My First Foursome...

Sunday 14th Jan 07 (I'm the one on the far left).



...this year.

Before you get too excited, I am talking about a cycling foursome;)
Lee & I & Lee's boss Martin and work mate Mat all met down Peaslake Village for a spot of mountain biking. The sun was out all day, it was mild and not too much mud either. There were a few clouds, but this is England;) I was a little apprehensive going with Martin & Mat.........let me explain. The last time we all went out together Mat broke a rib in coming off his bike and Martin split his head open like wise. This was about 6 months ago. Mat went out once more with us after his recovery. But today was the first time Martin went out since busting his head open. In all fairness they both did very well considering. If Lee & I hadn't been out on our bikes for 6 months we would have died today! We stopped a few more times than normal.
It was a great day though. Just never know if anyone is going to take a tumble. Martin did manage to fall off halfway down Barry Knows Best but survived to tell the tale;) Nice one Martin & Mat.........you did really well. In another six months then;)
It was quite refreshing to be honest, going round at someone elses pace. Saw an awful lot more scenery. Same as usual but more. Right up on the summit of Pitch Hill walked past a lone mountain biker pushing his beloved bike along up on it's back wheel. His front wheel was pretty buckled and his forks were bent! He was fine and nodded so to us. Judging by the direction he was walking in he had a pretty fair distance to the carpark!.......That's mountain biking:) Lee & I knew exactly where he had just come from......where we were heading oursleves. A pretty steep drop in that once we were there ourselves Lee was the only one to do it. What a hero;) I did it last time we were there but even then I nearly crashed into a tree at 30 mph! On another track a couple of mountain bikers asked me if I had lost a digital speedometer. I hadn't. We're like one big family up there, unlike Richmond Park where they are all a bit snooty!. I still feel like I have worked hard though so I can only imagine how the others will be feeling today!
Nearly got my car stuck in the carpark! I got there at 11:30am and the normally empty carpark was full! Even on a good day in the summer there are always spaces. It was full of mountain bikers and their cars & 4 by 4's. I got the last chicken on the shelf so to speak and it was in 6 inches of mud! The tiny village triangle was packed with cyclists, a large group of elderly ramblers, a dog and two horses and one or two very annoyed locals;) You can just imagine a quiet tiny English country village absolutely packed with muddy cyclists blocking the road.
I managed to get my car out in the end. Was wondering all afternoon wether I would. I stuck the auto over into semi and selected 3rd gear and slowly but surely the car moved. My car needs new tyres..........and a wash!
My bike was great as usual. It does amaze me at the sheer amount of battering that bike takes! The more battering the bike gets the less I do.....that's fine with me:)
I will be interested to see how my body reacts to not being on tx. This week, Thursday in fact, will see the last of my 48 Interferon injections. Actually, I was not sure wether to mention this or not as I didn't want to make it sound like some big deal because it's not but I have thought about it and have decided to mention it. I will be doing 50wks of tx. The only and I stress the only reasons being are a) I was given two too many injections and b) I am tolerating the tx very well c) The injections would only go in the bin if I took them back to the RFH and d) I would absolutely hate myself if I didn't use them and my virus came back. There, I said it. Wether it is right or wrong to use them I am going to use them. No, they most probably won't make any difference being just the two and all, but who really knows eh.......those two extra weeks could make a difference. If they weren't there in my fridge I would not even be thinking about them.
My miniscule tx extention will not effect my bloods due on the 22nd Jan. I finish my 48th on the 18th. But it may effect the 6 month post bloods. I will never know, but what would you do with two extra injections sitting by the grapes in your fridge and you were tolerating tx?..........Exactly.


Jason





(C) JPT 2007

"Cometh the Butterfly"

Teddington, June 2004.



The sky became heavy, less in their dreams,
The air that they breathe had set solid it seems.
Where once there were clouds all white and bright,
Now replaced by rocks disturbing their flight,
Of freedom & space for your friends of the wing,
Where nothing can fly & be free & sing.
These lands were once rife with the fluttering by,
Of tiny bodies dancing to please your eye,
For their time in the air, these innocent beings,
Have all but died, gasping with meaning,
All before them has decided that black,
Is better for them as they find their way back,
To a land of Love and laughter & smiles,
Colourful, radiant & covered in miles,
Of sky that befriends them & sees them well,
In a blanket of warmth & of fragrance to smell,
To remind them where home is, their living places,
Where tears run happy down over their faces.
A place they are free & unburdened with weight,
An earth with no fences, no locks, no gate.
No rocks to be seen nor sky covered dark,
Where butterflies dance for you, fly free in the park.



