Gregory M. Ledet

I have slept all damn week long.  Literally.  I can’t think of a time in my life when I’ve slept this much… not even when I was a teenager.  Wednesday night I got really into a new webapp that I was working on and didn’t get to sleep until yesterday at 6am.  I slept until noon and came downstairs only to go back to sleep at 1:30 or so.  I woke up just before 5, went to bed at 8 (no sleeping pills needed) and didn’t wake up until 10:30 this morning.  I had to take a Ritalin just so I didn’t fall asleep again today.  It’s been like this all week.  I sleep and sleep and sleep and I’m still tired.

This is not to mention the lack of appetite.  I’ve been having to force myself to at least eat a sandwich or something everyday just to make sure I have something in my stomach.  I’m getting tired of throwing up and not having anything in my stomach to come out.  It’s too damn painful.  Even the nausea meds aren’t helping as much as I’d like.

I’ve been trying to keep my mind on things other than feeling like complete ass.  I’ve just finished my second mobile webapp, admittedly it’s just another calculator and it looks similar to the first, but there’s a lot of difference in how the back end works.  I’ve already started working on porting it over to the Palm Pre and Pixi, but I’m running into issues with formatting.  I’ll figure it out.

Today’s injection site was the top of my right thigh.  Yes, it sucks.  I took it around 10:30 and I’m already feeling it bad.  I know tomorrow is going to suck royally, but I just need to push through it.

That’s about everything that’s going on right now, so until next time…

I finally got off my butt and made a video today!  I’ve just really been worn out lately and haven’t felt up to doing a video, but I just got out the shower and was feeling a little better.  Well, here you go!

I didn’t want to get out of bed this morning. I’m having some body aches and my internal thermostat is all screwed up.  I’m taking delivery of a new recliner tomorrow, so I had to get off my ass and clean the living room and vacuum.  That was a process that should have taken all of 10 minutes, but turned into an hour ordeal because I can barely move.  I’m still sitting in my recliner, moaning in pain, and bitching about how bad I feel.  I wish I could just stop sweating for 5 minutes though.  My wife is wrapped up on the couch in flannel pants and sweatshirt, curled up under a comforter, yet I’m sitting here in a pair of shorts complaining that the backs of my knees won’t stop sweating even though I have the AC on and set to 65.

I wanted to try to get out of the house today and do something, but that’s just not going to happen.  I did finally finish the Google Latitude widget that I started working on the other day, so at least I got something done.  I’m trying to get my consulting business website finished, but because the meds are messing with my head and I’m having to take the Depakote to keep me sane while on the meds, I’m having a hard time concentrating long enough to come up with good content for the site.  Another drawback of treatment… lack of concentration.  I can’t even watch a movie in the days following an injection because it’s hard for me to concentrate through the whole movie.  Oh well, it’ll be over in 22  more weeks…

I’m starting to have some new things pop up on me.  The main thing being dry eyes.  I mean VERY dry eyes.  I can put eye drops in and 3 minutes later they feel like I’ve been pouring desiccant into them.  Another thing is a very bad taste in my mouth in the morning.  It tastes like a cross between leather and guano.  And finally, the thing that I’m worried most about; a bad sweet tooth.  I want something sweet all the damn time.  My appetite has gone to hell, but I constantly crave candy and kool-aid.  That’s just plain weird…

-Greg

Day 3 sucks, but nowhere near as much as yesterday and the day before did.  I still have bad body aches and a monster headache, but it’s starting to clear up some.  The one thing that really sucks is the injection site.  One of the side effects of the injection is “pain, swelling, or redness”.  I’m getting all 3.  In fact, check out my fat belly…

It’s kinda hard to see in that picture, but I’ve drawn a rough circle around where the swelling and redness is.  That dark spot within the circle is where the needle went in.  Anytime something brushes across the injection site, like my shirt or something, it feels like someone is running 80 grit sandpaper across my skin.

I’m hoping that I’ll wake up tomorrow finally felling rested.  I haven’t really slept in a week.  I was all nervous about starting this treatment, which screwed up my circadian rhythm, and then I started the treatment, which doesn’t let me sleep all that much.  Even taking Lunesta and Ambien I’m having trouble sleeping.

I’ve decided not to do a video blog today… I’m still very tired and I just don’t have the energy to do it.  I hope this is enough!  I’d like to thank all of you for the support that I’ve gotten over the past few days.  It means a lot to me.  Now, let’s talk about dem Saints!!!  10 and eaux!  I would love to see a Black and Gold Superbowl!

-Greg

This one is for my science geeks out there.  This is some SERIOUS stuff.  Let’s take a look at it from the inside…

Pegylated interferon alfa-2a is some heavy stuff.  It weighs in at 40000 g/mol.  You read that right, 40000 g/mol.  Well, when your chemical formula is C₈₆₀H₁₃₅₃N₂₂₇O₂₅₅S₉ you are going to be VERY heavy.

Interferons are proteins made and released by the cells of most vertebrates in response to the presence of pathogens — such as viruses, bacteria, or parasites — or tumor cells. They allow communication between cells to trigger the protective defenses of the immune system that eradicate pathogens or tumors. Pegylation is the process of covalent attachment of polyethylene glycol polymer chains to another molecule; in this case, interferon.  The covalent attachment of polyethylene glycol to a therapeutic protein like interferon can “mask” the agent from the host’s immune system and increase the hydrodynamic size of the agent which prolongs its circulatory time by reducing renal clearance.

Let me put that in English for those of you that aren’t molecular scientists.  They throw a bunch of this interferon in a bowl with some Carbowax and get mixing.  The carbowax hides the interferon from by immune system and makes it bigger so it stays in my system longer.  That’s why this stuff is so damn thick.  And that’s why I feel like I’ve been kicked in the stomach.

Now you know all about pegylated interferon alfa-2a!