Day 15

As my mom told me last night.... 3 shots down, no more than 45 to go! I feel like that's a ridiculous statement, but hey, it's my reality right now.

This week was MUCH better than last week. For the exceptions of a few minor details, everything went pretty normal. By taking the Zofran, my nausea is under control -- only acting out every now and then...which means I can eat stuff, both a pretty cool and huge for me. I haven't been eating a whole lot because I don't really have an appetite, but I try for nutritional smoothies when I can. I generally eat one meal and my "fat snacks", which seems to fill me up for the day. The smoothies are still working out for the fat in the morning, and I've been trying some macaroni and cheese for the afternoon/evenings. I've also been intermittently eating ice cream, cookies and various other high-fat pastries.

I'll admit, for the most part, I'm sticking to bland foods. And the upside is that because I'm not eating a lot, when I do eat, I can generally eat whatever I want!

This past week, my main complaint has been digestive issues and hemorrhoids. I'm sure you don't want to hear all the gory details, but just know, it's painful...and taking toxic medicine doesn't help matters. Other than that, I had my two-week office visit today, and Dr. Sperling said things look pretty good. The four-week office visit is the "big one" where I find out if I'm on treatment for 24 or 48 weeks. Today was more of a check-up. I'm still neutropenic, but seem to be holding my white blood cell counts at a level they deem OK.

Fatigue has been manageable. I took a walk last Sunday. We went 1.8 miles in like 2 hours. I had to stop four times for a 5-25 minute break. I thought I was going to die! Then I came home and took a two hour nap for recharge. The best way I can explain my energy is like this: Half of my energy for the day is being used to fight HCV, leaving me running on half of what I used to have....If I do something like go running in the morning (which I haven't done, but this is an example), then I'm left with that much less energy leaving me practically dead by the end of the day.

Lastly, the HIGHLIGHT of the week was that I got my "temporary disabled" parking permit today, allowing me to park just about anywhere until I graduate! Between steady weight loss and VIP parking, this treatment is looking pretty good this week.

Thanks for all your texting/emails/cards to check up on me. Even if I don't respond with much, I really do appreciate all your thoughts and prayers and crossed fingers!

Until next week, or when something major happens!