Week 53 – Breaking new ground

Well, not really – I have been here before, but it seems so long ago that I don’t remember what it’s like to not be on interferon.

Here are a few comments from my first week after stopping interferon. First, it is strange to not have to do this routine process every 2nd day – Remember to take a Panado tablet at about 6 pm; Do the injection about an hour later; Start feeling the effects within about 15-20 min. And then waking up every couple of hours during the night. I almost miss the routine…

The first noticeable difference is that I don’t have the immediate side-effects any more, and this is a real pleasure. But the longer term effects are still there, and will take some time to improve. So I still have lower energy, and get tired easily. The dizziness and light-headed-ness is still there, but seems to be getting better already.

Of course, I jumped in too fast: On Monday morning I decided to go to gym, for a gentle circuit. But I worked a little too hard, and by the evening I was feeling really lousy, and had to take a Panado and go to bed. But here’s the nice thing: Although I slept badly, on Tuesday I could feel I was recovering already. Previously I would have been physically down for at least another 24 hours.

And so it goes. Definitely feeling stronger, and able to take on more … within reason. Today I sprayed the roses. We are now up to about 25 bushes. Then I climbed up into the roof to check on a water leak, and while I was there I took the opportunity to remove some old light fittings – Been on my list for about 2 years! So this evening I have some stiff and sore muscles, but it is such a pleasure, because it is a much more normal feeling.

I notice also that I am feeling more able to tackle new jobs – Definitely a more positive attitude. This has been improving over the last few weeks, and now I am able to plan a new task, and actually get it done. It is so satisfying. I’m sure you will have picked up over all my writings that I am one of those people who does things – I always have a list of projects, and tasks. I get a lot of joy out of achieving goals. It works for me.

If you want something done, ask a busy person! I definitely fit that mold. For example, over the last two weeks I have built a fairly detailed outline for a new CBT training course I am developing, and I have started investigating various software products to use. I have also been exploring how to get voice artists, which I will need later on. (Expensive!) I downloaded some nice software to do my own recording and editing, and experimented with various microphones. I did some timings, and worked out that a good average speaking rate is about 2.4 words / second. So I have not been idle, even while on interferon.

I have also been working on developing a question pool for a (different) training course. We now have a pool of about 750 questions, of which we have flagged about 300 as no longer appropriate, or duplicates. I worked out a way to classify the relative difficulty of the questions, and we have now set the examination for May 2007 from the new system. In the past few years our pass rate has been too low (This is, after all, a hobby, not a professional qualification!) so we have been working out how to improve the pass rate by carefully adjusting the difficulty of the questions. I can’t wait for the results to see if our model will work correctly!

How did I get onto all this stuff? I was talking about being busy, and still taking on further work. Some of this work just has to be done – The roof leak was not planned, and now I will have to fix it, and then repaint the ceiling in my wife’s study. Not a difficult job, but it will take a couple of hours.

Then, there are some projects which were not on my original list, but seem to have crept in.

I “volunteered” to do some further work on the question pool, in time for a special exam which will take place also in May.

On Tuesday, I met with a friend of mine, who also happens to be the President of our national organization. We have a lot in common, and can spend many happy hours discussing how to make progress. I knew this meeting would be a “mistake”: I went along to get some help from him on a committee I am chairing. And I landed up with having to prepare a draft document which we hope to discuss with our equivalent of the FCC in the next month.

And then on Wednesday we had a discussion about our radio club… Without going into details, our main communication equipment is giving trouble, and the whole club is suffering. So, as I was available during the day, I went and fetched the offending device and brought it home, and started disassembling to find out what was wrong. This will take a good few hours work, which I hope to complete by Tuesday, when I can hand it on to the next expert who has the correct equipment to set it up.

How do I get into these things? Well, for one, they are important to me, and I like to see them move forward. They are generally quite interesting. I like to take on tasks which I can do, or which will stretch me. Achieving them makes me feel productive … And I have a reputation for getting things done, which I have to live up to!

Which brings me back to the interferon experience… You can see why I found it so frustrating, not being able to do all the things I wanted to do. It has forced me to accept that I cannot do everything. And this is good – I have always taken on large amounts of work. And sometimes this has raised the stress in my life to unbearable levels. I know I need to take on less, and reduce the stress rather than raise it.

For heaven’s sake, I am semi-retired! I have worked hard, and scrimped and saved, and I deserve to do the things I enjoy!