TOPIC:

Bloot wrote: The only time I have actively thought about a hep death is during tx when i researched how to get my hands on Nembutal in case I do ever need to die on my terms rather than some medical practitioners

Stats show people with a gun in the house are more likely to use it if they want to suicide. Don't get the Nembutal!

Anyhoo, as I've been scorned for before, I do like a drink and it's fast approaching beer o clock
So if you excuse me i'm going to smoke a reefer to get the thirst going

Good thinking. You can smoke and drink but you can't drink and smoke.

This has been a FANTASTIC early morning read
I'm loving Bloots image
Reefer in hand and a beer are you chillaxing or what! And the honesty about lifestyle and knowing people who have died
I'm in this group because I too have lost friends or their dads have died already
Just depends what era their band was ie the 60's like my friends dads or the late 70's to 80s like my friends
Me, I don't do anything like booze or reefers but it sounds like a lovely evenings relaxation for sure.
Well this little entry has nothing to do with the topic post tx on DAAs but I read the blogs here
I don't think I will ever drink again I haven't drunk a drop in around seven years and I don't really like the smell anymore it puts me right off
Post this tx I am going straight to Queensland to surf with my bestie
Not many ladies my age surf so we stick together and I can't wait to get up north and surf Snapper Rocks again with my buddy
As to heading down to Nimbin nope too old now lol and I'm a health fanatic actually!
My drug of choice is the waves but I did love the image of Bloot great writing
I saw a silk smoking jacket, feet up and a big grin
Splashes
Ariel

Ha ha, great story Ariel! I hope you offered the JWs a spliff?

BAHAHAHAAAA Vororro!!
They must've liked me because they reappeared a few times

He-he!! Imagine if just one spliff is all it took for all the JWs in the world to turn Rasta and go around knocking on doors to spread the Hep-C word!?

"Honey, You know I gave up cigarettes for my New Year's resolution, but I ain't never going to give up smokin"



Gee, I hope I don't get banned for posting this. I would miss all you guys and gals!

Hey Ariel, I was at Snapper Rocks at sunset yesterday - bliss. It was low tide so I could stand on the rocks and get close to the action. Loads of surfers, perfect little break.

And Dr James phoned me yesterday with good news that my SVR4 test came back UND.

My post-treatment reflections? More energy, more stamina, more engaged with life, just plain HAPPIER.

And very GRATEFUL.

Great stuff, Joy! This is how it should be!

Joy that is wonderful news!!!!!!!!!

I'm only SVR6 weeks but it just gets better and better.

Bloot wrote
"It was the double whammy of having hep on my mind that led me to dwell on past family experiences that I feel contributed to my drug use and self loathing which led to my hep
But with a holiday i felt heaps better and back to not giving the whole hep or family thing much thought at all - a much better state of mind

I have been virus undetected since week 4 but have felt no different during the treatment at all
I can honestly say I feel no better or no worse than before i started - I was even worried they were placebos initially lol except for the taste
I originally was taking them at night as I thought they could make me nauseous
As they didn't i changed to mornings so I could drink more water after taking them (a bit dehydrating)

I guess my biggest reflection has been the belief that the hep has overall been a positive in my life
It has forced me to concentrate a lot on my health and wellbeing
i have never actively thought about the complications, only about what i can do to lead a normal healthy life
The only time I have actively thought about a hep death is during tx when i researched how to get my hands on Nembutal in case I do ever need to die on my terms...."

Thank you Bloot for sharing, I certainly relate to the 'family' crap that my brother and I were enduring 35+ years ago which led to our self-destructive behaviour.
I too have wondered what is in these Magic Pills - not so much placebo effect - but I'm so used to bad side effects of meds. With this I'm feeling more energetic and less anxious, even remarkably calm and relaxed at times. Being highly suspicious of pharmaceutical companies I actually wondered if they'd slipped in something else

I am grateful too that having Hep C has made me very conscious of my health, I have been very sensitive to lots of foods and chemicals etc, so diet restrictions are the norm. I've been concerned about my learned self-medicating behaviours, drinking to deal with depression and anxiety, and family history. So, I've made more effort to monitor myself knowing my weaknesses. But, I have often thought about death and would love to think I could do it on my terms, if only we had that sort of control, in some situations we get forewarning and I suppose that's when you might make a plan.

