It's great to be on Week 8!!

It feels good to be 2/3 of the way done with the first half of treatment! It's been a tumultuous ride so far, but there seems to be a method to the madness.

This week I found out that my ANC (neutrophils/white blood count) didn't go up (still 588) from the Neupogen last week, so now I have to be on a regimen  of MWF neupogen shots. In addition to my Thursday night Interferon, I'll admit, this blows. Not to mention, my Hemoglobin dropped below 9, so now I'm severely neutropenic and anemic...fun.

2 weeks worth of Neupogen. jealous?!

The doctor said that we'll watch the hemoglobin to see if it goes up this week, and if not, I might need to reduce dosage of the Ribavirin. I'm not particularly sure of the implications of dosage reduction this far into the treatment, so we'll see. I also might need some iron supplements or something.

So basically I feel like I just ran up two flights of stairs anytime I move. (ex: when I get up from a chair, lay down in bed, bend over to pick something up, cough, etc.) And my heart's generally racing at all other times too, not to mention I feel like I've been hit by a bus at least 85% of the time.

My interferon shots have been hurting more, and I cant really explain why, except that maybe there's a higher concentration of interferon in my leg there since I've given 8 shots (4 in each leg). They sting now, and they didn't used to do that.

The Neupogen shots have been going in my stomach. They aren't that bad, except the needle is a lot bigger. There's a lot less involved with the Neupogen  since it's already assembled and there's not all the clicking and stuff that I have to do for the Interferon redi-pen.

The third Neupogen shot was better than the 1st but worse than the 2nd. I think the bone pain is directly proportionate to how tired I am when I give the shot. This week, I accidentally forgot to take aleve when I gave the Interferon Thursday night, so I felt like hell on Friday for the Neupogen...I know, I got too cocky because I was so excited to be on Week 8!

In terms of eating, I was kind of nauseous today, but this has been the first day in a long time. I'm still doing the smoothies in the morning, and various assortments of french fries, pizza, grilled cheese, etc. throughout the day for my 20g of fat. ONLY FIVE MORE WEEKS OF INCIVEK!! WOOO!!

Other than all that, this week has been pretty smooth. I'd appreciate a break every now and then from the Hep C gods, but apparently this week wasn't it. I go to the Dr for my Wk 8 checkup on Thursday, and bloodwork on Tuesday.

Thanks for all your thoughts/prayers/good vibes! Mom's coming on Friday!