I was going to save this post until I had real pathology numbers to share but the scanner at the clinic is on the fritz so they couldn’t be emailed to me.

I travelled to Sydney (yes, the one in Australia) yesterday to see my specialist. This is the first time I have seen him since I started treatment for hepatitis C with Viekira Pak. Frankly there hasn’t been a need. The Clinical Nurse Consultant (CNC) is in constant touch with both of us and is a great communication facilitator. I have never once felt that my treatment needs were not paramount during my contact with them.

It didn’t take long - he was curious to know about side effects, was really happy with my pathology results and said it seemed to be going well. He smiled a lot and so did I. I told him how lucky I felt to be able to access the compassionate access scheme. I see him again in 12 weeks at End of Treatment (EOT).

The only number I do have from yesterday’s tests is my haemoglobin. It’s dropped again from 112 to 109, but interestingly I feel better than I did when it hit 112. Perhaps I’ve learned to adapt to steady state anaemia. I’m doing as much - walking the dog, shovelling manure, spreading hay, looking after the animals (horses, chickens, dogs and cats), working 3 days a week - but I feel better than I did weeks ago with better hb numbers.


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I’m sure there will be weird numbers in there. It’s me, after all! What would my treatment be if it
 didn’t provide entertainment for us all?


Apart from that it rained a lot, my boots got really wet, my flight home was delayed by nearly an hour and I bought a copy of Mike Mulligan And His Steam Shovel because I love it.