Receiving my Treatment

10th September 2018

I was laying in bed last night thinking about tomorrow's hospital appointment when it suddenly occured to me that I haven't received any blood forms yet.  I called the hospital but just got through to an answer phone message.  They aim to respond within 24 hours.  Fingers crossed I hear back before tomorrow's appointment as the nurse said before that they won't give me the tablets without bllood tests!

11th September 2018

I received a cll from the nurse this morning regarding the blood forms.  Apparently they sent out the forms along with some information about Maviret, the drug they are prescribing me, a few weeks ago.  I haven't received anything though!  She said not to worry about going to pathology before the appointment and that she could do them when I got there. 

The car park at Kettering Hospital was a joke this afternoon, and when Paul and I got into the hospital we couldn't find the Outpatients department.  It turns out I had walked straight past it and as a result, I ended up 3 minutes late.  The receptionist wrote the time on my sheet.  We were told to go to area 2 and give some paperwork to nurse on arrival. When we got to area 2, there was a man in a white coat in a little room.  I gave him the papers but he said I would need to give it to the nurse when she calls me. So we took a seat and waited and waited... Nurses were walking by, chatting with each other about the weekend and Paul was getting peeved to say the least. 

30 minutes passed. It was now 2pm and Paul was fretting about getting back to pick our Daughter up from school. He went back to the little room and moaned to the guy in the white coat who said there were two people in front of me. I was one of the first people to arrive! Everyone else in the waiting room had turned up after us and not one person had been called since we got there! Paul moaned again, that our appointment was at 1:30pm and it was them who had booked the appointment, so it should be them who keep to it. The guy took my papers and hurried off to a room opposite. He came out paperless and said I would be next in.  Less than 1 minute later a nurse called me in to the room.  She had a student nurse in with her and asked if it would be OK if she stayed during my appointment which I said was fine. 

The nurse was lovely and she apologised profusely about the wait.  She said two people had been booked in at 1:30pm so they were running behind (still doesn't change the fact that no one had been called in at 1:30pm! No one had left or entered her room in all the time we had sat there!)

Anyway... I sat down and she gave we a brown parcel addressed to me, still taped up. She told me to open it and I was surprised to see a box of Maviret tablets in it. I thought I would have had to collect them from a pharmacy and pay the prescription fee for them, but I was just given them for free!  After researching Maviret when I was first told that's what I would be taking, I couldn't believe the cost of them and really feel for those in the USA who have to pay for them or go through insurance companies.  I have never felt so grateful for the NHS as I have today. 

The nurse asked if I had any questions but my mind was blank and I couldn't think of anything. So she went on to tell me about the pills and opened up a box to show me.  I had four boxes (four weeks of tablets). Each box had 7 blister packets inside and each blister pack contained three tablets. I was to take all three together at the same time after eating once a day.  I was concerned about the size of them and asked if I could cut them in half, but she said because they are coated, I would have to swallow them whole. She went on to say that there are little reported side effects, but some people have said they've had headaches, or felt tired. She advised just to take an ibuprofen or paracetamol if I got a headache and drink plenty of fluids.  She said I won’t look any different and no one will know I’m taking them.

I asked if my chronic fatigue would go away once the treatment was over and she said yes, all my Hep C symptoms will disappear. She made another appointment for 4 weeks time where I will have to have more blood tests and collect the second half of the treatment. 

She gave me my blood forms for today and asked me to do to Pathology on my way out and get them done. I was panicking about getting back for my Daughter, as often, the wait times in pathology exceeds one hour. We got to the department and was told to take a ticket, however when we got to the waiting room, it was empty!  Not one person waiting and I got in straight away! 

Now that I have the tablets, I'm feeling very positive! It's been a slow process with all the appointments and waiting when they cocked things up, through no fault of my own; sending forms to the wrong address, nurses going on holiday, waiting days for people to get back to me, two weeks between meetings, etc. It's taken six months from me first going to my GP to ask about treatment to me actually getting it.  But I'm sure it will all be worth it in the end. 😁