This has been one busy month. Larry and I bought a new home in Bakersfield, CA, which is exactly 100 miles from our Fillmore home. Moving is NOT fun. We are STILL in the process of getting the old house sold, but we are now in the new home and loving it. I have to admit, I miss my Granddaughter something terrible. She has been with us since she was born, and she kept me in good spirits during the last 2 years. I did manage to get Erika to agree to let me have Arianna at least one weekend a month!

My hair has almost completely stopped falling out. I get a bit of it in the brush in the mornings but that's about it. With all the stress from moving, I have even lost some weight. I'm still on the Zoloft, but will most likely get it reduced from 150 mg to 100 mg when I go see my regular Dr.  I haven't had any pain in my liver area, and my labs came back looking really great! I had expected my ALT to go up but shock of all shocks....it went DOWN. Only 3 points, but hey....3 points down is a heck of a lot better than 3 points up! I know they say that the LFT's aren't that important now, but to see them going down instead of up is darned important to me.

I went to the dentist last month and found out some pretty scary news. I have "rampant decay and bone loss". My teeth were not anywhere near in this shape when I started treatment in 1998. I've had 2 molars pulled and now have 2 more teeth that are loose and causing me a ton of pain. I've read that Ribavirin can cause bone loss, and I have heard others say that they have had lots of dental problems after treatment. This is not good, since my dental insurance is nearly worthless. WHY is dental insurance so lousy??

I will only be writing here now when I have my 3 month checks at USC. My next one is in October, and I am due for an Ultrasound then too. I will also have another PCR done in October. It will be interesting to see what that number is, 6 months after stopping the treatment. I must say that I feel so much better being off that stuff. I don't think that I will EVER stick myself with Interferon or swallow Ribavirin again as long as I live. I feel as if I have lost 3 years of my life, and I don't think I have years just hanging around needing to be wasted. I am still fatigued alot, but nothing like when I was treating. Part of it is all the moving too. I did all the packing and unpacking and that is one heck of a job for someone who doesn't really toss anything in the garbage!

I do not regret doing 3 years of treatment, though. I hate to think where I might have been had I not tried all these different forms of Interferon. I know that I wouldn't have died any sooner, but I also believe that doing treatment for so long has slowed the progression of my liver disease. I also believe that this Pegasys is a much better form of Interferon that any of Schering's drugs. The sides were easier to handle, not counting the Ribavirin problems, and I responded much better to Roche's drug.

All in all, I feel that if I were to be told I only had 5 more years to live UNLESS I took these drugs again, I would accept that fact, enjoy the time I had left, and let my faith get me through. I know herbs won't do any good for Hepatitis C, and unless they come up with some new different drug, I'll be happy to go along as I am until it is my time to go. I am satisfied with that, and truly believe that quality of life is MUCH more important than quantity.