Catching up

I decided when I started Interferon treatment that it might be helpful to keep track of it in some way, and a blog came to mind, but since I didn't have internet at home for quite awhile (long, dull story) I had to wait to start this. I now have embarked on my ninth week of treatment, so I have some catching up to do. About three years ago I learned that I have Hepatitis C. I had all sorts of tests, including a liver biopsy, and was told that because my liver was healthy and my viral load was low, Interferon treatment was not indicated. That was just fine with me.

Two years later, I learned that the prevailing opinion had changed, that it was now seen as desirable to treat the disease while the patient was still healthy and young. So I agreed to start treatment. I'm a recovering addict with ten years clean, so I know quite a few people who have done this treatment, and I've seen the gamut of responses. One friend was so sick from it that it was heartbreaking to see her go through it. She would do her shot on Friday night and spend the entire weekend throwing up, then crawl into work on Monday and begin her work week. She would feel somewhat okay by Friday, just in time to do her next shot. That was an extreme example, though. Most of the people I talked to said the treatment just made them feel really tired and a bit nauseated. Some lost their hair, some became anemic, some had flu-like symptoms in the couple of days following the shot each week. And a few had no side effects at all.

I began treatment on March 20, 2009. So far the only side effect I've experienced has been insomnia, and that has steadily improved over the last eight weeks. I take time-release Melatonin to help me get to sleep, and that seems to be enough. My gastroenterologist, Dr. H., who is the sweetest old man I've ever met, told me that I should be the poster child for Interferon treatment. On the down side, my particular virus is proving to be tenacious. I have Genotype 1, which is the most difficult to treat. Other genotypes respond more easily to the drug and patients with these types have only 24 weeks of treatment, as opposed to the 48 I signed up for. Dr. H. told me that the sooner the virus leaves the bloodstream, the better the chances of clearing the disease. My viral load was pretty low in the first place, so I was confident that it would disappear in the first four weeks. I was wrong. It went from 500,000 to 250,000 in the first four weeks. That's not a terrible result, but it's not as good as we were hoping for. I had my second round of labs done last Monday and learned the the viral load had dropped to 8,000 in the second four weeks. Again, not a result to despair over, but not as good as we were hoping for. It's agreed that if the viral load hasn't disappeared from the bloodstream by the twelfth week of treatment, it's pointless to continue, so I'm praying for a result of zero next time. If the virus isn't gone, I have a choice: I can stop treatment entirely and take my chances, or I can try a different type of Interferon, which would entail doing a a shot three times a week instead of one. I wouldn't mind the shots, but if my insurance co-pay goes any higher I won't be able to afford it. I can barely afford it as it is. So we'll all keep our fingers crossed for that zero.

I think that's quite enough for one post. I have more to say about the medical profession, but I'll save that for next time.