10 more shots to go

[Cyndi]

Hello

I have 10 more shots to go.    I am still showing No HCV RNA detected at this time.

The concern I have is the anemia and fatique happening here.  I just checked my labs with the hospital on line and my all my cbc are low --wbc 3.8, hgb 10.8, pcv 34, plt-ct 70, rbc 3.24 mcv 105, mch 33.3 mchc 31.7 rdw 14.4 smear r> and the lym is 19.4 and the lym abs .74

I have heard about procrit but not sure when this would be needed.  Anyone have any experience strenght and hope on this please??

Thanks Cyndi
ONE DAY AT A TIME

[Dude]

Hi Cyndi, good to see you. The low white blood cell count is common when you're treating. The meds make that happen, so after you've completeld them, the wbc count should return to normal. The others I'm a bit hazy on. I'd make a list of questions to take with you and ask the gastro doctor about them. Everyone becomes concerned about the heavy anemic feelings we get while treating. My concern now (one of them anyway) is that I'm still chronically tired all the time, long after having stopped treatment.

I don't know if the tiredness follows everyone after treatments, but for me it has. As for Procrit, I've heard a lot about that, too, but never took it, so I'd be a lousey source for input there. But I'm sure someone here will hop up and write about their feelings about it, and whether or not they've taken it. For me, I've always decided that the less I can put into my body, and ultimately into my liver for processing, the better off I'll be. If I continually add more and more drugs for this and that, my liver is taxed each time I do it. I want my liver to have the best chance of fighting the dragon off, and keeping it at bay. I say that, yet a couple of night ago I drank a bottle of French wine with my neighbor. Go figure.

Manage stress as good as you can. Feelings like being anemic can wear on you after a while. And we already have to deal with the heavy stress of having a monster eating our liver up, and for those of us on treatments there's all the side effects we deal with. Stress management is crucial for us to heal. Faith is one of the best ways to manage stress, so I highly recommend utilizing the faith within you.

Good luck, Cyndi, and I hope others can help you more than I tried to.

God bless.

[linda]

hi cyndi.  welcome back!!  since i'm not tx'ing, i can't help you out with a personal experience, but i can tell ya you're in the right place to get your answers AND be encouraged and given hope!!!   ((((((((((CYNDI))))))))))  keep posting!!!   ~~~linda~~~

[OZ]

Cindi
Welcome.  I remember the countdown of those last few shots.  Seemed like it took forever.  It will soon be over.  I look back now and I wonder how I managed a year of treatment.
Regarding your labs:  Although your WBC's may be low, they are not what is called a "critical value".  Even more important than the wbc's is the absolute neutrophil count.  That may or may not be listed on your lab results.  If not, the docs can do an easy calculation based on some of your other numbers.  The low white count, even if it were critical would not cause fatigue.  A low white count puts you at risk for infections.  The most common ones we get on treatment are bacterial and fungal.  I had both.  Dental, bronchial, urinary tract, thrush.  It was not a fun time.  The interferon boosts your immune system, but only toward viral infections. 
My doc's cut off point for procrit was 10.  Once my Hemoglobin was lower than 10, I was put on procrit weekly.  Ask your doc.  They may be able to give you some. It is expensive and most insurance companies require precertification.  It may make you feel less fatigued.  It is hard to know if the fatigue is caused from anemia or as a direct side effect of the meds.  Fatigue can also be related to depression. 
Once treatment was finished, I stopped the procrit right away.  My WBC and Hemoglobin returned to normal within 2 months. 
I was fatigued for quite awhile after I finished treatment.  I can say now that I have a lot less fatigue than I did for years.  And I actually feel better than I have in years. 
Hang in there.  There is a light at the end of the tunnel.
OZ

[Cyndi]

Hi

I really apprecitae the responses and the encouragement. Took a shot today so only 9 more to go now...

I am running here with some fear that I don't need to allow to consume me, it is a struggle.  I was laid off my job a month ago. I had been there 4 1/2 years.  And my youngest son was married last July and now his wife of 9 months has left him for another man. He is handling that well, I'm just trying to not let all that stuff....stay in my head and work on the demon of depression along with my illness....You know really if I look at this right 95 % of my life is going good and only 5% is not.  So I have a choice on which precentage I need to dwell on....not too hard to figure out just hard for me to do right now.  Keep on keeping on and maybe I will be able to fake it til I make it.

Thanks Oz for reminding me there is a light at the end of the tunnel...it is GOD not a train. My Hemoglobin is at 10.8 as of last week.  All the other blood test I wrote about is related to the platelet and Red Blood Counts which are all messed up.  Also thanks for letting me know that after 2 months your blood counts return to normal.  That is good to know..Looking foward to feeling better after treatment than I have in years.

Thanks Linda for letting me know I am in the right place for to get my answers AND be encouraged and given hope!!! I need all I can get at this time and will be glad when I feel I can give back to help someone else sometime.

Thanks Caddude for telling me some of what you have gone through and continue to work on stress management and my faith.  My faith is what has helped me stay going and I really believe God has a plan and it will be taken care of in his time, but I have to take it ONE DAY AT A TIME stay active as much as I can and work hard on changing my thoughts to postivie thoughts and getting off my lorals and get moving.  It is hard when you really just don't feel very good.

Sincerely Cyndi
ONE DAY AT A TIME

[Dude]

Hi Cyndi. I wanted to add another perspective. I was at the lowest point in my life after about my third week of meds (first time around). Things got a lot worse later on, but at that time I thought this was it. Somewhere along the way I began to grab hold of my Bible and get into the scriptures. At some point I decided that all this was something I had to go through for some reason I couldn't understand just yet. But I decided to just trust God in all this, and let go of all the fears and uncertainty. And although my whole material life was crumbling around me, I began to hold together. It then became as if I was in the Bible, walking through the valley of the shadow of death, and God was telling me I didn't have to fear any evil thing, that I could trust Him and things would manage themselves in their own time, in their own way. This was the valley of the shadow of death, so naturally I felt overwhelmed. But I didn't have to. I knew if I just put all my faith and trust in God I could make it all the way through and survive it, and maybe even be better for it.

Then the first treatment failed. But by then I had already established an undying faith, and had invested all that I had in my fight, so I certainly wasn't going to go cry in the corner and die. It made me more determined to win the fight. The dragon was just a dragon, and I was a power-filled spirit. So I put on my armor and went back to battle a second time. We all have resilience, we just never know how much until we're put to the test.

So gird up your loins and get in there and win.

God bless.

(p.s. You seem to be a tough cookie. Never give in! Win this one for all the good God gave you. It's not over till you say it's over. Never say it's over until you have complete and total victory. Don't settle for anything less.)

[kentucky]

I take procrit weekly, my hemoglobin is now 9.8. Before procrit was prescribed they reduced my riba dosage from 800 to 600 to 400 then none. I was taken off tx for 1 week and then prescribed procrit. It's made a big difference for me.

[Joni]

Cyndi,

Congrats on coming to the end of TX, but it does seem like forever.  About 5-6 months into tx, my blood counts started dropping low.  Because of reading about other's experiences with low blood counts and either slowing down or having to stop tx, I became proactive and asked my doctor for procrit.  He agreed to add it on and I took a shot a week until the end of tx.  It really helped a lot.  My blood counts came up a bit and i was less fatigued and able to finish tx. 

Good luck and as Oz said, the light at the end of the tx tunnel is getting bigger.  hang in there.

Joni