Jason






(C) JPT 2007

47th Injection & Cool Dark Places...

One medium potato......tonight.



Just the one injection left now. I am going to miss those little pricks;) Ok, maybe not the pricks, but definitely the late Thursday night routine that is firstly to follow the sounds of my mobile phone and changing the alarm set to 23:15 (from 20:27 previously) to 23:27 then taking out from my fridge the little syringe full of Interferon a needle & a Sterit. I walk back into the living room and place it on the arm of my sofa and wait (usually in front of my trusty Mac)) until the alarm goes off again. The next thing is to change the alarm now to 08:27 for my morning pills. Now with my injection at a suitable room temperature the thing is ready to inject. Sat on either the arm or the long back of my sofa now (on which side depends which side of my body is due for injecting) The area of skin on my side (Love handle basically) is swabbed and left to dry for a few seconds while I attatch the needle to the tiny syringe. I might also add that I always inject topless (calm down ladies;) as it is so much easier without a shirt or something draping in the way. I pinch about an inch of flesh between my thumb & index finger and gently slide the needle at a 45 degree angle into the scampi sized lump. No pain.......it's quite interesting watching the needle disappear the way it does......all the way in until I can't see any metal at all. Then in goes the pretty red plunger, quite slowly (probably about 10 seconds) all the Interferon is invited into my body. Everything and including the air is now inside me. I leave the needle in there for another 10 seconds then pull it all out. With no blood or mark for that matter, I stand up and go back to the kitchen and mark the syringe with the number that it was (47 in this case) and pop it into the box in the cupboard with the other 46.

That's it.

What will I do now? Oh Thursday nights, what will I do?............Exactly....nothing;) Sitting on my computer I expect, writing a post or poem maybe for on here or perhaps checking out the Forum to see what's going on there. Oh, and not forgetting my dreams too. Whatever I will be doing, at least I know that I will feel the same as I always do at this time of day. I can never really explain the way I feel, but when I tried to with my Sister Tania once she said that from what I had said it sounds like what it's like when you are on E. I have never done E but my Sister has in the past. Not a good drug at all!
I know why I feel like this. My HIV drugs are to blame but these feelings are tolerable and I know they will go away by about midnight. It happens just in the evening too. I take a slightly different cocktail in the morning, plus right after my AM pills I go straight back to sleep. I have been getting these feelings for several years now................I'm boring myself just even writing about it.

I was out on my bike last night, just a local ride. I was sitting at my desk playing around with a photo on Photoshop and POW! Power out! Nothing.........pitch bloody black! That's it I thought...........got out my torch and found all my cycling gear, put it on, grabbed my i-pod and went out for a ride (potatoes are fine during power outs; "Store in a cool dark place" is what it says on the bag, so I wasn't too worried about leaving them). It was quite exciting really. All the houses and flats between Kingston Bridge and Teddington Lock but inbetween Broom Rd and the Thames were without power! My lights are pretty good normally but being out in that kind of darkness was a little like being up in the Surrey Hills. Actually, I did notice that Teddington Studios had power and they are down the same road as me. It must be nice if you have your own back up power eh. Like me and my torch;)
Not a bad ride.........quick too & warm but getting cooler again........& about bloody time too! I was back home inside an hour and even when cycling past Teddington Lock & the studios (where "The Office" was filmed) I could see that the electricity was back on where I live. With my potatoes already at peace, I was too now knowing my Interferon & FactorVIII was ok.........& my humus (I'm back eating it again....a nice caralemized red onion flavour), chicken, grapes (they gotta be cold & crunchy like tiny little apples) and my blood red orange juice!

So on to today. Could this have been the most boring day in history since the potato was first invented?.......Let me explain. I have ordered a new digital camera from the internet and they said it will arrive either today or Friday (tomorrow). Well it didn't arrive today, so the whole day was wasted! Now I have the prospect of waiting in all day tomorrow too. Could Friday equal the potato? I do hope not. According to my "special" tracking number I have access to (via the internet) it was with DHL at a Paris airport around 22:36 tonight wating to be shipped out to Heathrow - right by where I live) What I really hope is that it arrives first thing in the morning...........hang on, no not first thing. Perhaps around 11am would be a better time. Before lunchtime anyway. It better be here before 7pm as I am going out to "The Hills" with Lee with our bikes (after a 22 mile drive that is).
I can't wait to see what the camera is like. It has 10 mega pixels and is made by Canon. Where can you go wrong with that eh?

