Feeding the dexa monster

I punched through round seven yesterday with all my Friday chemo cousins and what seemed to be the D-team of nurses on duty. There was a lot of "oh, which round are you now?" and "what do you do with the frozen gloves?" and "hmmm... I don't seem to have the right [insert med supply item here]". Glad it wasn't my first round or my veins and I would be ready to bolt.

I did get one decent answer out of my nurse. I've been a bit stressed at the ultra-high neutrophil levels my bloodwork has been returning the past two times and all I could find on my reluctant web searches were two maudlin options - bacterial infection or cancer spreading. Joy. I had asked Dr. A. last time whether I should be worried, but she said no. I wasn't satisfied. I asked my nurse yesterday and she said the pre-chemo steroid I take, Dexamethasone, was commonly responsible for a spike in neutrophil levels, especially if you first start taking it before you get your bloodwork (which I did). Relief.

So I did a little investigating on my friend Dexa and it's an interesting one. Besides the usual treatment of inflammation and recreational use for some athletes, it's also responsible for a huge increase in appetite (check) and is used in some third world countries by prostitutes who want to fatten themselves up quickly and charge their customers a higher rate for more flesh. With the pancakes I downed yesterday morning at John's Place and the pecan pie and peanut butter cookie at 10 pm at QV's last night, I think I'm on my way to upping my rates a little more, too. But we won't tell my naturopath about that stuff on the food diary I agreed to fill out.

Today I'm puffy, my injection site is beginning to balloon and my teeth are getting that good ol' wooden feeling they get, but I'm determined to get out today and walk it off. Before I raid my pantry again, of course.