End of Week 1: An answer to prayer

What can I say, except thanks be to God for his grace, mercy, care and answering of prayer as my first week of PEG-Intron/Rebetol therapy ended with what I would have to say were minimal side-effects.

This is how I would assess it:

• Flu-like symptoms Sunday night and Monday.
• Sometimes feeling a bit queasy and light-headed about 20 minutes after taking the Rebetol, this despite taking it with food. (Mind you, that did not happen with every dose.)
• Occasional aches where previous injuries occurred, particularly on Tuesday. (The nurse from Schering said old injuries are aggravated by the treatment.)
• Feeling tired in the late afternoon.
• Occasionally feeling a bit agitated.
• A sporadic itchy or tingly feeling.
• Occasional abdominal cramps.
• A bit of a spacey feeling at times.

Given the lengthy list of side-effects and some associated horror stories, I would have to categorize the first week's side-effects as minimal -- which has been my prayer and thus an answer to prayer. The only qualification I would add is that the Schering nurse said the side-effects can surface at any time. Nonetheless, I will continue to pray and seek prayer for minimal occurrences.

Stay tuned for Week 2!

Grace and peace ...