Potatoes aside...........The cold will be along soon you'll see!


Jason

P.s. The potato in the photo (aahh, that rhymes) was actually from my fridge..........Potato fans please don't worry! He is back safely where he lives.........ready for a mashing he he;)





(C) JPT 2007

"Yesterday's Pornography #2"

Me & My Stormtrooper Helmet.


So due to a lack of boo's, rotten egg's & the odd tomato smacking me right in my "virtual" gob I have prepared another batch of written diary entries that I made in the very early months of my Hep C tx, before I had a Blog. So sit back with a large carton of popcorn..... prefrably coated in a thin layer of yummy arsenic!

#2 of 5...

Written @ 00:22am Wednesday 29th March 2006;

Alright! I finally went and ordered my Andrew Ainsworth made Stormtropper body armour. I went at 5pm to 76 The Green in Twickenham. Once in the workshop I had to step over various body parts destined for other customers. Andrew was downstairs drilling holes in more armour parts. Money well spent! I have everything now. The 'Stunt' helmet (Stormtrooper) made by 'AA' (Andrew Ainsworth) that I bought way back in January 2005 (when he first started reproducing them). A 'Master Replica' E-11 Stormtrooper Blaster Rifle. A black ribbed neck piece from e-bay. Not many people will be able to say that they own their very own Stormtrooper made by the man who designed and hand made the originals back in 76 for Star Wars 'ANH' (A New Hope)..........but I can:) In the same building with the original moulds too.
Went to gym and then Jac & I had a Subway over at my flat & watched Noel Fielding & Jullian Barrett in a short film called "Sweet". Very very funny! Those two are wonderful! My HIV drugs (as usual) made me feel completely detached from myself in a funny kind of 'being in someone elses skin, with boiling blood whilst sitting in a jumbo-jet just before it crashes (upside down) into the ocean!


Written @ 12:18pm Friday 31st March 2006;

Hello! Saw my Dad Wednesday night & we played golf on the PS2 & I won again. He won a few holes (2) out of about 28. Yesterday I went to the gym & then saw my Mum. I took a load of potatoes round & we peeled them & cooked all of them to put in my freezer.......I can be such a lazy bastard sometimes. I stayed until 10pm after mash & beans with sausages. We watched a documentary about caring for your elderly parents. Then I missed my Interferon jab by 1 hour & 10 mins (Me now - the only time ever in 48wks I might add!) I was so gutted and worried all night long before I got up first thing in the morning to phone my docs at the RFH. They said it would be fine as it was only an hour and not to worry but don't do it again! I will set my alarm on my mobile phone from now on! I was distracted by "Google Earth". Mark & Ria go to Cuba tomorrow. I am feeding their cat for the time they are away. I collect the keys at 1pm today.


Written @ 15:51pm Sunday 2nd April 2006;

Went for a hike on Friday night with Lee. Not as long as usual & my feet hurt during and killed me the next day!! But still nice. We came across a burned down fire that we stood by keeping nice and warm. On the grass all around us were hundreds of worms and when we walked by them they felt our vibrations and quickly disappeared into their tunnels.
Saturday evening I saw Mum, Tarn & Daisy round at my Mums.We had fish & chips from the chippy & watched a dancing show on ITV1. Naif & Millie popped by for a bit and Millie kissed me on my cheek:)
Today (Sunday) I have been in all day. Gym beckons. I think my Mum is upset that I didn't give her a mothers day card last Sunday. So I will make her one in the week and take her out to her favorite Harvester restaurant to say sorry.
Nicola had a shunt in her new car. She is fine but shaken I think......not her fault.
Boat Race today. Mum wants Oxford to win...........or Cambridge? I'm not sure! I shall watch it on TV.


