Thursday, August 12, 2010

Keeping hope alive

Following up on my previous post, I am a casual member of an online forum for people with Hep C. The forum is moderated by a well-known hepatologist. One of the other moderators had a post about the new medications coming out soon and said they show great promise for people with genotypes 1 & 2, but have not shown statistical significance in those with genotype 3. I have genotype 3a. If these studies are true (and I have no reason to believe they are not), I would not be a candidate for the new treatment. Bummer.

But I'm not giving up; I still think I need to see the hepatologist and make sure I am being managed correctly and see what's on the horizon regarding treatment options for me. I can't give up on just a sliver of hope, I just can't. I know it's not much but I simply must believe there is something that might improve my quality of life.

The last 24 hours were awful with lots of pain and flu-like symptoms and a bunch of other symptoms I won't bore you with. I simply can't go on feeling that poorly. A friend was coming to visit, but I had to let her know I wasn't up to visitors. My wonderful husband worked from home today to allow me to sleep and keep a watchful eye. I perked up this afternoon and got a few things done. It's been very hot (high 90's) and humid here and I don't do so well with that, so I stayed indoors.

Please, please do not take your health for granted. If you are blessed with good health, thank God that you can make plans and go about your day without the worry of illness. And for me, I simply must hold on to hope. Even if it's just a sliver.