HEALTH UPDATE: FEBRUARY 17, 2005
I'm still trying to hang in there on treatments for the Hep C. I lost 11 pounds of weight since beginning the treatment on September 17. The treatments make me very sick with an injection of 180 mg Interferon once a week and (5) 200 mg Ribavirin antiviral capsules daily. I do my injections every Friday or Saturday, so I feel the worst over my weekend. I have needed to take Mondays off too before trying to return to work Tuesday.
I'm still working, but taking lots more time off with the side effects the medicines are causing. The medicines have now made me chronic anemic and at my January doctor appointment he had me cut back my injection dose in half, hoping my blood counts would rebound some and let me continue on treatments. The Roche drug representative that stops to see me, because I run a support group here for Hep C, said the down side is that reducing the dose could let the virus rebound too. I see my doctor again next Tuesday and should find out how things are going.
Recently I've developed a skin condition (disease), called Porphyria Cutanea Tarda (PCT). I found out in a recent issue of DAV Magazine that this is a presumptive condition for Agent Orange exposure. Every time I think I have all that I can handle, something new comes along to make things worse.
I don't know how much more I can deal with, and this Agent Orange thing brings along a lot of cancer possibilities. I just keep pushing forward and hoping I can keep myself above it all, be positive and deal with it some how.
Keep me in your prayers.
Your friend always,
Dennis