Roll the Credits

Cue the victorious music....now! I'm done, folks! I took my last little while pill of INH this morning. It felt good rattling that little prescription pill bottle, with NOTHING in it...real good in fact.

As I now reflect over the last 9 months and what has happened, I have learned a few things.
1) As much of a bummer as it can be, just take care of yourself while you can. Having latent TB isn't THAT big of a deal, but other things are, so why not prevent when and where you can.

2) Maybe not latent TB, but active TB is a pretty serious thing and should definitely be dealt with. I see the little ladies around this city, wearing masks, especially on the buses, and as silly as they look, they KNOW what's up. They know disgusting viral little things are just chillin' on the hand rails and peoples' cough juices are just lingering in the air. Those wise old kooks are on to something and because I have fallen victim to those lingering cough juices, I now know, too.

3) Alcohol doesn't necessarily have to be avoided at ALL costs while taking INH. I had my blood drawn twice, once before, and once half way, to make sure my liver could tolerate the medication. And let's just say when I wanted to have a drink or two, I most certainly did have a drink or two. I would just make sure you don't have pre-existing liver issues.

4) I now know kind of a lot about TB. That's cool. A friend of mine just came to me, telling me how is brother has recently been diagnosed as having been exposed to TB and referred his brother to my blog...awesome. If I had cool stuff to give away for referrals, I most certainly would.

5) Once exposed to TB, you always "have" it. I underwent a 9 month treatment to decrease the chances of my exposure developing into Active TB. I pretty much now can never have a PPD test again, without some gnarly reaction. From now on, if someone wants to test me for TB, I have to have an x-ray taken. I have never been into needles anyways, so avoiding them when I can maybe not so much of a bad thing.

Thank you, Readers, for sticking around, even when I was a major suck-face and neglected to update you on what's going on. I hope you learned something along this 9 month journey. I am not sure I can really continue writing in this blog, even if I wanted to, anymore. I won't have any TB treatment updates. Well, we'll see.

Love,
Moody but TB Infected

Eat This, but Not That

I did a tiny bit of research, and by tiny, I mean looking at one website, looking up foods to eat or not to eat to avoid TB.

DOs
High calcium diet
Fresh fruits- oranges, pineapple, bananas
Fresh vegetables

DON'Ts
Booze it up
Smoke them cigarettes
Be lazy
Stay outside in the cold too long
Work too much
Meats
Drink the nectar of the gods, caffeine

Some would say I have a pretty active lifestyle, so check. I am not into smoking, so double check. It IS getting colder out, with winter right around the corner, but let's get real, I live in California, the leaves don't even fall here; another check for me. Excessive work? Really? Me? This is one DON'T I plan on taking very seriously. I may have to reassess. I may have to decrease my already stress-free work environment, relatively lax position, for the sake of my health, though, of course.

So far, I am doing a pretty good job of taking care of myself, and would say I am taking all the right precautions in avoiding a more severe form of TB. Looks like someone should just not eat or do things compromising to the immune system. A snap.

Other preventative diet suggestions I read about are having a high calcium diet and having a diet consisting of fruits, such as oranges, pineapples, and bananas. These fruits help to dilute some of the mucus build up, and help in aiding coughing that stuff up and getting rid of some of the grime in your chest. Fruits also help in preventing future infections. I did read something about how some fruits can help you look younger. It wasn't really an article I would LIVE by, much like the one where I got this information, but information to keep in the back of my mind.

Having little to no meat in your diet is suggested. Uh, like a lot of things, meats can be difficult to digest, so is not recommended. Well so is dairy, but they suggest THAT. Again, not an article to live or die by.
Canned and tinned foods, white bread, refined sugars and cereals, pies, condiments and pickles, and the true love that never leaves me, caffeinated beverages (coffee) are NOT recommended for TB. I can totally deal with no cereals, or pies, or pickles, but NO coffee? You've got to be out of your god damned mind. I can already feel myself getting flustered and stressed over the thought. I should have my morning cup now, before I really start to become a crankster.

Happy Friday all! Keep your calcium and fruits close, but your INH closer.

Recap

For those of you who have recently joined me in this "9 month journey," I thought I would put together a simple little recap, if you have missed anything or don't really feel like reading from the start.

August: I had an annual TB screening, and had a positive PPD skin test. From there, I had a chest exam to show the severity of my exposure. Turns out, my immune system walled off the TB exposed area from spreading, which would mean I have what is referred to as latent TB. I am not contagious and have no active TB symptoms.

September (very early): My dad saw the movie Julie and Julia, and thought it would be SOOO original to make a blog, documenting my treatment, for 9 months. I figured, why not, with the hopes of entertaining his request, and maybe educate and inform some people along the way.

September (early): I have baseline blood work done, to make sure my body can handle the treatment, Isoniazid (INH). It is mainly because the INH is toxic to the liver, so the nurse practitioner wants to make sure I have a healthy liver to start.

September (mid): I started taking the 9 month TB treatment medication, as a preventative measure of developing active TB. Those with latent TB have a 1 in 10 chance of developing active TB. By taking the preventative medication (INH), the chances of developing active are cut by 75%.

October (early): I had my first monthly meeting with the nurse practitioner, to make sure my body is taking to the preventative medication. The INH can be pretty toxic to the liver, so she just checks to ensure I am not having any sort of organ failure. Seems silly to see her every month, but at the end of the day, I appreciate it.

October (mid): The nurse practitioner suggests I start taking multivitamin supplements. I guess taking INH can result in a lack of vitamins being absorbed into the body, so it is suggested people take supplements. My Centerium multivitamins are chewable, orange flavored, and gross.

November (early): I had my second monthly meeting with the nurse practitioner. Same as the first meeting, I haven't had any adverse side affects.

Today: Today is day 66 and I have yet to miss a day of taking my INH.

Well, that is about it. There have been some education sessions along the way, but so far, I am staying on top of it.

"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going."~ Jim Ryun
In this case, pretty much.

I'm out!