Hi, gang.

Wishing you all a well and joyful SVR, this holiday season, or anytime
soon thereafter.

I'm a gt 2 but I can not say that this has been a joy ride, but I've
really nothing to complain about when all is put into proper
perspective.  I think that you know what I mean...

I've just completed my tx on Dec. 8/06 and taken my last Riba on the
15th.  As well, I had my EOT blood works on the 15th.  I saw my GI on
the 19th, but no results yet.

My GI feels I should be fine, as per my other results.  My enzymes went
from near 400 down to 33 by week 4, and all results were positive from
then on.  I've never known exactly what the other test results were, as
she never confided in me, other than to say that everything was
"normal".  I suppose, she didn't want me stressing myself any more than
I should.

I asked her to make an appointment for me, with Internal Medicine, for
my back pain.  This has been an ongoing problem for me, since just
shortly before HCV tx.  I work in the softwood lumber industry, which
is full little nasties, such as fungus and rot.  I laminate wood using
glue that contains formaldehyde as a preservative and add another
chemical as a catalyst to aid in the water repellant process.

My father; brother; nephew all have A.S. "Ankylosing spondylitis",
which is a degenerative spinal disease.  I really don't think that is
my problem.  I'm 50yrs old now, and it normally rears it's ugly head
between the ages of 17-28yrs, although it's not unheard of to happen
later on in life.

I've only ever had acute back pain berfore, which I attribute to hard
labour, as I feel fine after a hot shower and rest.  Now it's been
cronic since Feb. 21/06 - 24/7  I originally thought that it may be
work related,  due to a small twist in my back why handling and number
of 16ft lenths of 3x4s that caused me to cringe and prompt me to get an
X-ray.  The owner of the shop was my only witness.  :(  It was brushed
off by the doctors as being arthrose, as no damage could be seen in the
X-ray.  It was a physio-therapist that confermed some sort of stiffness
in my neck/lower back/hips.

The CSST declined my accident claim, saying that it was not work
related. <perhaps not> but one has to question what's the real
motivater behind these decisions.  hmmm  3yrs of handling 1-4in thick
by 4-36in wide by 16ft lengths of edge glued laminations by myself.  I
used to have a work crew, but times are tough these days.  I've worked
there for 8yrs and have done many other things that are stressful on
the back, but nooooo... it couldn't possible be work related.  I'm not
the athletic type, and they even asked me if that was the case.  I'm
certainly fit enogh for my job, as one developes the necessary strength
for whatever it is that we do, even after a short time at the same job.

HCV tx didn't help much in that regard, as it only made it feel worse.
My real concern is the wood rot/fungus/moulds and other nasties, such
as animal droppings, that get processed during the cleanup of wood, may
have something to do with it.  Hey, we've got to breath that sh.t in or
absort it through the eyes.  Seeing as moulds can be a major health
issue, why not all that other crap at work.  You'd be surprised at what
the dust of some species of wood can do to you.  You'd better know when
to be wearing a respirator.

Anyhow, my GI gave me some sleeping pills, so I can get my sleep
pattern back on track, before I return to work.  I will see my GP and
get scheduled for eye/lung/heart/muscle tone/depression, etc. shortly,
as these all seem to be an issue with me that I've not had before tx.
I suppose some of these things will resolve themselves in awhile.  I'm
sure that once my test results get back to my GI, I'll know better if I
need to be propped up on any meds to help me get back in shape.

It's so nice not to have to stick the needle any more, because it
usually takes me 3-4 days to get back on my feet and feeling anywhere
normal, as the anemia, although not too bad, made day to day kinda
difficult.  Looking in the mirror, I'm only a shell of the man I used
to be, both physically and mentally.  I'm looking forward to getting
back to my old self.

My weight was 136-140lbs or <64kg at the onset of tx and remained the
same throughout.  However, I've lost most of my muscle tone, and most
of that has been converted down around my waist.  I guess that means my
liver is still doing it's job.  ;)

She gave me the 40-64kg kit: 80ugm injection of peg-interferon/wk and
800mg/day of Riba.  On the last two injections, for some reason my GI
switched me to 64-75kg kit which is 100ugm peg-ifn and 1000mg riba,
without telling me why, even though she knew my weight hadn't changed.
She even said that there was no reason for her to change anything
during tx, so I figured this was only a small mistake, as either pen is
within my weight range and only a slightly higher dose.  I couldn't
reach her or the pharmacist to confirm how to dial this new Redipen, so
after some lengthy figuring/stressing in my frantic state of mind, I
called Scherring Canada to confirm my calculations to dial this new
pen, which they confirmed to be correct.

(whew).

64kg requires 96ugm of reconstituted solution, so the only reason I can
think of for taking 80ugm is that people tend to lose weight during tx.
It's for that reason I was so stressed about why she'd suddenly put me
on 100ugm and not tell me.  Finally I took this pen and  dial 0.4 to
get 80ugm solution and took only 4 of the 200mg ribas which is the same
as I'd been taking all along.  The only difference is that it gave me a
huge migraine for the entire final 2 weeks thereafter.  Glad that's
over and done with.  Perhaps there's a slight difference between
getting 80ugm, from a 160ugm/ml pen than there is from getting 80ugm
from a 200ugm/ml pen.  <Go figure>

Dang, I'm long winded.

Sorry, I've not participated in this group much, but you've been a
great inspiration to me, and gave me hope, <and some stress>, but I'll
not hold that against you.

The Riba made me do it.  Yeah, that's it.  :)

Wish me luck.

HepC Lite <Dragon Slayer>