I've been going through some weird withdrawals from the meds - headaches mostly. I was having them every day for about 3 weeks after stopping the treatment, but by the middle of the month they were going away. I've also had diarrhea every time I eat and that continues. Hopefully, my body will get rid of all these meds and any residue from them soon and I'll begin to feel better. I do have much more energy now that I'm not on anything. My sleep pattern seems to be getting back to normal as well. My hair is still coming out, but nowhere near like it was a month ago. I've also noticed that my skin is not as dry as it was, nor does it itch like it did. I'm still itching, but nothing like before.  It's nice to see some of these side effects taper off and go away. I've noticed that my inability to concentrate has improved quite a bit since stopping treatment too. I don't seem to be as confused as before, although my memory isn't getting any better.

I had an Endoscopy as part of the study. I was pretty nervous about it, because I've never had one before. What a BREEZE it was!! They give you something called Conscience Sedation. I remember handing the nurse my glasses.....then waking up. The whole thing took about 15 minutes!! Apparently you aren't REALLY asleep, and they tell you when to swallow but I don't remember a bit of it.  I had to hang around for about an hour while they checked my Blood Pressure then I went on my merry way. I did need someone to drive me home, but other than that, I was fine. No sore throat, no nothing! The Dr gave me a copy of the report, with pictures and everything!  The nurse who was monitoring me said that my lung capacity was at 100% the entire time I was hooked up to the machine. That surprised me as I am a smoker. I have cut down to a half a pack a day, so maybe soon I'll be able to give them up completely. The Dr says I am fine...no varices whatsoever. He also said that he has found that most people in the HALT-C study at USC do NOT have varices.

As a side note, I have noticed that when I am on treatment, my fingernails grow real thick. I've NEVER been able to grow my nails before and have always bitten them. They are now a real nice length and look terrific. Now that I am not on treatment, they seem to have slowed in their growth. I have no clue what that means but I thought I'd toss in that bit of info. One more thing, my teeth are in terrible shape. They are very sensitive to hot and cold. I didn't have that problem before and will now have to spend alot of time at the dentist....which I HATE like you wouldn't believe!

All in all, I would have to say that I feel at least 75% better than I did a month ago when I was still on treatment. I'm able to concentrate better, and can now spend my time getting ready to move. We will be moving North to Bakersfield, CA in about a month and I have a TON of packing to do. It will be nice to move into our new home and decorate it while feeling good.

I have given up the Support Group I started and ran for 3 years. That was one of the hardest things I have ever done. Because we are moving soon, I handed it over to the Santa Barbara Back to Life group. I already miss it. Running that group and helping so many people has sustained me through all of these treatment regimes.

I will continue to post labs when they are done throughout the next 3.5 years of the study. I'm due for another biopsy in a year and a half, then another one in 2004 at the end of the study. I'll post those as well.