Hi All,

Well Friday was shot #4 for Hubby. He keeps saying 1 month down, 5 to go.

I'm so pissed, Friday was his doctor appointment if ya'all remembered. I was so excited to find out the results. Well, I raced down to try to meet him, armed with my list of questions. I was getting into the elevator as he was coming out. Damn!!!!

The doctor did ask about me...teeeheee! Hubby of course asked NO questions. We discussed all the things we needed to ask him the night before.

Quote
the labs are fine, everything looks good
unquote---

that's it--nothing else.........arrrrgggghhhhhhhh!!!

No advice for the sleeplessness, no advice for the itchy scalp, no advice for the painful nose and sinuses. Just sent Gerry home with a new perscrip and paperwork for bloodwork the next 4 weeks. Why in the sam-hill don't men listen? Are they born without that part of the brain? When the wife talks you just shut down that part, what?

Anyhow...gave him the shot in the leg, he insisted, I could barely grab some fat. Hard to get at 45 degree angle when you're pinched about 1/4" piece of fat. I was really careful about pulling the plunger back, Oh, good no blood, I pushed it in slowly, pulled the needle out slowly but then we both noticed it kind of left a quarter size bubble just under the skin. About 10 minutes later it went down.

Do you all think it's better just to put it straight in but then only push the needle in 1/4 of the way? I'm too afraid to hit a muscle--no way can I put that needle straight in on his abdomen or leg. I only get 4 kits so if I drew blood and had to pull it back out, I'd have to use the next weeks kit. It's too expensive just to throw away.

The night went really well, he had a slight fever but slept really, really good. His nose is REALLY bothering him. He said it hurts constantly and he's sniffling 24/7. Saturday was my sons game and it was very windy here. He stayed in the car until the game started. He said he was hot/cold but then again so was everyone else. He came home and layed on the couch for about an hour. He was really tired. He said more tired than the past few weeks. He still ran hot/cold but managed to run around the garage and tinker on top of filling some holes that damned dog dug. He also mowed the front lawn. Not bad for someone on treatment!!!!

Yesterday afternoon we got a call from his sister: my nephew (an avid mountain biker) fell off a 30ft. cliff yesterday morning and had to be airlifted. He has collapsed lung, a broken wrist (badly), a cracked and/or broken rib(s), 3 broken bones in his face, huge laceration along his brow around his eye, gash in the head, fractured kidney, deep laceration to his un-broken wrist and several scrapes, bruising throughout.

We ran to their house in Sunland to watch the baby while they all visited. We opted not to go the hospital---2 reasons--1 so they could go and 2 because we felt it wasn't a good idea for him to be at a hospital at this point in treatment. We sent our love and prayers but said we probably won't be visiting and they understood totally. He's on constant drip (button)morphine so he's in la-la land anyways.

Hubby just sat and watched TV with me. He said he felt very, very tired. I noticed some sighing type of breathing and he said he takes a deep breath like he's tired. It's more like an out of breath type of breath he takes every 5 minutes. I think Neil mentioned this happening to him.

Last night he was hot/cold/hot/cold and didn't sleep too well. Think yesterday was a little too much for him.Today he's tinkering again, we're selling one of our boats so he's been out there for 2 hours. He's still insisting batting cages and baseball diamond later today, but we'll see.

Everyone take care,
DD

Sorry to hear about your nephew. That's a real bummer. I can understand about the reluctance to go into the hospital. I was in Boise ID last week and I usually visit my uncle while I'm there but he and his wife had the flu so I opted not to go over this time. The treatment is rough enough without catching some bug. Your husband's treatment is going about like mine. The hot/cold stuff for a couple days afterwords really bites but Ibuprofin has really helped out a lot. I started with Tylonol but the Ibuprofen seems to work tons better. I wake up a bit aching and fever but after a coule pills I'm fine for at least 10-12 hours. After the third day I don't need anymore till the next round.

How come he only has 6 months of treatment. I thought 48 weeks was standard.

[This message has been edited by rparsons (edited 04-06-2003).]