My father died at 51 yrs from cirrhosis, he hit the bottle hard when my mother left him and harder still when he couldn't work anymore because he was crippled from arthritis. He'd worked in the family business since he was a kid, hard manual labour with long hours on his feet, it was such a big part of his identity. So bizarre that he was fanatical about health and alternative medicine, wouldn't touch meds of any kind and couldn't drag him to a DR. Yet, he drank to self-medicate and worst of all his neighbours found him very ill, kidneys failing, and rushed him to hospital, against his objections.
When I was tracked down and went to see him the hospital staff told us he had cirrhosis and he needed fluid drained etc BUT they told us he would be coming home within a few weeks. No-one told me or my brothers that he wasn't going to make it.
So we would all go and visit and tell funny stories to cheer him up and then have the nurses come and go mad at us for laughing, because 'people were sick!' - you don't dare laugh in hospital in front of sick people!!!

To get the call that he was dead - I didn't believe it - I was in shock for a couple of years. I moved back to QLD and would think he was still down 'home' and I kept going to call him.
My brothers took it very hard too and spiralled out of control. My younger brother who had lived with his father since mum left, when he was 8 yo, lost his father, his home and himself. He died at 41 yrs, 3 yrs ago, drug misadventure - mysterious circumstances that I will never get answers to. We were so close and I lost a part of myself then.

My other brother, 51 yrs, has cirrhosis and HCV and still drinks, drugs etc. He told me once that he 'believed' he was going to die like his father because people (Mum) kept telling him he was just like him. He probably will...
My cousin who was part of the whole youthful drug adventure all those 35 yrs ago, also died at 51 yrs - beaten to death in Cambodia - 4 yrs ago.
So, losses weigh heavily

I stopped drinking before Tx and have continued to but Bloot sure do wish I was there lighting up with you, it's been quite awhile and I really have always enjoyed a good puff

On a lighter note, Ariel what a hilarious story about the JW's! OMG! When my father had to retire early, he would sit at the table drinking and it was always a half-way house for my bro's mates, so plenty of young crew hanging around out the back shed, smoking cones. They would argue over who's turn it was to go in the house to wash the bong out because no-one wanted to be 'trapped' with Dad having a deep philosophical conversation - actually usually a monologue
The JW's would come around, he couldn't walk, so he'd yell out for them to come on in, make themselves a cuppa and sit down. They'd become HIS hostages as he'd debate about religion and anything else that arose
They would actually have their team come and rescue them to leave - so hilarious because he really enjoyed turning the tables on them!

JOY, What fantastic news for you both test results and a healthier YOU

Always grateful for the sharing here, big EHUGs to you all

Hi Lynn,

I felt very similar toward the end, I really wish I drank more water than I did. Hang in there its just a transient phase,
it didnt last for me, I actually ended up getting a period (and I just turned 55) about a week after I stopped the Harvoni.

Chejai, I just had to say I really, really can relate to your story from beginning to end. From the troubling environment that led to aquiring hepc to loosing a sibling to substance abuse, to having to patrol my own temptation to drink more than what would be good for health. Walking along right behind you in tx. Thanks for sharing.

Hello everyone I think I am on the right post for this. I was reading on another post to Ariels that her blood pressure was sky high., I have always had a low blood pressure reading but it is now 180/102! Scary......has been high for a little while before I started my treatment so don't think it was that.....is high blood pressure a symptom of Hep C? I had it taken on Monday by the health assessor who comes to our work and it was 180/102.....am having my SVR4 blood test next week and will catch up with y my GP after that for results......

Wishing you well Lynne for your 4 week EOT it will be nice to get that one out of the way.

I finished my 12 week course today and had bloods taken, its going to feel weird not having my pills in the morning.

Congratulations Tina. It is my last day as well. Going to get blood test tomorrow