Flat Affect: working on Interferon

Yesterday was the first time I actually worked my job within a day of injecting Pegasys. I normally inject on Thursday evening take Friday off and start working again on Monday after the symptoms have abated somewhat. This week I injected around noon on Friday because we set up our booth Friday morning.

I had my normal tough night after injecting and so got only 4 or 5 hours of sleep on Friday night. I usually notice that fatigue and nausea set in about 24 hours after injecting and stay around for about 36-48 hours. This usually means the worst is over by Monday and I can go to work and be relatively efficient and useful. This time it needed to be a bit different.

I came in Saturday afternoon to relieve the morning guy at the booth and was immediately immersed in some serious bargaining and wheeling and dealing. Within 30 minutes, I was exhausted and feeling a bit sick. Luckily, things slowed down from that point on and by mid afternoon, the pace was moderate and steady. I spent the next few hours planted on my chair outside the booth with a dazed and somewhat blank expression on my face. Sure, I could write out receipts and deal with customers, but I definitely had the “flat affect” of low energy and emotional detachment.

The longer this goes on, the more I learn about myself. I can definitely work through the acute interferon side effects, but it is not something that is good for me or for the folks who are dealing with me. We are both shortchanged by the situation.

I work again today, so I have another chance to sleepwalk my way through the day. Luckily, it is Super Bowl Sunday, so you can imagine the size of the crowd that will be at a rare book fair starting around kick-off time. Since everyone there will be having a hard time staying awake, I won’t look unusual at all.