Written @ 18:20pm Wednesday 5th April 2006;

Millie watched the boat race from the riverbank (Barnes). I went out on my bike for an hour to Richmond via Teddington Lock, then back along the tow-path via Twickenham. Nice weather. Fed Mark & Ria's cat Herbert. Bumped into Mum & Daisy in Kingston today. I bought daisy a black studded belt that she really wanted from "Brilliant". Then we met back at Tania's & played in the garden all afternoon with Millie on her new slide. Nice & warm.
Going to Dads for a couple of hours at 7pm to play golf again.
I am doing ok on my Hep C treatment stuff. Dry, itchy knuckles are much better (E-45). Got a kind of blister thingy on my bottom lip. Small and doesn't hurt (3 weeks). Otherwise pretty ok.
Haven't seen Claire since August 05. We talk & e-mail often. It seems we are just friends now. I could go and visit but not up to it really, not while I am having this Hep C stuff. Be nice if she could come visit here sometime in the future:)


Written @ 11:30am Thursday 6th April 2006 (Interferon Injection day #7);

Played golf at my Dads last night & can you believe it.........he beat me! I don't know what went wrong;)
Anyway, Claire text me at 03:00am to say Nun-night & that she missed me.
It's nice and sunny today (at the moment) cool though. Lee wanted to go out for a bike ride last night but I was being spanked at golf round my Dads. We are going Friday evening instead.
Tarn's Birthday soon (Monday) 32 years old.


Jason

"That's all folk's!" Until the next riveting instalment that is;)






(C) JPT 2007

Where has all The Cold Gone?

Hot & contemplating a bath & dinner.........07/01/07



Grey then bright, not bright enough to blind.
The road was damp but dry enough......My kind.
Into the park where the Deer are so dear,
The ground beneath me mud.......just why I'm here.
How warm do I need it to plain sail along,
How calm do I want it to not have to hold on.
The wind was my friend for half of the time,
Homeward bound was a terrible crime.
Puffing, panting & shielding my eye's,
The mud & the dirt, the burn in my thighs.
Everywhere others would stand in my way,
Not sure wether to run away or to panic & stay.
What must they think of this filthy man,
Pelting along as fast as he can.
Mud flicks up right into my face,
A little too, must reach their safe place.
Long gone now, with my mobile soundtrack,
I don't hear a child say; "I want a bike just like that".
My wheels are spinning, I am standing still,
This mud like rotten flesh, klings to this hill.
I stumble & fall as I push my way,
Beyond the sludge & worms & death & decay.
I am lucky this time as I usually am,
Not to end up on knee's or arse or face or hand.
Rest in sight for a drink & a bite,
To take a picture of a tree I might.
Onwards & windward I continue to plod,
Passing by bikes who ignore my nod.
It's not like that up at Holmbury or Pitch,
Where we stop & chat to rest a stitch.
Getting dark now, lights go on,
Seeing is easy, all feeling has gone.
Spat at from clouds, wind whipped & scathed,
Thoughts of soaking, dreaming & bathed.

Where has all the cold gone this Winters day?




Jason





(C) JPT 2007

"The Delicate Art of You More Than Me"

One page out from one book of mine.



As they drag you down to your lead filled knees,
Begging forgiveness.....please....oh....please!
Why you more than me in our hidden red sea,
Why me all alone as I cry for your pity,
For you at your lowest feeling black as coal,
Sucking it's dust from deep in this hole,
Why you more than me, blinded by pain,
Why me all alone, once more, once again,
Not with good, not with calm, no end in sight,
Just moulded in stone, not one grain of light,
Too tired to laugh, not one of you cries,
Not one tear left in those Hep C eyes,
To share just a little, the tiniest part,
Inject you, feed you, just how do I start,
To lead you, hold you, comfort and more,
The start of something less painful & sore,
Why you more than me, stuck in your hell,
Why me all alone, sealed up in my shell,
Too deep down hidden unable to see,
What can be done to answer your plea,
You're lost, You're cold, I'm useless for you,
It's dark in here for us stale few,
It's all I have known, for all of my days,
This pain, this darkness, this blood soaked haze,
Better avoid me, lest you fall,
Into my trap, deeper, darker, room for you all,
Why me more than you I leave you behind,
Why me all alone, lost forever I find,
So close, so warm, so inviting, so near,
I may have time.........not as much as you I fear.



Jason





(C) JPT 2007

46th Injection & Miserable Sod's...

Bushy Park, New Year's Eve 2006.


How cruel is that eh? Just in a mood is all. Nothing I can do about it.......strange thing is that I have absolutely no reason for it at all......no excuse whatsoever! I don't have any noise coming from my nextdoor neighbour.....nor do I feel ill, nor have I just lost anyone close to me recently. So why this shitty mood? I went to pump my Mums tyres up on her bike as she hasn't used it for a while becuase of her knee. I was as short as a legless ant! She tried to tell me about her new kitchen & bathroom she was having fitted soon and all I could do was moan about how much of a rubbish job they will do (being council and all).
She asked me at the front door why the shitty mood................I just said........Why not? (What an arsehole!)

