1 down, only 47 to go!

J-Day
I arrived in London mid morning and spent the rest of the day trekking around the shops. Andrew met up with me mid afternoon and my poor feet were killing me by the time we got to the hospital - I’d have much preferred to be seeing the Chiropodist. We picked up the prescription (two weeks of jabs and pills) at the hospital pharmacy and then they picked us up off the floor – this tx is not cheap! And definitely not my kind of shopping!! We met with Prof Foster who explained in great details the types of side effects that might come into play (he did stress the might) and we shared a bit of a joke about the Blog (he knew all about it and the contents but admitted that he doesn’t read them personally). Then it was down to serious business – doing the jab. He showed me what to do and said to just go for it so I did. I didn’t feel a thing and even now, nearly 24 hours later, you can’t see a pin prick. I am on 180mcg Pegasys and 1000mg Copegus.

We left the hospital and I noticed a very slight metallic taste at the back of my throat but not enough to put me off dinner. We enjoyed a wonderful meal at an Italian restaurant and were hoping to catch a movie but the only one we both fancied (Hitch) didn’t start till quite late. So we ordered Cappuccino and afterwards I downed my first 3 ribavirin pills. I take 2 in the morning and 3 at night. We were only a couple of tube stops from the flat so I wasn’t too worried about any side effects suddenly coming into play. We got home and I got stuck into a new book I’d bought. It was about 10:30 when I started feeling quite tired. My feet still ached but that was not surprising having walked around all day and I also felt a bit cold so added an extra blanket. I fell asleep with the Paracetamol at the ready but as yet I haven’t needed one.

Day 2
I had a good night’s sleep and woke up at the normal time. My hair was tangled more than usual so I must have been a bit hot during the night – not enough to wake me though. We went over to Starbucks and sat outside with my rise and shine muffin (they call them bran muffins elsewhere but that probably sounds too healthy for us Brits) and my big mug of Americano. I took my morning dose of ribavirin and we headed off to the airport to catch our plane home. I sensed that metallic taste again after about 1 hour. I feel normal, so normal, in fact, that I’m wandering whether the medication is working. The Professor did say that this type of medication has less side effects at the start but let’s you know you are on it at the month stage….right about the time we’ll be in Fuerteventura. That aside, I think, all in all, a good start!
Ps I told them I was carrying an injectable medication when I checked in at the airport – they didn’t even want to see the letter that Prof had given me and same again when I went through security.