The Beat Goes On: Week 2 of Hep C Treatment

A week ago, I started the newest, highly effective hep C drugs, ribavirin and Harvoni. This week has been a welcome window of feeling well, as the dose is cut by over 60% in the introductory phase. Wednesday we will begin to ratchet up the dosage, and I suppose the anemia from my friendly ribavirin will begin to take hold more firmly.

But, I am prepared for that change, as I practice being grateful for the healing power of the medicines, and welcome them into my body. The medicines are trying to help me, and I want to do all I can to let them.

Largely that involves a positive approach, knowing that I can handle the side effects for the 3 to 6 month duration, especially when I think of the many people who have been through so much more than I will be going through.

I wrote my first post about treatment one week ago, and along with excitement, it expressed a certain anxiety. I quote myself, as I wrote, “This is a time of anxiety and excitement. What if the anemia is too much to bear? What if I am one of the 7% who are not cured? I’ve been living with this liver problem for quite a while, and honestly, I have not had the best of luck from the many attempts to ”fix" things...

I got a lot of comments after last week’s piece, some from readers and followers of my work, and many from those all over the country who know me as a friend or teacher. I was struck as I read them, that all of those comments were celebratory. Here are but a few of those comments. “This is great news Matt. Wow, you will finally kick this! I am so happy to hear this news,” and similar thoughts that all meant the same thing.

None of them registered with the anxiety or fear I expressed, but rather were giddy with the positive nature of this time for me. It got me to thinking that even as I embraced the good side of these meds, there was still a lingering feeling of worry and what-ifs. I was inspired by the responses of my friends and family, and that inspiration elevated me to spit in the face of the gremlins that want to drag me down, and go even deeper in my truest belief in the power of the mind and inner self to influence healing.

So many things in my life bless me. I’ve got a wonderful wife and kids; a sensitive and loving father; a best friend type of sister; a stepmother-in-law who cares a lot, and a far-reaching extended New England family that loves and supports me in various ways. I also have a great group of friends from the west coast to Vermont, a nice, warm house, a dream life on a farm where we grow a lot of our own food and make cheese, and the beauty of open rural land all around me.