely news, I haven't been sleeping woth a darn still either. BUT...now that I have no more drugs...I should at least get a few good nights sleep!
Well they seem to have gotten their stuff together. I got the Rebetron on Thursday night and was able to start again on Friday. I kinda didn't miss it actually! I slept all night again!
The itches are driving me crazy lately. My skin is like a snake's and I am bruising my legs by scratching them. Benadryl doesn't work and only knocks me out. The Dr did give me some Triamcinolyne Acetonide Cream for my flaking palms. It is working on them but I don't think I could use this for my entire body! I'm putting Jergens Ultra Healing lotion on now at least 6 times a day. Night time seems to be the worst for some reason. Ahhh...the wonders of big time medicine!

Dec.14 ~ Dec. 20 ~ This was a pretty good week. I didn't feel to bad at all. I did get pretty tired by Friday, but I was busy with the holiday shopping and our Support Group stuff. My Dr. seems to have lost my file!! I still haven't gotten the labwork back from the 3rd of Dec. I did more labs today. Strange too, after she had drawn the blood and put the bandaid on, I felt my arm getting wet. I had continued to bleed and it was running down my arm! Scared the heck out of me. It will be interesting to see where my platelets are. That's never happened before.
Sleep has been difficult this week. I am up for 3-4 hours in the middle of the night nearly every night. I'm getting used to it though, so its not so bad. Even the itching has settled down quite a bit this week. My hair is still falling out, but I really don't think I'll go bald. (could be wishful thinking!) I even went to the Support Group meeting with NO hat! Its the first time in a long time I've been there with no hat on. I must be getting braver! hahaha

Dec.21 ~ Dec. 27 ~What a busy week! It was also one of the best weeks I've had since starting treatment. I am now very tired, but I had no problems all week. Christmas was very nice here and quiet as well. I didn't even have a headache all week. I'm hoping this is a good sign and the new year will be much better.

Dec.28 ~ Dec. 31 ~Another pretty darned good week! I did have the diarrhea quite a bit and the usual no sleeping on shot night. I'm sure that my body is now accustomed to being bombarded by these drugs so the sides don't seem so bad anymore. I guess you finally get used to feeling this way so that it becomes a normal way to feel! (I really hope not!!)
My husband's work is in the process of changing Insurance so I'll be out of meds on January 8 and will have to wait till that all gets set up before continuing. Too bad Schering doesn't give out samples. I hate to stop and start again.