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1711722 tn?1356487554

THE FINISH LINE with Victrelis

This is gonna be long…

It’s 7pm and I feel like I should be doing something.  What oh what could it be?? My cell phone alarm is ringing, but……I have no more tx pills to take!!  Wuuuu Huuuuuu!!  The Victrelis bottles are empty, the Monday – Friday pill case of Ribavirin is empty, and the fridge doesn’t have any syringes of Interferon waiting for the Friday Night Darts Club injections. I am done!  I have survived.  I am nauseous and exhausted today, relieved and happy, grateful and humbled.  The last 2 months have been extremely draining for me and I have missed many a post on UND and otherwise.  

How do I even begin to thank everyone in this forum?  For once, I am ‘almost’ at a loss for words.  Almost.  Where else could I make 43+ friends, have over 650 posts (to date) and receive 100 notes…in 10 months…from total strangers??  In the Hep C Community on Med Help, I have encountered the most supportive, honest, and knowledgeable problem solvers.  I have felt GUILTY for enjoying my time here but it gave me such a safety net and sense of purpose at the same time.  While family grows weary of the week by week details (of which I am certain I gave too much), this is full of members willing to listen and lend encouragement.  THANK YOU AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU & YOURS, right where you are.

This process has taken me through many stages: DENIAL – How can I have this??  I have no idea how I got Hep C; ACCEPTANCE – Okay, my tests keep showing my Viral Load is chronic; FEAR – My life just got shorter; DECISION – being African American, it made no sense to me to treat, as odds were so low, but the new P.I.’s offered much more hope, so I finally agreed; TREATMENT – September 1st,  2011 – March 16th, 2012.

I don’t have any labs to report at this time (UND at week 21) but expect to in one month.

For all my cyber-friends, official and otherwise…….YOU ROCK!!  I will always appreciate you more than you can ever know.  Wishing the very best for EVERYONE, and giving a special shout out to those who started this journey in September/October with me, just as scared to walk through that door:

Aj7538! Arlenedupee! Brianmo! Cieritaqt! Coeric! Dee1956! Dreamcat! Hondapatches! Jillybean! Indy531! Libzo2! Livingontheedge! Mykids247! Needinghelp213 (wishing you well) PJHep! Pooh55811! Screaming48! Starshine1ca! Vannh9!

Special thanks MUST also go to Frijole, for maintaining spreadsheets, from which I got most of the start dates.

Thank you to ALL the experts here for sharing your journies and advice, and also to the volunteer moderators (Claire and Emily).  And most, most of all, I give thanks to God, for whom I could never have done this without.  Time will tell if I am off and running to SVR-land (as ElPasolady would say)!

Blessings Always,
Bee :)
46 Responses
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1654177 tn?1319838494
Hey you! I'm so happy for you! You have remained so positive, and your posts really helped me through! Now we get to support new people who are scared and unsure! How do you feel today?
Helpful - 0
163305 tn?1333668571
I finished tx this week.
Monday I saw the NP at the liver clinic. She said it takes about a month to see changes in our blood counts.

I'm sure our tiredness is our bodies making us rest so it can do the work of healing. Although I make sure to take my walk daily, I'm giving in to letting my body heal, the rest of the time.

Last night I made an appointment to get a massage, out with the old and in with the new, healthier us !
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Everyday that goes on is one more day your system is free of treatment drugs and working to get you back to normal.  i have heard it can take a few months to feel better, it was a long treatment, it makes sense that it will take some time to clear your system of the medication.  

Probably hard to not want to just start doing your normal routine though, but please take it easy and remember you are in recovery phase now...Baby yourself, before you know it you will start to feel like your old self!
Helpful - 0
1995824 tn?1330379049
Congratulations on finishing! I didn't see this post earlier, but congrats are always in order. Watch that anemia carefully and give your body some extra nurturing as you start the road to recovery without drugs. This will, indeed, be a blessed time for you!
Thanks, too, for your comments and encouragement on my posts. You are a bright ray of sunshine!

Bless!
Helpful - 0
1711722 tn?1356487554
5 DAYS LATER........
I almost passed out at the mall tonight.  A guy came to see about me to make sure I was alright, so I thanked him and told him I was battling Anemia.  Didn't really think of shopping as anything real strenuous (sp), but I am obviously not quite up to speed just yet and know I am also fighting Vertigo again.  Still having other side effects and know it will take some time for my system to re-adjust.  What fun.

Many thanks again for ALL of your wonderful comments.  You know that column that runs on the right side of the page?  The part that shows the Top Answerers??  Well, I clicked on a link and here is what it says (Needless to say.....THANK YOU to all the Top Answerers for your time, wisdom and support):
====================
TOP ANSWERERS
Who are Top Answerers?
Thanks to all the members who are an integral part of the community, MedHelp has become a destination for people looking for answers to their medical questions. As the community has grown, so has the number of questions on the site. While the top community members devote time each day to helping others get answers or support in their time of need, there seem to always be more questions than answers.
In order to continue fostering a community where people can come to find support, we want to highlight our members who provide a lot of that support. Members will see an icon following the user names of the top answerers in each community based upon how many people they have helped and the quality of their answers. We hope that MedHelp will continue to be a place where people can find help and support.
What are Badges?
The icons following a user name are called Badges and represent the level of help and support provided to the community. There will be a formula that determines achievement of different levels of Badges and, in general, it may be influenced by the following factors: community response to your messages and the amount of contributions that a user makes to the forums. This ensures that the people we recognize as being the most helpful are helping as many people as possible through quality answers.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Bee,  so happy for you and glad to hear you are done and recovering from this ordeal!  This treatment wasn't easy, without the help of this forum, many of us would have had a much harder tx.  You are in my thoughts as you heal.  I am sure you will SVR and I will be right there with you!
Helpful - 0
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