Week 13 - 25% of the way!

Now there’s a thing …
Somehow I have reached 25% of the way. Only 39 more weeks to go! Here’s a view of how far I have come, and how far still to go:

Status report at the quarter mark

The interferon seems to have settled down to a predictable level. Three times a week I take 1000 mg acetominophen, about an hour before the injection. I am now using a generic which is half the price of the big brand names, and seems to work just as well.

The injection process is no problem. I do this just under the skin on my stomach, rotating around, one week on the left and the next on the right, and so on. The areas around the injection sometimes develop dry skin, with pink patches visible after shower or bath. Once or twice there has been a slight bruise visible. I can feel the effect of the interferon within about 15 mins. It is difficult to define the feeling: I feel difficulty in concentrating, and get rather irritable. No pain. My muscles start aching later in the evening. I generally take another 1000 mg acetominophen when I go to sleep.

Generally I cannot sleep through the whole night, and may take one or two tablets in the early hours. Often it is sufficient just to get up, walk around and stretch to relieve the muscles and then I can get back to sleep. But we are currently in the middle of winter. Our house is at the bottom of a valley and gets very cold at night, so bed is definitely the best place to be!

I try to take the dogs for a 30 minute brisk walk every afternoon. The only time I miss this is if I’m out somewhere and don’t get home by dark – It’s too cold at present to walk in the evening.
I also go to gym, mostly twice a week. I can’t do this the day after my injection, so there are only a few possible times. At the gym I first walk twice around the outside of the building to warm up, then do a circuit, and at the end again around the building. I have built up to about 30 minutes, and I have been increasing the number of repetitions on the machines.

It is interesting that I feel light headed at times. This is more noticeable the day after the injection. It looks like the oxygen level in my blood drops down when I am quiet. If I then get up suddenly, or start some activity, it takes a minute or two to bring the oxygen level up. Once I have been active for a few minutes the problem disappears – It does not worry me at the gym or when out walking.

I have reduced my workload, and only need to get up early one day per week, to attend a project meeting. On all other days I can have a relaxed breakfast and read the morning newspaper before starting whatever work is on the programme. I am taking advantage and looking after myself!

Obviously life does not always fit neatly into the interferon schedule. But the schedule can be shifted around to some extent. For example, if I really need to go out on Wednesday evening, then I delay Wednesday's injection to Thursday, and Friday's to Saturday, and then we are back on schedule.

So, how do I feel? Well, the days after injection I feel some aches, and not very strong. If I have to go out I take it gently. By the afternoon I am feeling stronger, and can go shopping or walk the dogs. The next day is much better. I can’t say I feel completely normal, but good enough to go out, see clients, etc. I don’t have a lot of stamina, and this limits what I can do. Monday I feel even better, as the last injection was on Friday. So I use Monday if I need to do a lot of running around.

Mentally I am feeling good to excellent. I am keeping very busy, with projects and work at home. I have been able to do a lot of reading, which previously I did not have time for. There are a few projects which I will write about in my blog over the next few weeks. I have spent a lot of time researching melanoma and interferon experiences on the web. It got to the point where I wondered whether I was spending too much time on this, and neglecting other work. It is possible to get drawn into a topic, and lose sight of other aspects of life. However, I think I have got the balance more or less right. Looking back, I can see how I have been steadily improving my knowledge, and finding new aspects. For example, I realized that my diet is important, and I have been consulting a dietician, something I would not have done previously.

Update on my diet

I have managed to lose about 2 kg. But my new diet allows me to eat what seems like a lot more. Here’s a picture of what I had for lunch today: The fish are pilchards in tomato sauce. (Does not include the small slice of apple tart!) I have been having a lot of fun with my new diet - Will post about this in a week or three.

I started making a list of all the negative things about interferon, and then decided to make it more positive. . .

10 Things I enjoy doing now

1. Having time to read and explore anything that interests me
2. Meeting my wife in the afternoons for tea, shopping
3. Catching up on projects at home
4. Walking my dogs every day
5. Enjoying the highveld weather at my home (rather than locked away in a dark and dingy office all day!)
6. Meeting friends for lunch
7. Experimenting with new foods
8. Movies in the afternoon
9. Writing my weekly blog
10. Meeting new people through my melanoma challenge!

10 Things to look forward to when the interferon is over

1. Sleep right through the night
2. Go out to movies on Friday evening
3. Go out to dinner, any evening
4. 10 days in the Kgalagadi reserve
5. Kruger National Park
6. Start building our retirement house
7. Fly without the hassle of carrying my IF kit
8. Sex!
9. Able to take on more significant consulting work
10. Get rid of this annoying post-nasal drip.