Thom, sorry to hear that this time around is worse. My second round was
rougher than the first, but not as bad as what you are going through.
Did you have any tests done at the end of 12 weeks to give you any
encouragement? Remember, you can always come here to vent.

Dwight

Whoa, dude! You're surfing the BIG therapy wave this time. Those are indeed
some hefty doses you're on, no wonder you're feeling whacked.

14 weeks is about right to see how tx is affecting your blood work and
thyroid. Gotten any test results lately?

Take each day as it comes, and you'll get through this...

Cheers

/greyhackles

Hey Thom,

My heart goes out to you! Please don't beat yourself up over leaving early
and passing off a patient. You did the right thing...remember, you are a
patient as well and you need to take care of your needs. You are by no means
a whimp, in fact you seem to be pretty together in spite of the heavy doses
and length of tx. You can do this! Is there any way you can take some time
off for a while? I don't know your situation as far as your work goes, but I
hope you can sort some arrangement that will work for both you and them.
Your work sounds pretty stressful, and what you are going through is pretty
stressful. I pray you will find a way to take the time you need and not feel
guilty. Rest as much as you can and rant anytime you need to! Take extra
care to be kind to yourself...without the guilt and feeling like a
whimp...you're a champ!

dort

Checkin in  

Group: alt.support.hepatitis-c Date: Fri, Jul 21, 2006, 11:17pm (CDT+5)
From: tairube@verizon.net (Firestar)
Hi folks,
Just checking in. I haven't had the energy or inclination to participate
in much of anything the past couple of months. Mostly just coming home
from work and going to bed.
This is week 14 (out of 72 total) and for the first time I'm having
doubts about whether or not I really want to complete round 2 of tx.
This time around the sides are much worse than before. I feel like sh.t
all the time, and like sh.t warmed over for 3 or 4 days after my
injection. Dried up tear ducts, eczema and the old familiar itchy riba
rash are back. Of course the usual shortness of breath, R upper quadrant
pain and GI spasms don't help much either.
I guess this was to be expected with the increased dosage this time -
210 mcg Peg-Intron and 1600 mg Riba daily.
I'm a bit worried that it has started to affect me in other ways as
well. Today I left work a couple of hours early. I passed off
responsibility for transfusing and coordinating emergency measures for a
patient with a massive GI bleed secondary
to a severe coagulopathy. Thank God my senior Blood Bank tech was there
to take over. In the past 30+ years I have never left work under those
conditions before. I feel like I ran out on the patient and my staff.
But I also knew (thought) that I needed to get away from the hospital
right away. I don't know what I'd do if my intermittent brain fog led to
a miscalculation for a patient. God, I hate this! When I think of Elmo,
Thomas and several others in the ng who have endured multiple rounds of
tx I feel like a whimp. Oh well, only six more days until shot #14. I
can hardly wait! Sorry for the mini-rant, but if I can't vent with you
guys I'd just be screaming in the dark...... Thom /////////////
You're no wimp, Thom!  Yeah, I think you should be expecting a rougher
ride this time with the high dosage of meds you're taking.  How are all
your labs looking?  Have you talked to your doc about reducing the
dosage of riba by a cap (200 mg) once you become undetectable?  This
might be a good time to talk to your boss about the concerns you have
for making critical errors.  Is there any way he/she can take you out of
the patient care loop far enough that you can't hurt anybody?
Unfortunately, most short-term disability plans only cover you for six
months, you may want to save that option for the 'downhill' ride (the
last 6 months).  Have you got other 'time off' options?  Maybe a shorter
work week?  About the only other thing I could suggest would be to make
sure you're well hydrated and that you are eating as well as staying on
top of your labs and treating side-effects as soon as they pop up.  Keep
sight of your goal....!
A little, or alot of, mj would help your outlook too.  :-)  
Thanks for checking in, Thom, would gladly take some of the misery
you're experiencing if I could.  Hang in there, bro.
Elmo

http://community.webtv.net/elmoemerson/DocElmosHepFile

http://community.webtv.net/elmoemerson/TheFamilyAlbum

Apologies for the top-post, but by now everyone has read your message.

Thom, I'm sorry to hear that you're having a hard time with Round II, and I
wish I could say something encouraging, enlightening, comforting, or at
least something to put some saliva in your mouth. Ahh, yes, the lovely
sides... perhaps you remember that I once suggested to my g.p. that he do a
hit of interferon and then, the next day, tell me that it's "just flu-like
symptoms and there's no reason for me to not be working." That was 24 weeks
of regular ole Pegetron, not the Big Guns that you're doing and not for
nearly as long. I can't imagine how awful you must feel. Really, no one
understands unless they've done this sh.t, and no one understands how hard
the sides can be for someone else. I can only hope that you manage to get
through your second "tour" though, because the reward at the end is
unbelievably wonderful, to be free of the virus and to feel your health
improving every day, to a point that you feel better than you can remember.
The best of all is that you would never have had the appreciation of the joy
of a day healthy, and you would never have learned that all the petty crap
that used to break your heart doesn't matter at all in the big picture. In
the words of Kinne Starr, "praise for being alive on this planet." As weird
as this sounds, I am thankful that I got hepatitis c, thankful that I was
strong enough to complete the treatment, and especially thankful that it
worked. I hope that you are as fortunate. Did I ever tell you that you were
a huge help to me when I was active on this group, doing treatment? Probably
not, but now's a good time... thanks, bud, I appreciate it because you
helped me get through it, I couldn't have done it alone.

Now stop beating yourself up for leaving work early. Instead, beat yourself
up for feeling guilty or for going to work in the first place. If your gig
is so fragile that there's no one there to back you up, find another job--  
that kind of responsibility is crazy-making, healthy or not. You're not a
wimp and you're not a whiner, you're an intelligent, strong man with a solid
medical background who knows what kind of psychological curves your tx will
throw at you. Don't forget that, and don't forget why you're doing this.
Just one more week. Just one more week. Just one more week. Keep telling
yourself that, every week, and you will get through this.

If you're having a rough time, or a boring evening, or you just feel like
venting, feel free to email me at myrwin (at) dccnet (dot) com

Spidey