Ok, so. Really strange happenings here, but mostly really excellent. I started having stomach probs a couple days ago, and vomiting, leading to me not to be able to take any of my meds and whatnot (ok, yeah. THAT part hasn't been good or excellent, but it gets better)
And if any of you have been reading my neurotic meanderings lately you've seen that I've been concerned with all the excess iron in my system, rising liver enzymes, etc. And also this thing where I just start sweating for no reason, but I'm freezing at the same time, and I feel awful, etc.
So I went to the ER here last night and I was going to get them to send me by ambulance to Huntsville so I could get better in the hospital there and maybe have them start phlebotomy on me. Instead, the doctor ran everything possible on me there at my local ER, and infused me with a bunch of fluids and gave me a shot of phenergan, then pushed two big quatities of the other stuff... zofran. On account of I was puking everywhere, mostly dry heaving because I had no fluids. plus with the other end also. Probably I have a virus.
Right. so you're still wondering about the good stuff. Ok. And, I did that thing RIGHT in front of them where I was freezing and sweating at the same time, and it was so dramatic they couldn't believe I didn't have a fever. And I told them, this happens to me ALL THE TIME, and I feel worse and get more sick to my stomach with IT than anything else I suffered through this entire treatment.
Turns out I was going through withdrawal. Since I hadn't been able to take pain meds in 48 hours. And I've been doing this at intervals my ENTIRE TREATMENT because I didn't realize that when the doctor gives you morphine to take daily you REALLY DO have to take it daily. You can't just say... not take it for three days because you don't happen to be hurting then. Which I have done ALL THROUGH treatment. I have been making myself sick every few days because I'd stop taking it two or three days then start again if I was hurting. I know the doctor prescribed me to take it every day but I felt bad about doing that if I wasn't in pain that day. Hey. I've never done anything more than hydrocodone before if I wasn't getting a shot for a migraine, so I didn't know. So I am going to ask my doctor to start weaning me off this by reducing my dose each time because although I have residual RA from treatment, its not really morphine worthy anymore since I am no longer taking interferon. But boy do I wish I knew about this whole withdrawal deal sooner. I would have had a much easier treatment.
The best news though? My bone marrow has started working again and believe it or not, it has depleted my excess iron stores in the space of only four or five weeks - probably they think, from all of the stores needed to restart my marrow working. I mean from well over 2000 my iron has dropped to... 64. Yep.
And since I am now not on iron overload, my liver enzymes are all back to low normal except one which is barely high. And THAT has come down in only the past two or three weeks. I am really amazed, pleased, the whole nine yards. Still really sick from this stomach virus, but happy as hell to finally be putting all of this behind me. This means I can start getting my strength back and start to look for work again. Really great news and thank all of you for your kind words, prayers, advice, and thoughts in my direction.
Also, everywhere I go I meet health care providers who share with me their own family's issues with hepc. The male nurse I had last night? His dad is also an ER nurse and got hepc from a dirty needle stick but didn't find out until years later. He went through the tx protocol three years ago. He is still SVR.