Sorry mum! (BTW-I rang earlier and said I was sorry).

Do you think my mood had anything to do with the two little dreams I had this morning?
The first dream I was with my Dad. We were investigating the corridors of a half finished office block...........when we got outside we saw an aeroplane in the sky just above some rooftops (it was light & sunny outside). We were amazed when it turned over onto it's back and disappeard behind the buildings entirely when all of a sudden there was an almighty crash and pieces of wreckage flew up into the air. We made our way to the crash site and soon discovered that it was just a model that looked real!
The second dream found me standing at a cash machine that I was trying to use which then began to malfunction and it seemed I could reach in and take the money! It was full up to the brim with unused notes. A woman approached me and looked as if she wanted something. She looked at me then at the slot where the card goes. I asked her if she was alright and she said that she left her card in the machine. I told her that it wasn't there when I attempted to insert my card and asked her if she got any money out. She hadn't. I tried to stand in the way of the money so she wouldn't see. But it was useless as the money started to fall out onto the ground........big wads of it. There was a phone number printed onto the machine that you could ring in case something like this happened & I was pondering wether to take the money and run or phone the number and hang around, look after the money until the Police arrived and maybe get a reward? All at the same time wishing that I had been the only one there so I could take the money and keep it all!

The bloody postman knocked on my frontdoor and woke me up!

Or maybe this mood stems from the pain I have been experiencing in my ankle the last few days! It hurt like hell last night! I treated it before and after my bike ride and almost certainly prevented a bad bleed! I did my local route around Richmond Park of about 14 miles. It felt more like 30 miles though due to the strong winds and a little rain. The temperature too was well above average for the time of year! It was just like being boiled in my pants!

So what do I do once I leave my Mums? I visit two local cemeteries to find something specific to photograph for a post I am writing for my Blog. Probably not the best move in the world! I didn't find what I was looking for either! I was amazed though at just how many graves were beginning to sink into the ground! They look like concrete ships frozen in a rolling sea of grass & dead flowers. I felt as if I should have been wearing a life jacket;) Actually, after a closer inspection I also noticed that the graves that were most uneven were the newest graves! It must be quite saddening for visitors to see their Loved ones graves like this! Me though..........I would be quite happy to be dragged off by hungry foxes when I am dead........or a revengeful Badger;)

On to my Hep C treatment. I have just taken my 46th Interferon injection and as usual it went in painless and leak free. I even filmed the whole episode on my video camera. I numbered the syringe with a permenent marker and put it with all my other syringes.
It may sound odd if a little morbid too but I am going to miss this Hep C tx routine! At the same time though I am looking forward to maybe going away abroad this year for some sun & sea. One thing is for sure..............My Blog ain't going nowhere!!!! Even that sounds negative! What I mean is is that I won't stop my Blog when I have finished tx. It has never even crossed my mind. Besides, my blog has never been just about my Hep C tx. This Blog dies when I do!
I have come across so many Blogs over the last several months most of which have although are still accessible are no longer being updated. I'm not talking about gaps of weeks or months but some haven't been updated for nearly a year or more. It is a shame really as I'd Love to know the rest of their stories. They have their reasons I suppose.

Still no side effects I might add.............ok, maybe the mood I am in has something to do with my tx.


Jason

P.s. The photograph for this post I took last thing on new year's eve just gone. It is my favorite tree in Bushy Park in between the cricket pitch & Woodland Gardens. Although it doesn't look it.......it was very windy and raining quite heavy too. I brightened it up a little as I thought it needed it......like I do;)





(C) JPT 2007

"Yesterday's Pornography #1"

Out doing what I Love to do, 26th March 2006 (one month after I started tx).


The post below are entries (word for word) from a little diary I kept at the beginning of my Hep C tx and although I have said I hate keeping written diaries (and I do) I still however managed to get some things down on paper and have only just thought of posting the stuff. It isn't much but might give a little insight into what was going through my mind back in the early days of my tx. I have entitled this batch of posts "Yesterday's Pornography" and this is batch #1 and so on. The name for the post's came simply because on the front of the pad I wrote them in I had written "Pornography Today" for some reason. So "Yesterday's Pornography" they will be know as on my Blog. I will try to include a photo that I took from around the date of the original post too.................Be prepared to be bored shitless........believe me, they do get pretty monotonous by #4 & #5! But you will have to wait for those in another post. Enjoy.

