Hep C FREE (at last)!

 "So long ago, I had concluded that I would be carrying this disease for life, hoping I would die (of old age) before the virus could kill me. Never did I consider I would be cured... "

Today's the day!  Well, truth be told...I found out the lab results last Friday, August 9th, on my mom's birthday. What an awesome present for her and me!  By faith, I expected the results to be what they are, but I still got all choked up when the nurse told me the news by phone.

Guess what else! This day, August 15th, just so happens to be my spouse's birthday! Yeah! We both received gifts on his birthday! Too funny.  Well, in a way, being free of Hep C is a sort of "rebirth."  So...Happy Birthday to us! Ha, ha! I wondered how he felt with me "hijacking" his birthday, and all.  He said he doesn't feel that way at all. This is a gift for him too.  (Aw....)
Here's how THE DAY went...

3 Months Post - So far so good...

3 months post treatment and my viral count is still undetectable! AWESOME!

Physically I'm returning to "normal" - whatever that really means. I'm exercising regularly, though my endurance is still lagging.

I no longer experience dizziness or exhaustion from medial tasks. I can do physical activities like errands and cooking - in the same day, and not "pay for it the next day (ie, laid up on the couch because my muscles are sore and I'm running a low grade fever). HURRAY!

My brain seems a little sluggish though. Well...my brain was on drugs, so... My short term memory and my ability to remember lists and numbers may be gone forever. My recall (names, faces, dates) is kinda sluggish too, on some days. This is in comparison to a year ago, before treatment started. What's a girl to do? Oh well... that's what smart phones are for anyway...

Odd thing happened... A few weeks ago I got the flu. What?! The flu - in May? Yep. But that's not what's odd. See, I hardly ever get sick. Hardly. I mean, other than getting cancer and a blood virus. Seriously! I never hardly ever get like, "normal" sick. So when I shared with my friend Monica that I had the flu - that it sucked, required me to stop exercising, and I hadn't bounced back AND it had been like 5 days since it left - she smiled and quipped, "Consider yourself becoming 'normal!'" ...Cute one...

So according to her logic, I guess I should be glad to get the flu. It's a part of being "normal" - or someone who is free of cancer and blood viruses.

I guess this "normal" thing may not be all it's cracked up to be. Hee, hee, hee!!!?? -- uh...no.

I'll post again in another 3 months when - by faith - I am still an "Undie" and get discharged from Mayo Clinic! ...That's what I'm talkin' bout... :-)

Peace.

One Year Later: I Like the Progress. I Hate the Process.

A year ago today was the first day of my triple therapy treatment for Hepatitis C. Wow! A year ago today, I tried to imagine myself here and couldn't do it. It was too painful and too overwhelming to dream about it being over, when I was just getting started.

Now that treatment has been over for 3 weeks, I am anxious to get on with life, but my body isn't yet. I hate that. I'm SO ready to get on with it! (typical me...) I HAVE noticed some improvements though!

1 Week AFTER: I feel like crap

So I'm one week past treatment, or 1 week post-treatment.  How am I feeling?  Am I doing a happy dance? Am I back to my old self?  Isn't life just - like - completely different in a more awesome way now?

...No...

48 Weeks: I MADE IT!

I didn't quit! I stayed the course. And I'm SO glad it's over!　I was really ready. I miss me...

I miss my spunk and I'm tired of being tired.

What will life be like now?

The same?
Hope not.

Worse?
Not if I can help it.