Weaning - Week One, Day One

Today is devoted to documenting where I'm at as I begin day one of weaning off the prednisone. This is a photo from today. G-d knows why I'm smiling, but that's actually the best I can do.

Once I had dimples and my mouth opened wide for a smile. Now, my expressions are practically erased. I guess this is what happens with plastic surgery, the movement and vitality in the face are gone. Here, as you can see, I can barely open my mouth.

(That's the bathroom folks! Sorry. That's our most light-filled, widest mirror.)

This is today.

Per doctor's instructions prednisone intake will be reduced by one-sixth or approximately 17% starting today. Instead of 60 mgs, I will now be taking 50 mgs.

This is what it feels like to have taken 60 milligrams a day of prednisone for 6 consecutive weeks.

• My head, neck and back are very swollen.
• Chest has expanded at least 2 inches.
• When speaking, words sometimes become garbled because my cheeks crowd my lips.
• When eating, I sometimes feel like I'm choking, because the position of my neck makes me feel that there's something lodged in my throat.
• When I do yoga, I can only put my head back so far, because the fat pad on my back bumps into the fat pad on the bottom half of my head.
• Also during yoga, I can only curl my chin in so far, because the ring of fat around my neck bumps into the elongated pad of fat under my chin.
• When I read, I sometimes have to reposition my arms with the book, because I don't have the range of sight I had before...the fat pad on my chin gets in the way.
• Putting on deodorant is hard, because I can't bring my opposite arm all the way across.
• My face burns all the time.
• I feel woozy.
• Today it's hard to hold my head up.
• I feel like my head is a balloon.
• My legs are weak and wobbly.
• Climbing stairs are now OK from a breathing standpoint, but my legs feel hollow.

And now for the good news.

• My chest opens more for yoga and all breathing.
• Clearly, the scar from the biopsy is no longer as restrictive as it was.
• Amazingly, the yoga practice actually improves from day to day! (There's nothing like improvement to keep you motivated to keep going!)

Enjoy this 4th of July! I'm celebrating the beginning of freedom from prednisone.