#1 of 5...

Written @ 13:41pm Wednesday 15th March 2006 (the day before my 4th Interferon Injection & 22 days after I started tx);

Am I special? Am I brave, strong, fearless etc etc? Well, I don't really know. I mean do I even have a choice? I suppose maybe they are the strong ones and I am the weak, hanging on to see what it's like at the end because I can't end it sooner on my own terms. What I really know is that I am willing to see what it's like at the end and see if I can beat it and last longer than all the others.

I started Interferon & Ribavirin for the benefit of the largest organ "in" my body (& getting bigger!), let's see if we can stop that shall we! A maximum of 48wks of treatment. I started Thursday 23rd Feb. I have to have an injection once a week & tablets everyday. Including my other tablets I am taking 21 pills per day. 4 of those are Multi-Vits & painkillers though. I take my 4th jab tomorrow at 23:30ish pm. Checkout side effects on the internet! Most people it seems can't handle the side effects but I will see! So far so good!
I got new neighbours upstairs, Graham & Debbie, they are absolutely perfect! Unlike my 'other' ones! Two words - Horrible Death! I have been up for coffee & chats 3 times. Very nice people indeed!
What else have I been doing? On April 6th 2006 I would have been going to the gym for 1 year. "Cannons" Richmond Athletics Club. It's a bit harder since my Interferon & Ribavirin! So I have to slow down a bit plus my right ankle is playing up again. Sometimes I suddenly can't walk at all and hobble out like a cripple! The pain is incredible! I haven't even been on my bike for a month, I was out on it 2-3 times a week! Still, the weather has been shit, when it warms up I will go out again round Richmond Park & meet Jac from the gym & go out with Lee too after he has put Evie to bed at 8pm. I hate writing sometimes, it's such a mess! Maybe it's the drugs or the pen or the surface I am writing on?
I am taking my Mum out to "Harvester" Betchworth, Surrey tomorrow. Dasiy is coming too. My Mum will be 63.
I have got to do something with my life! But what? Painting? Artistic painting that is! Not D.I.Y! Hurry up Summer weather!

(The next entry in my pad is a dream I had and although I would Love to include it in my Blog I just can't possibly do it! It is very rude!)

Written @ 11am Thursday 16th March 2006 (Day of my 4th Interferon Injection);

Freeze dried........(Unfortunately I had to leave this out as I think it may have been a little too rude and revealing to include it)


Written @ 13:08 Thursday 16th March 2006;

Wished my Mum a Happy Birthday by phone. She was on the bus coming back from Twickenham to Meadway for lunch. I shall collect her and Daisy from Tania's at 17:30-18:00 for fish & chips at Harvesters. It's grey out & I have to go out for Mums Birthday card. I would have made one but I don't feel like it.
Tele-Marketer rang and he said that he wasn't selling anything blah blah blah........I said, yes, well, I still don't want to talk to you do I! & hung up:)
Going to the gym too this afternoon.


Written @ 11:43 Friday 17th March 2006;

Had a nice meal I think, me, Mum & Daisy. We like those kind of places, but what is it about the finger prints all over the windows? And just the general grubbiness of the places? We listened to "Placebo" on the way home. Daisy likes them I think. I have to get Millie a present today for her 2nd Birthday which is tomorrow. I don't have a clue what to get yet?
Daisy wants money. I got my Mum a book. Also a bike when we get round to it.


Written @ 22:23 Saturday 18th March 2006;

I did go to the gym yesterday & I had a sunbed too. Anyway, it was (is) Millies Birthday today, 2 years old and we all went to Tania & Nathans (Naif) for lunch. I cycled there on my "Dessert Storm". Windy & cold! It was a nice day but as always I hate breathing in rooms with other people! (Dad, Mum, Lee, Nic, Evie, Tarn, Naif, Millie, Daisy & Me).
Bought two novels from 1976 from e-bay. Terry Nation's "Survivors". I quite often wish I was involved in a situation just like that one! Read the book & find out what I mean.......or watch the TV series instead. It is brilliant!


Written @ 14:40 Tuesday 21st March 2006 (two days before my 5th Interferon Injection);

Lee, Naif & I went for a hike on Sunday evening; 1 hour & 35 minutes. It was good. We walked around Norbury Estate. Before that, in the day, they went to Hayling Island? (Millie, Daisy, Mum, Naif & Tarn). They went to Brocketts farm yesterday. Daisy's 14th Birthday. I gave Daisy £80 & Millie £80 for a slide to go in the back garden. Today I got "Robot Chicken" on DVD from e-bay. The New Ian Curtis (Joy Division) film is being filmed later in the year. Sam Riley will play Ian in "Control".


