Day 126, Old Friend Back Again

Yesterday morning I awoke to an all too familiar sensation in my neck, throat and head. It's the same symptoms I've had twice before and I feel the recurrence of these episodes aren't allergy related at all. They are side effects from taking Ribavirin and Sovaldi. So I got the idea to revisit the long list of side effects of just Ribavirin alone, and when compared to my symptoms versus what the drug can cause, the conclusion was obvious. I Googled "Ribavirin Side Effects" and the first result was from MayoClinic.com. Within the list of over 100 side effects posted, here's the ones that stood out most: body aches, congestion, cough or hoarseness, dryness of the throat, fever or chills, general feeling of discomfort or illness, headache, irritability, brain fog, poor concentration, rapidly changing moods, quick to react or overreact emotionally, restlessness, lack of sleep, runny nose, sore throat, swollen glands under the neck, sores on the lips or in the mouth, trouble with concentrating, trouble with swallowing, dry skin, heartburn, lethargy and stuffy nose. Pretty incredible when looking back retrospectively on my symptoms versus the drug's side effects.

Thankfully, this Thursday at 2:15PM, I have a follow-up appointment with my treatment doctor, and I plan to go over all of these occurrences with her. I know it's going to be one of those cases that I'll have to tough through it regardless, and there will be no relief until therapy has ended. I've had to visit the Emergency Room three times since April 16th from my mini-vacation to Atlanta, GA. What I presumed was a mere allergy related matter, and now with the refresh of looking at Ribavirin's side effects, I'm second guessing this entire sinus infection prognosis and leaning more towards the medication. I went to Walgreen's yesterday and picked up some Emergen-C with Immune Boost to help get me through the next couple of days. I'm going to do everything in my power to not visit the ER again, and just tough through it as I approach the final 41 days of treatment as of today. 

I'll be sure to keep all my friends, fellow dragon slayers and church family up to speed on my progress as we rapidly approach the countdown to the final 30 days. Please continue to pray for me as we can now finally see the home stretch of this 6 month journey to get cured of Hepatitis C once and for all! Before I go, I wanted to share a scripture from the book of Romans with you that has helped me get through the past week. The reminder of God's unconditional love sometimes is all the motivation I need to keep Striving to Keep Thriving. Please 

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39 NIV