Yeah, we sat, took a vote and decided he needs to take up fly-fishing---nope might get a hook in the eye, how about lawn bowling---nope might get a ball in the head...final ideas were shuffle board or backgammon at the local senior center....sis-in-law relayed that to him this morning and he didn't think we were too funny cause it made him laugh....with 3 broken bones in the face...not an easy thing!!

Doctors are confident they can patch him up...I'm sorry he's hurt too but glad he's still alive, a tumble like that could have killed him.

Hubby is reallllly against taking anything. I keep telling him it will help and don't be such a he-man but he says there will come a day when he REALLLLY needs it so he'll wait until then. I keep telling him "honey, you're 45 years old you don't NEED to impress anyone anymore"...teeeheee. He will take the Tylenol 1 hour before injection though. This Friday we were running like banshees---between doctors and sons baseball practice so no Tylenol.

He won't even take his Milk Thistle anymore. No one could really answer on this board or another if it was A-Okay to take during treatment so he opted for NO. He'll start taking it AFTER treatment is over.

Hubby is a genotype 2, for that type it's standard 6 months ( I believe the same holds for geno3's). Geno type 1's are minimum standard 1 year. He also has a lower viral load AND his liver is in really good condition. I think all these things in consideration he'll only need the 24 weeks and so does the doc.

Hi DD,
That is tough about your nephew, I sure hope he has a speedy and complete recovery.

It sure sounds as though your husband is doing well with tx. I will look for your updates with intrest since his his tx parallels my own. Today is shot #4, day 4, for me, on Pegasys. Sides have been pretty good to me,especially last week and this week.

Actually the most difficult side has been the off and on anger and impatience which has surfaced during the past two weeks (God bless my wife and kids).

I am curious if you guys have lab results from the first couple weeks. My baseline ALT/AST was 200/106 at 1 week it was 99/50, at week 2 it is 66/36. I know these #'s dont mean too much, but they sure got me stoked.I go back 4/10 for my week 4 labs.

That is the good news. The thing I have some concern with are WBC's and platelets.I understand they are important to monitor during tx. Since the first of the year my platelets have been going steadily down, 301,293,229,185,145 and last week,140. WBC's did the same thing at 7.9,6.8,6.5,5.1,4.3 and last week,3.9.
I am wondering if you or anyone think this a concern, nurse and Dr did'nt.

Keep up the good work, It is great he is staying active, I think it helps. I actually played basketball for 3 hours today (ouch! average age 25). I started doing this again about a mounth before I began tx (after a 7 month layoff), in the hope that the better the condition I was in would facilitate the tx. Well its a nice thought anyhow.

[This message has been edited by ND7 (edited 04-06-2003).]

Suzy-
Sorry to hear about your nephew, when the doc says "the labs are good, everything looks fine" thats a good thing, they usualy do not do a PCR until the 12 week, so it means all readings are where the should be in tolerable levels.

I like taking the needle in the stomach, grab a pinch, watch Fear factor, jab it straight in, and do not feel a thing, no marks, no bubbles, no blood draw back, I inject it slowly though, many say that makes a differance.

AND what do you mean men cant listen to what women--------man hungry, me go now, man find remote.

He he

Be Positive, Be Well. +



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--Get Outdoors-Enjoy Life----Neil

HI DD,

My thoughts and prayers are with your nephew. Have you tried a humidifier for the nose problems? It has seemed to help me somewhat. I jumped in semi with hubby for a round and he stated I needed anti-depressants, so I best ask dr. for them on my next visit. Keep the faith

RAzberry Montana-

RED head, no anti depressants, small truck- EKKKKK, no, ahh YIKKKKKKKES, um [he he]

Be positive, Be Well+


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--Get Outdoors-Enjoy Life----Neil

when i thought my nose was going to fall off, i saturated as much of the inside of it with petroleum jelly as i could reach. it seemed to help.

http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif good nasal hygiene such as keeping it moisturized is good practice as noses can bleed pretty easy under certain conditions.