Hey, are you going to eat that?

Following my second chemo treatment, after a conversation with and ensuing approval from my oncologist, I stayed on one Dexamethason steroid pill a day to ease the inflammation of my right knee and keep me from hobbling so badly. It worked like a miracle cure. I was walking so much better with minimal pain. The trade-off? Actually, there were several. My face was so puffy I looked like Humpty Dumpty doing a chipmunk impersonation. Or a chipmunk doing a Humpty Dumpty impersonation. Either way, this also was not a good look for me and was enough to make sure that in any photo op, I'd be positioning myself in the back row solidly behind anyone who would tower over me (which is pretty much anyone I know).

Second on the list of why I stopped taking the steroid each day: I was grumpy. Under normal circumstances, two of the seven dwarves that I would never be cast for were Bashful and Grumpy. Happy? Yes. Sleepy? Maybe. Sneezy? In certain seasons, yes. Doc? Definitely underqualified, but better than Grumpy. I don't like me Grumpy. Jeff's not crazy about it either.

Third -- I was ravenous. It was like there was a hole burning through my stomach and if I didn't feed it, it hurt. I constantly felt yucky. And never full. If it didn't move, I ate it. If it moved slowly enough, I'd pounce and eat it. And if it moved fast enough, I'd give chase 'til my knee gave out. We're talking serious hunger here. I gained 7 lbs. in one week. The good news is I also lost 7 lbs. in one week, but more about that in a future post.

So, here was my life on steroids: A puffy-faced, disgustingly hungry, weight-gaining grump who was able to walk better.

It didn't seem a fair trade-off. After my third chemo session, I stopped the one-a-day Dexamethason. My face is looking more like my old self, my appetite is back to normal and I'm back to my charming self (although all the votes aren't in yet on that one). So, I hobble. Once I'm done with chemo, I'll get a cortisone shot and find the same relief without the side effects.

And, I've stopped chasing food. Unless, it's really, really slow moving.