Blood test

At week 4, there was a blood test but the nurse screwed up and forgot to put blood in the tube for viral load, I went in a few days later and gave again but this delayed the result. It hasn't come back yet, but the enzymes haven't dramatically dropped off so doc estimates that I haven't had an incredidble response yet. He figures the 12 week mark will be more of an indicator. Since at the beginning the viral load was high, it would be unreasonable to expect to be cleared by week 4. In any case, I'm interested in the results so I will go in and ask for those again sometime this week. Video below.

A video.

If you have time, check this out. 20 minutes, I think.
http://www.bhammash.com/MASH_events/Osaka08_pics/Osakavideo/walsh/walshvideo.html

Mom's pissed at home depot. Etrade is my peeve.

Those guys won't let me change the PIN on my debit card. 30 emails, hours on the phone, 4 PIN reminders fed-exed, and a total of three debit cards issued. There is a missing reference number that the robot asks for. VISA operator handles this so Etrade doesn't know. Can't find their arse in the dark. Finally the big excuse is that when they send PINs abroad, they don't allow you to 'personalize' it. .. Come on!!! You are supposed to change your PIN at regular intervals or anytime you think it's been compromised!!!!! Loose security or more likely, a lie to shut me up. I told them to cancel all of the debit cards. I'm gonna send letters to VISA and Etrade and force them to be accountable on paper.

5th shot, results next week.

This graph is not mine, but I got the 4th week blood test today. Doc says not to bother rushing in to see the results when I would be coming in a few days after that anyway. He figures it's not gonna be completely cleared since that is a pretty darn rare thing to happen, but it would be good to hope for a 10-fold decrease. Also I figure ALT and other enzymes will be 'looking good'.

4th shot

4th shot so next week I get some blood work to see if I got a good and fast reaction to the meds. I'm just writing this cause I'm screwing around with my new gmail account. If it works out I'm gonna dump my old email account.

New Glasses!

I finally got some glasses! Ray-bans, yes but no 'falling down' comparisons please. References to the Blues brothers or Thelonious Monk are welcome though!

Looking Good

Stinky Kangaroo is in the cage and even if I feel a little tense sometimes it doesn't show,.. I think. I just wanted to add this message in case you all were worried and I didn't want to leave ya'll hanging with that last message, the introduction of Stinky Kangaroo. Something nice happened. Within the last few weeks 2 or 3 people that I respect said on different occasions that I was the best academic writer they knew! I'd better be honest and add the fact that most of by friends are well-baked and pickled 40 somethings who are still trying to figure out the plot. Jokes aside, it felt good.

Stinky Kangaroo! Go in the closet!

For now I'm going with the name 'Stinky Kangaroo' and we keep him in the closet unless he jumps out swinging. I read on the net 'it's not a rage, it's an irritability with an obsession.' and I can see the ability to put something out of mind is key. I also don't really see myself going byserk, but rather going on and on getting more excited. Anyway, thanks mom, I got the kiss!

Mood Swings

It's embarrassing to write about but I was throwing a temper-tantrum and couldn't get it out of my mind. Nobody was around luckily, it was in reaction to the fact that I couldn't get a hold of Yukari on the phone and she was ignoring me. I also noticed myself being mouthy at work last week, but I was saying just things. Today, after yesterdays panic, I'm feeling better and have been mentally training myself to keep my mouth shut. I'm gonna wait to see if I can control it before I inform the doctor because he will bring the dose down if he thinks i'm in danger, thus lessening the chances the treatment will be successful. I've been reading on the net and folks with similar experiences often encourage eachother by suggesting to keep a quiet environment. Also a common theme seems to be not to quit and stick it out. One person said things mellow out after week twelve. I'm a tough cookie and will keep my mouth shut if I start thinking sick shit. I gotta remember I have some funny sunglasses on at the time.