Written @ 23:58 Friday 24th March 2006;

Nicola passed her driving test today, First time. I new she would. Just like me.
Been for a walk up Box Hill tonight with Lee. My ankle was quite painful but to prevent it from turning into a bleed I injected before & afterwards. It rained a bit but that was nice. Went to the RFH (Royal Free Hospital) for 2nd visit (3rd really). My knuckles are getting itchy & bumpy. E-45 works. Nothing to cry about. Very warm today......14 degrees. Dirty train and dirty people on it! Put on weight too. Two weeks ago I was 77.3kg and now I am 77.8kg.
I might get myself some Stormtrooper armour next week. £600. Made by the man who made the original Star Wars Stormtrooper armour back in 1976. I already have his "Stunt" helmet (£445). His name is Andrew Ainsworth.


Written @ 20:52 Sunday 26th March 2006 (Mothers Day & 4 days before my 6th Interferon injection);

Well I didn't see my Mum today, but I rang her up and wished her a HMD (I can't believe I didn't spend the day with her!).
I went for a bike ride at 2pm. Lee & I met Matt (Lee's work mate) at "Ryka's" Box Hill and we off-roaded it for over 2 & a half hours in rain & mud from Ryka's, past the Stepping Stone pub & "Box Hill & Westhumble" train station, up the long hill all the way across to Brockets farm & saw 3 Llamas, then we came back again. We had a great time and I am very Knackered and my foot was 'alright'! (see this posts photo)


Jason

P.s. If you don't want anymore just let me know;) & also if you think the dream should go in tell me;) Otherwise the next edition of "Yesterday's Pornography" will arrive on your Blogsteps sometime in the next week...





(C) JPT 2007

Digital Root 9

Mud glorious mud! My bike New Years Day 2007.

2007 - 2+7=9...

Happy New Year to all & everyone........well mostly all & everyone at any rate (I don't know all or everyone).

So.........What a way to start off 2007 eh! A three hour bike ride in the sun with your best friend up on Holmbury Hill! Was it muddy? Yes! Was it hot & sweaty? Yes! Did Lee crash at the bottom of "Barry Knows Best" and go over his handlebars and land smack on his palms & Knees in the road just as a car was coming? Yes! He actually waited for the car that was coming to drive into & over him.......That's how close the car was! Fortunately they must have seen us bombing it down the hill and slowed down. Lee was very lucky indeed! He has a big cut on his knee that was full of dirt and pine needles! The first thing he thought after he realized that he hadn't been killed was wether his bike was alright or not. It was. And we cycled back up to the top and did it again! Nutters or what! I was behind and all I could do was watch...........I wish I had filmed it all;)

Lee & I just minutes before his near death experience!


What a year 2006 was though eh! A very good year considering all the new drugs I have been putting into my precious body. Tonnes of mountain biking all year long with some really great rides during July & August when the weather here in England was a little hot to say the least! I was out every day nearly during those heat waves and was drinking at least 3ltrs of water in 3 hours of cycling! I Loved every minute of it:) I wonder what this new year will be like? There is that hike up Ben Nevis I want to try (or at least one similar) but I really need to be careful here as my ankles are all the time getting more & more damage from walking and I don't want to damage them too much if possible because the damage will be permanent! Cycling just does't have the same negative impact as walking. If I decide that my ankles are just too weak for a 10 hour hike I will do a weeks mountain biking around Fort William and "The Witches Trail" instead. And also I have been thinking about going somewhere for a holiday this year too. Maybe Tunisia again to visit a number of Star Wars filming locations and some very spectacular Roman ruins........whole towns totally deserted for hundreds of years! I have been before back in 2000 but I didn't feel too good due to some awful HIV medication I was taking. So apart from loads more cycling and much more kayaking than I managed last year and a few holidays maybe, the numbers are looking good also. So onto the numerical side of things......Take the year 2007. And the age I will become this Jan.......36. And also the date & time of my 36th birthday........23rd January 07 @ 01:13am too. And the fact that I finish my Hep C tx on the 18th at 23:27 on the 4th day of the week. I caught HIV in 1985 and will celebrate it's 22nd birthday this year. Not forgetting all the Ribavirin tablets I will have eaten too......48wks of Ribavirin (12 containers of 168) comes to 2016 altogether. I am sure the list goes on but add them all together and what do you get? Yes it is getting ridiculous now and I think I ought to stop (just try and stop me;).

