Hep c

Had all my hair fall out when I underwent Chemo.  I looked like a 45 year old baby.

Im.hoping it  was just a freak thing and doesn't continue. Otherwise I'm going to be a bald baby too.

Woke this morning at 6:30 am with a lot of energy. Energy I have not felt in years. I cleaned my whole house. Laundry, did the bedding. Cooked dinner and showered. Did my pills with dinner and still feeling good. 

The hair was a little better today so hoping it was that shampoo and not the medication. 

This med is strange. You have good days and bad days. Some days I just want to sleep all day and feel lousy. 

Thanks for the update.  Glad you're continuing to tolerate the treatment with few side effects.  

Yeah , I figure I'll use this as a sort of blog for the treatment duration. I can then reflect back if i need to and so that others who have Hep c  can see how my treatment went. 

Stories of Living Life to the Fullest from Ostomy Advocates I Hollister

Today lots of energy after waking up. When med time came I was busy cleaning and had eaten earlier so I had a bowl of ice cream with my med. Not a good idea. I had major nausea. Lesson learned.....eat with a full meal. I also feel tired but could be from cleaning since 6am this morning. I went through the place with all lysol products. Changed out shower curtain etc. Full days work but the house smells wonderful! Management had them blowing mulch today.... of course give me some more stinky crap outside by my patio! I go from bird deterant spray to mulch now. Can't open windows around here.  Im.exhausted. 

By the way, the birds that were building the nest came back and they tried building again when I noticed that it's a very thin edge they are building on and they are going to realize that hey,  this is not going to work, our eggs will fall off lol!! All that for nothing! Well they did just that and are gone now. 

Glad you're continuing to tolerate treatment well.  My wife's first bottle of meds should arrive soon.

Twice, Hummingbirds built a tiny nest on the wires of my garage Christmas lights.  My garage is detached, so the lights face my backyard.  We leave them up all year.

Each time, 2 tiny eggs were laid.  And each time... Crows got the eggs.  Amazing the Crows could find the nest under the awning.

I was working in the back yard yesterday, and 2 Crows landed on the garage roof.  They walked along the roof edge, peeking at the Christmas lights.  Alas, no nest this year.  Before I could turn on the water hose, they scampered away.  

Several years ago, we had a cat we would let outside.  One summer day, I had the rear door open.  My cat had his nose pressed against the screen door, intently studying the backyard.  I looked, didn't see anything, opened the screen door.  Cat rocketed across the yard, where a Crow had been hiding behind my patio chairs.  Crow tried to fly, but the cat leaped up and snagged a claw on the Crows leg and brought the bird down.  I immediately ran outside, but was too late, cat jumped over the fence.  My neighbor ended up with feathers all over his patio.  After that adventure, we kept the cat inside.

I guess....yur cat..decided to eat crow..than the kibbles and bits🤣😀😄🤔

The crow was nearly as big as the cat.  

My current weasel is small too.  Loves her kibbles and bits... no Crow for her though.

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She refers to me as the Kibble Master....

That's good news about your wife's meds coming soon. The worst part for me is the smelly output. It's really over the top and this morning I think 2 of the undigested pills came out in my bag. They were output colored but hard and the shape of the pills. I'll have to watch. I certainly hope I'm digesting them. It would be a shame. 

That's crazy about those crows. Birds are fascinating actually. Blue Jay's like to steal robben eggs.  I've watched the blue Jay's fighting with them over the nest. Blue Jay's also mimic hawks sounds. Crazy. 

What a cutie pie kitty!

This evenings pills will make my 2 week mark. 6 more weeks to go. That seems so far away. 

Since I've found the 2 of 3  pills in my bag I am questioning am I absorbing this medication. I called the drug company to ask how is this med absorbed as in do you need a colon etc.. unbelievably the company that makes it leave no data of how it absorbs in the body so she is escalating it to higher ups to see if my questions can be answered. They are coated pills but not enteric. 

I also asked if they had other patients who have ostomy and she said there was nothing about patients with ileostomy in thier data. 

So I guess these higher up people will get back to.me in 1-2 business days.  

I'd really hate to think im taking this hard core medication and possibly not absorbing.

I'm wondering if you can grind the pills? 

Based on what I've learned about our digestive system;  Stomach breaks down food, nutrients are absorbed by small intestine, water absorbed by colon.

Hopefully the drug manufacturer can help you with this.  Are you getting periodic blood testing, checking viral load?  If you're showing significant viral decrease, then the pills are working.  It's possible you might need to take them for a longer period of time to compensate for decreased absorption.

Maybe there is a particular food you can eat while taking the pill that would help  with absorption.

 

 

Hi,

Im supposed to get that blood work after being on it for 1 month and then at the 2 month mark. Then I will be seeing the doctor shortly after I'm finished. 

Yea I'm not sure about crushing. I'm waiting to hear back from the pharmaceutical company.  They do make these in pellets for kids but again they are coated and they would have to adjust dose. I'll have to see what they say.  I'll be back to update when I hear from them. 

 

So I still have not heard from them but the hospital.pharmacist told me they can be crushed and taken that way. She says they taste bad so mix with chochlate syrup . I may just mix with applesauce or peanut butter. Chocolate will give diahrhea. She wants Me to do that but I'm going to have to crush with a hammer and a baggie as I don't have a pill crusher. 

The pharmaceutical company says no do cut or crush or chew the tablets but that's about the only answers I can get. I guess I will just keep taking them as is until I hear back from my doctor whom I've messaged. 

If the hammer don't work.... Sledge hammer.

(Ok... a little Beachbum humor)

Haha yes they are about that hard. Im.not going to do it though because the pharmaceutical company says do not crush, split or chew. Just going to ride it out this way with them whole and see if it clears me. 

Any word on when your wife will get her pills? I will be interested in her journey as well with the medication she eill.be taking. 

Coming in the mail from a specialty pharmacy.  Should arrive early next week.

That's great!! So glad she decided to move forward. 

Slept all last night and most of today. Got up around 7 am and then back to.bed till 3:30 PM. Cancelled a doctor appt because i felt too tired.  Lots of energy when I got up. Did not cook but had deli sandwiches and potatoe salad for dinner. Did some dishes and a little laundry. 

Tomorrow evenings pills will be the three week mark. 5 more weeks to go. Counting down. Oh yes counting down. 

It's not that bad but you can't predict anything. Just glad I'm not working thru this. 

 

Just got a call from the hospital specialty pharmacy. They are sending out my last 4 weeks of pills on Monday. I still have 8 days worth now so they are on top of it. 

 

So, the last lot of pills has arrived. I really can't wait till this is over. The smell of my output is absolutely horrible!! Even using M9. I suppose it's the chemicals in the pills. My poor tube wraps smell really bad. 

Been sleeping a whole lot lately. Just not feeling good or wanting to go out. I feel gross.  

Still going the same. Not to much more to report. 

To beachboy, I hope your wife was able to get started by now.

Counting down, three more weeks to go. Bloodwork on Tuesday. I missed three days of pills due to hospitalization but has nothing to do with the treatment so I'm 3 days behind. 

I've gotten my bloodwork back today already and no hepatitis c viral load detected. 

The doctor says I should still finish out my medication. A little less than 3 weeks to go!! Yay!! 

 

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2 weeks to go! I can do this!

Well as they say good news comes with bad news. 

I have had lung nodules for years and I get CT scans yearly to watch them. The one they have always been concerned of has grown and has a high possibility for adenocarcinoma. I have a video visit with my pulmonologist on Tuesday to discuss the findings. 

Prayers please 🙏