Day 3

Hey there, Jimbo, I don't normally even look in here... I usually go in the "News - Friends - Prayers and more" message board (same web pages, different section). I stumbled onto your post here while going through the web site.

Sounds like you've started taking care of business. The things you're going through are typical, and I've gone through it twice now, well, I'm on my second treatment now. But, yeah it's not exactly a cake walk. I was wondering about the lack of motivation, too. I ran into the same problem. I think it may be from the mammoth stress that any life threatening disease leaves you with. Stress kills. It's an old cliche, but quite true.

I think the key is to understand that, and to also understand that the medications have a party at our expense, tearing us up one end and down the other. I feel like a cheap Saigon hooker after a Friday night with the troops. The medications lower your white blood cells pretty good, and that makes you feel anemic. You aren't supposed to take any iron or iron supplements, and not supposed to eat things with a lot of iron in them, like spinnach and so on. So, they don't want us to try to build up our strength by adding the thing that would raise our white blood cell count, and where does that leave us? It means we will continue to feel extreme fatigue, worn out and no energy, usually irritable, achy and with a low fever around 99 to 100 degrees or so, and a lot of us will feel many other sides, like with me it's memory and concentration difficulties, headaches, bloating, itching, abdominal pain, diahrrea, frequent urination (like you mentioned), a feeling of heart strain, and the list goes on.

Face it, you're going to feel these effects all the way through, some days you'll feel a little better, other days worse, but as long as the med's are in you, you will get the sides. They cause an imbalance in your body's normal chemistry and raise the ammonia level in your blood, and that alone can be hard for your metabolism to adjust to. We are a delicate balance of chemistry and many interactive systems (musculo-skeletal, central nervous system, and so on) and for our bodies to make such drastic changes, AND deal with a mountainous ball of stress like this is just pushing the envelope on how much we are capable of dealing with. So what you're feeling is the exact thing you can expect to feel, it's the nature of the beast.

As far as the frequent urination, I've taken a plastic bottle with me on long road trips and just whipped it out and poked it in and let 'er flow. Cap the bottle and your still truckin'. When you reach your stop, toss it in the trash and find another bottle. Works for me. Of course you need to keep an eye on the road and it gets a little tricky, but after a time or two you get the hang of it. And don't get caught with your joystick hanging out or they might think you were getting happy. If you're on a motorcycle then you're sh-t out of luck. Stopping a lot to pee when you're driving is a pain in the ass, but sometimes you just have no other choice. And remember, holding it in is bad for you.

Write more, and let us know what other concerns you have. I think there's more folks in the "News - Friends - Prayers and more" message board than in here, so if you feel so inclined, pop on over and write. I'll try to check in here more often and see if you've written any more. Look man, we're all in this together, and we all care about each other like a family should. There's nothing you can't tell us, and we love to be of help, so please feel comfortable and welcome in here. We're no better than you, we're in the same boat going over the same rough sea's, so grab an oar, brother, and let's get through this squall together. I'll be praying for you, man, and I hope you can manage to keep that job. If they wonder about why you're getting up to go to the restroom so much, just tell them you're having some digestive problems. It's really none of their business. You could also say that your doctor ordered you to start drinking a lot of water each day and this is the normal response to that... peeing. Sounds logical, and how can they argue with logic?

God bless.