Renal Cell Live!

Monday, March 01, 2010

Roly-Poly Ravenous

Steroid therapy has been interesting to say the least. For the past two weeks I've been treated aggressively to bring down the edema and cranial swelling, with a planned titration through mid-April. So, I've bounded around the house with more energy than I've had for years. I've worked on lots of little projects that I've ignored for ages. I've stayed awake for hours.

I'm also eating everything in sight. For years I've been able to go out for dinner, eat enough to be satisfied and have another meal the next day from the leftovers. Not anymore! I'm eating everything on my plate and sometimes polishing things off from Saint H's plate as well. I can't go for more than a few hours without finding myself in the kitchen, putting something in my mouth. The "something" is generally good for me - cheese and crackers, fruit, nuts, the like - but oh, my goodness. How do parents of teenagers (not on steroids, hopefully!) manage to keep them fed? Today I had breakfast twice, two snacks, lunch, and dinner; and that's the way it's been for two weeks, for heaven's sake. My night-time reading has centered on cookbooks, just as was the case when I was on Sutent and couldn't eat at all. At least I can indulge, cook, and eat this time around.

This may be changing - Dr. G wants me to titrate off more quickly, so tomorrow we start stepping down doses drastically. If I begin having cognitive problems again we'll readjust the steroids for effective control.

Sometime this week I need to make a decision about where we go from here. I'll be weighing options and will report back what we do.

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2 Comments:

  • I usually lurk and marvel at how you manage everything, but I had to comment on the teenager...

    I have a son who is now 6'3". Thank god for rice, pasta and peanut butter when he was a teen. He preferred veggies over meat, so having a huge plate of spaghetti noodles with a light meat sauce was perfectly fine by him. Of couse, he was back in the kitchen a couple of hours later for half a dozen PB sandwiches. :)

    He comes by it honestly--when DH was a teen, his idea of a snack was a loaf of bread, a jar of PB and a gallon of milk.

    :)

    By Blogger Bob & Phyllis, at 3:41 PM  

  • My sister A's house was the gathering place for her son's friends; their food bills were horrendous. I never figured out how she managed, beyond saying "they have to eat somewhere so it might as well be here." Good cook and I suspect she's relieved not to be feeding 7 guys at a time now, and her grocery bill must seem like peanuts now!

    By Blogger rcclive, at 10:31 PM  

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