lifebyond_woman_looking_up.jpgThere is a difference in dealing with Hep C Treatment side effects. The difference comes from these ten factors; faith, hope, attitude, perseverance, diligence, perspective, gratitude, medication for relief of side effects, a good support network, and a health care team.

How do you get through a bad situation? There is only one way, keep moving forward. Never give up hope and seeking help. You may not be able to change your current situation but you can change your perspective. I held onto two things; faith in God, and treatment side effects are temporary.

My whole life had been put on hold while I was doing treatment for Hep C. When my thoughts would drift to how awful I felt during treatment, those thoughts would to lead to what I was missing out on in life. I had to shift my thoughts from losing to gaining.

This is where a change of perspective and gratitude made a huge difference. I kept a Thankfulness /Gratitude journal where I focused on all the good things that were happening during treatment. I prayed and asked God to show me things each day to be thankful for.

I disciplined myself to daily find a scripture in the Bible I wrote at the top of the page, then I listed ten things each day to be thankful for. It changed my whole treatment experience from negative to positive. God used it to show me there was a lot more good things going on than bad. I learned to truly thank Him in all things.

By changing my attitude and perspective, my faith and hope were strengthened. Like looking through a magnifying glass, God showed me his fingerprints of help were surrounding me.

When you physically feel rotten, everything around you can seem dark and hopeless. Pay close attention to your thoughts, when you see they are going down that road, look up to see the detour sign and by all means, take it.

I kept a notebook of my symptoms so I could report them to my doctor and get the help I needed to relieve as many physical side effects as I could. But dealing with the day to day treatment run off was difficult. Time seemed to crawl slower and slower.

I couldn’t look at the long haul, it was too overwhelming. A big key factor to getting through treatment was to keep my eyes and thoughts focus on Christ and my weekly mile marker. I began treatment on a Monday so each Monday was my Mile Marker Day. My goal became getting through one week at a time.

Before long, I was checking off months. Time picked up speed and before long I was at the treatment finish line. I believe if I had kept my focus on how hard treatment was and how long it would last, I would have given up.

No matter what kind of day you are having today remember this, it’s just temporary. Most of all focus your thoughts on Christ, and God’s word. He is the one who will get you beyond all things if you choose to take his hand and follow.

For an uplift this week, focus on this special scripture,

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV

Hope you enjoy this great song of encouragement, Strangely Dim by Francesca Battistelli.



Is there something in your treatment experience that has helped you?

This entry was originally published on Life Beyond Hepatitis C July 25. It is reprinted with permission.