The storm by its nature wants to move on, and the tree’s grace is that it has no hands. - Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening

Having hepatitis C and lab tests go hand in hand. Some of us can report our viral load and last ALT results with more certainty than we can our blood pressure. However, sometimes lab tests can lull us into a false state of being. Without treatment, viral loads go up and down, as do liver enzyme tests. A viral load may be lower this year than it was last year, but that doesn’t mean we are getting better, that the milk thistle is working, or the acupuncture is knocking the virus down.  The milk thistle or acupuncture MAY be helping, but the viral load is not the evidence.

Letting lab results tell us how we are doing and feeling is like clinging to false information. If we feel good, then why muck it up by thinking otherwise because a lab result indicates higher liver enzymes. Try to live like a tree, bending and twisting with the wind, but still standing after the storm moves on. Don’t let lab tests dictate your life.