That is wonderful news it truly gives me hope thanks for posting
Enjoy Enjoy
Baja
Thank you for sharing, it's great to hear how well you're feeling post-tx. I also believe that I will be a "new woman" when tx is finished and I learn I'm SVR. I do look forward to that!
So happy for you!
Lapis
I am so so happy for you.
If my fogged brain remembers correctly, you had HCV for 40 years and you were treating around every other year for 20 years. I cannot even begin to imagine what you have been through with 20 years of this poison in your body and going through 1 treatment after the other, relapsing so many times. Finding the ongoing courage to do it again and again, for 20 years. You truly are a fighter and a tx superhero.
The news of you doing so well is bringing tears of joy to my eyes. I wish you oh so well Eric, may you get even more strength and joy in your life.
All my love to you and Mafalda, who has been fighting together with you. You are a beautiful couple.
Happy Holidays to you two!!!
Marcia
Thank you!...What a beautiful gift this holiday season.
I have been wondering and worrying if I would ever return to being me...or if stopping the disease would stop the damage and I would make the best of it what is left of me...but your post has answered that question....
I sit here with tears of joy welling up in my eyes...not only for you but for me and everyone else who has had to watch themselves slowly die with HCV.
Hope is the greatest gift I will receive this year and it has come from you!
Merry Christmas!
Great news Eric. Kayaking has certainly improved my enjoyment of life! See ya on the water my friend.
I'm so glad that things turned out so well for you. I love reading about people getting their lives back after treating.
I'm hopeful that Vertex will prove to be for many of us what it was for you; a faster and more sure route to SVR.
Thanks for your many informative and thoughtful posts over the years as you negotiated triple therapy and SOC. You are one of the shining points of light. ; )
Willy
Congratulations on your SVR - at last!!! And thank you for passing on a baton of hope to those of us coming up in the ranks.
May you continue healing and living life to the fullest........Pam
We are about the same time frame except for the amount of times treating. So glad you are feeling so good!!
Denise
Kayaking, what a great idea for enjoying working out. We don’t have white water down here but we have an abundance of peaceful bayous to cruise down. I think we have some places that rent them. I am going to check it out. Thanks
What a lovely post to read!
I'm really glad to hear that you are regaining long lost energy and enthusiasm in life.
Happy Holidays to you too.
k
that is so awesome, after such a long and hard battle!
pitter
Very cool post...why not jump from a airplane too....i will if i SVR...ill also buy a big black Harley Davidson and cruise around my home town
It is so amazingly good to read this post.
I cannot thank you enough for sharing your experience with us. Your advice and support have gone a long way towards giving me the confidence and strength to navigate thru my tx and trial.
Everyone of us here deserves SVR, but not too many have had to work sooo long to get it. You have won the battle at last and I wish you all the best in all things!!
Happy Holidays to you and Mafalda.
Isobella
thanks all for the support and good wishes. We all need to dream; it's the best way to deal with all that is on our plate.
Eric
CONGRATULATIONS ! From afar.This is one of the Stories that keep me keepin on.I know if I have problems with tx that people like you had been there, done that and are moving on.The moving on makes me sad because it has taken so much of your life away.Like a prison sentence you didn't deserve.Live life to the FULLEST !
You deserve so much more.This part of your life you deserve to be healthy.Enjoy !Be Careful and Live ! Sounds like your enjoying !
Happy Holidays To You and Yours ! We'll call it," THE GIFT "
Tammy You just made me tear up !
Congratulations on this wonderful occasion, sounds like you persevered and you are on the winning side. So happy for you.
M4now
Hi Eric!
That is excellent news! It gives me great hope to read that things just keep getting better.
I braved the beach today for the first time in over 6 months. My 19 year old nephew is staying with me for a few weeks. I made it to the water's edge and was able to slowly stroll the shoreline for a short way. I had to tell the kid to give me his stuff so that he could go for a jog down the beach, and parked my butt on the sand. An hour later, I was "just ran the NY marathon" exhausted but it was amazing to be at my beloved ocean again!
So next year, this time, I should be harassing small fishes near the reefs! Thank you for reminding us there is a brass ring at the end!
Looks like you nailed it this time around; good to hear life is becoming a new.
jasper
Thanks all - I really do appreciate all the support.
Sunqueen: so glad to hear you made it to the beach!
We are heading to the Virgin Islands in February and I will do some serious snorkelling. Norman Island still has some great reefs. Unfortunately, most of the shallow reefs in the world are dying. For some reason, Norman as been spared and the coral is beautiful.
eric
Thanks, Eric. Strikes right at the core of my apprehensions and hopes. Happy kayaking and I hope you have a Merry Christmas.
Brent
A Kayaker’s “The Night Before Christmas”
‘Twas the night before Christmas at our house on the water,
Not a creature was stirring not even an otter;
The dry bags were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas would drop paddling goodies there;
The children went off to bed without daddling,
Soon their heads were filled with dreams about paddling;
Mamma in her fleece ‘kerchief and me in my wool cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter’s nap,
When out on the water there arose such a splatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what’s the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the water looked the whiteness of snow
It shone the luster of mid-day on the sea shore below,
When what to my wondering eyes did reveal
But a great big old kayak and nine mighty seal,
With a spry old paddler, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than orca on course they soon came,
And a whistle he blew and then shouted their name;
“Now Splasher! Now Bracer! Now Eddie and you Flo!
On Rocker On Roller, Curly, Larry and Moe!
To the top of the dock, and up the beach now Haul!
Now Paddle Away! Paddle Away! Paddle Away All!”
Off the beach, to the air and away they did fly,
With beautiful edge turns silhouetted against the night sky.
Up to the house-top on course they now flew,
With a kayak full of toys, and old St. Nicholas too.
In a twinkling, on the roof, there came such a sound,
The sound of a kayak running aground.
As I grimaced at the noise thinking here must be a hole,
Down the chimney came St. Nick, and snapped up with a roll.
He was dressed in a drysuit from his head to his foot,
And the gortex was tarnished with ashes and soot;
With a bundle of toys on his back which did sag,
He looked like an old paddler carrying a heavy dry bag.
His eyes how they twinkled! His dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his noise like a cherry,
The beard on his chin was as white as sea foam,
It looked like it needed a brush or a comb;
The stump of a whistle he held tight in his teeth,
The cord from the whistle circled his neck like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed like a fish called a Jelly.
He was a happy ol' kayaker, a right jolly old salt,
And I laughed when I saw him, It wasn’t my fault;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
He gave me the high sign, I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
Filled the dry bags with goodies then turned with a jerk,
Laying a finger aside of his little red nose,
A Brace he did do and up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his kayak, to his team blew the whistle,
And away they all paddled like a water borne missile.
I heard him exclaim, ere he paddled out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night.”
“And may happiness and good health always be yours,”
May you always return, safely back to the shore”
- Terry Gowler - Mount Vernon, WA
Pelican Intl.:
©2008 Paddling.net Inc.
I am thrilled for you. You have always been a beacon of hope for me. I would only encourage you to write. You have written words I have really needed to digest. I mean your experiences sailing about is subliminal for me, a way to escape or at least transcend reality vicariously through your eyes. On the flip side I long for your take on your journey fighting the dragon through so many battles - 8 or 9 trials was it? I have tried to figure out your history so I might find a magic key finding SVR.
Please give me and your many admirers your advice for those who have relapsed? What made you not give up? My regards to your other half. Thank you. Happy New Year and Happy New Life