Hi Everybody! Finally finished tx, now what?

[mountainair]

Sorry to miss so much on the Forum lately - lots of dynamics these days! - the last few months on tx it seems it was all I could do to just breathe!

So - quick recap on my tx story -  I did the first 28 wks in the bocep anemia trial, then when they dumped me because of the "new protocol" I continued with SOC to the full 48 wks (with procrit the second half).  My personal hep c doc and I were concerned about the RGT in combination with the significant dose reductions I had experienced during the trial in the 'dose reduction arm'.   Stilll UND at eot (since wk 6), so I'm hopeful, but don't want to jinx anything - LOL

I finished about a week ago and today I am finally starting to feel a bit better.
WooHOO!  Today I was able to open a jar with no tools - just my hands!!!  It's the little things as well as the big things that can mark progress and make a difference (so said spectda).

Finally - the question!  Should I replace all my personal care products?  Is there a risk of re-infection from my own razor/hairbrush etc.?   I am still trying to clear up the mouth sores, scalp sores and this persistent folliculitis I've had since since starting tx.  I've been taking an oral antibiotic since wk 30 and am still on the doxycycline trying to clear it all up.  Of course, I forgot to ask the doc today...My mind will come back, right? - maybe it won't matter anyway - today I feel *giddy*

I couldn't have done this without all of you, so a great big THANK YOU!!  for sharing your experience, research and thoughts: Dave (can't wait for our 3 mo post-tx labs!), Bill (I'd have missed out on on the help from this forum without you), willing (clear thinking and data, data, data - soothes my engineering mind & soul), positude, trinity and so many others who posted, but I may not have corresponded with directly.  You are the bEST and you are making a difference!

Lynda

[spectda]

"I'm looking more like Osama each day. Even the dog no longer thinks I'm beautiful, but IMO he's not about to win any beauty contests either."

Maybe he's pissed that he didn't get the 25 mil for turning you in, that's a lot of alpo (or steak)  :)

[spectda]

HI Lynda-
Before long opening jars with your bare hands could even turn into flying through the air or building rocket ships, the possibilities are endless my dear friend! :)

I agree, throw out the old stuff even if there is no chance of getting anything it's a new begining.

As we've talked about many times before you responded so well to the lead in that your chances of svr with having added 24 weeks of boceprevir and treating to 48 are way up there.
Hopefully well be posting some good news in a few months.

Now we can have conversations that don't sound like we are in the alzheimer's ward, lol

-Dave

[willing]

"Are you sure there aren't a few wrinkled noses .."
Don't want to brag, but when the riba's running right I can wilt a potted fern at 10 feet -  no problem;   I try to avoid showing off at work though.

Besides, I have conclusive evidence the dog smells. I'm babysitting my daughter's grand-dog for the summer and now have to leave  both windows of the truck rolled down. He does give me daily lessons on what it means to have a great attitude however, so it's well worth it.

[James10500]

Congrats !!  Good luck to you with your recovery, and SVR.

[eureka254]

mountainair:
Good luck with recovery, and best wishes for a lifetime of undetected!

willing:
"... I still smell better. I've been getting some strange looks at work though..."
Are you sure there aren't a few wrinkled noses amongst the strange looks? ;)

[willing]

many thanks for the good wishes Lynda - the clock may have slowed (maybe it's the heat?) but you're proof  it's still ticking. Strangely enough I've stopped shaving during tx too - I'm looking more like Osama each day. Even the dog no longer thinks I'm beautiful, but IMO he's not about to win any beauty contests either. And I still smell better. I've been getting some strange looks at work though. Maybe I should take Deb's advice and add a wig to complete my ZZ Top look?

I wouldn't sweat the end of tx ifn reduction. No conclusive  evidence, but I think the work out of Barbara  Rehermann's lab (my nomination for hcv researcher of the year).
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19587449
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21040725
makes a good  case that gradual reduction in ifn dosing at eot is a good strategy.

Good luck with the recovery!

[can-do-man]

Congrats on finishing, being und sense week 6 is great to hear, as for the other things go tossing it might make you feel better but as for reinfecting yourself after this many weeks, well chances are that would have already happened.......... On to SVR you go.

cando

[mountainair]

Hang in there, friend!  The last two months I felt the same way.  It was like I had lost the ability to imagine any other life but sick and fatigue.  In some ways it was worse than the horrible depression I got around wk 30.  

I actually have thought about leaving the country *chuckle*.  I had been saving up my vacation time to go on an extended trip to africa when the hep C and cancer took over my life.  Now it looks like there really IS a future!!  I don't know who I'll be, but it looks like I'll be somebody...

Thanks for the tips - I was kind of thinking along those lines - I was changing my toothbrush every week because of all the mouth issues.  And frankly I gave up shaving anything for a while during tx - wasn't feeling very beautiful anyway!  I just didn't know how likely the virus was to be able to survive on such surfaces - like hairbrushes, lipstick etc, etc. But it is a new dawn and I might as well get new stuff!  Gotta keep the house, tho - that's a continuous project I've been working on for 23 years!!

I hope the ifn was enough, I had to cut back to 100 mcg the last 8 wks again because it was just TOO much and I would stare at that syringe for hours and had to beat myself with a stick to make myself take it.  The sx from that never eased up for me during tx.

I know you're going to make it!  Keeping in contact with other people going thru this really helped me (despite my introverted nature) and of course - real data helps when you can get it, but ya' can't always get the data you want!

I am one of MANY who are pulling for you!

[Bill1954]

Hi Lynda,

Welcome back to the other side; nice to hear you made it in one piece. I’m unaware of any evidence suggesting HCV survives intact for more than a few days on environmental surfaces; but if you’re using the same toothbrush you started treatment with it’s probably time to change it out anyway :o).

Good luck with the skin issues; I imagine they’ll slowly resolve along with the rest of the nasties. I’d developed a couple of strange injection site umm… lumps and some minor numbness or neuropathy where I was injecting IFN; these persisted for several months before fading from body and mind... hopefully you’ll have a similar experience.

And of course the clock starts again, as you wait out the upcoming tests. Be sure to swing in and let us know the final outcome, yes?

Take care of yourself,

Bill

[willing]

there's an  end?  From where I'm looking, w27,  I don't believe a word of it.The calendar may show time is moving but deep in my heart I know it's lying and this will go on forever. So your evidence to the contrary is very welcome.

I'd toss the tooth-brushes and razors, in fact maybe  burn the house and leave the country! It's a new beginning (though in fact the chance of any virus having survived on those surfaces is infinitesimal).

That 3 log drop from lead-in shows you had plenty of ifn horsepower to finish the job, hopefully boce did the rest. Enjoy!

[Mary4now]

congratulations on that light at the end of the tunnel.......