So to re-cap;

Year: 2007;- 2+7=9
Age: 36;= 3+6-9
Date & time I will become 36: 23/01/07 @ 01:13;- 23+1+7+1+13=45 - 4+5=9
Date I finish tx & day it falls on: 18th @ 23:27 on the 4th day of the week;- 18+23+27+4=63 - 6+3=9
Caught HIV in 1985 and will have had it 22 years this year: 1985+22=2007 - 2+7=9
Ribavirin tablets consumed: 12 containers of 168 tablets comes to 2016;- 12+168+2016=2196 - 2+1+9+6=9
..............and if you add all those numbers together I can assure you that you will end up with the figure 9.

The reason I am being so numerically anal is because I have this thing for the number 9 (please don't tell number 8;). Eversince I noticed certain numbers no matter how big would always end up as the single number 9. It started off back when I couldn't face the number 13 anymore (I still can't) because the year I got HIV was 85; 8+5=13. Anyway, along came the number 9......I was listening to "The Beatles" quite a lot back then and John Lennons track "Revolution 9" seemed to stick in my mind where the number 9 has been eversince. Talk about O.C.D's. I have had thousands over the years, little ones that have either disappeared or changed into new ones entirely. I have always had them and always will. They have seen me through some quite dark and miserable times & continue to do so! There is a good example of one of my little O.C.D's right here on my Blog.........just take a look at all the times of day that I posted each post. Every one of their digital roots are 9. They are roughly the correct time, I just take it to the nearest figure that adds up to 9. I might add at this point that until the other day I had never even heard of a digital root! I looked up on the Internet and found it that way. I was crap at math's and still am;)

I might write a post about all the numerous kinds of O.C.D's I have had over the years (mainly the way I breathe & numbers). I even had them before I was diagnosed with HIV etc. I used to make this strange noise in the back of my throat resembeling some kind of animal! I wasn't even into double figures age wise! And I used to have these terrible visions wether asleep or awake they would come along and scare the shit out of me! about gigantic numbers passing by my eyes on top of these endless conveyor belts in a room so black and large it was more like being in space without the stars! Another post maybe?

As you may have noticed I have changed the title of my Blog for the new year. I have had a little feedback which is good so I think I will keep it from now on. And a little message to the wonderful Ample; Once "The Mighty C" always "The Mighty C".

So.........this year will see if I have been "cured" of Hepatitis C. This is my main goal I suppose (hope is probably a better word). I won't know for sure until mid-Summer time if it has gone or not. I could find out I still have it on the completion of my Interferon/Ribavirin treatment some time soon after Jan 18th......who knows? If I do fail to kill the virus then I imagine that sometime in the near future I will start another course? But even then I am prepared for that. I may be starting a new course in the Summer instead in that case. I'm not too sure how long one has to wait until they start again? Either way I am ready.
Also in the New Year I will be posting a series of posts called "Yesterday's Pornography" that are made up from entries I made in a written diary I reluctantly kept during my first few months of tx. It (the pad) has been sitting on my coffee table for the whole summer and has been dusted, moved to the side of my desk and then back to the coffee table, dutsed again and not once did I think of posting any of it on my Blog. I just though I wanted to bridge the gap between the start of my Blog and the beginning of tx. Expect #1 soon.
I have made some new friends too during last year. My neighbour's from upstairs Debbie & Graham......Wonderful people to say the least! And a whole bunch of people from "The Hepatitis C" Forum and some very Lovely people who also have Blogs like mine. They know who they are and all I can say is thank you for being there for me and taking the time to read my posts Blog & Forum alike. Regarding the forum, I can't say that I have really "Physically" needed it as such because I just haven't had any side effects to be concerned about.......but I do like to think that I may have given a little inspiration to at least one or two people on there. But what I can say is that the Forum has helped me mentally a great deal during my "trip" through tx and also my "trip" through life in general really. Exactly the same goes to all my fellow & fellowette Bloggers out there who have stuck by me and helped me in ways I can't even begin to explain! This is my life I am posting on a weekly basis and although just a tiny and insignificant life...........hopefully an interesting read;)





Anyway.......I won't go on.

Happy New Year:)



Jason (still The Mighty C)






(C) JPT 2007