Bulldozer00's Blog

As I write this, my feet are on fire and my right leg feels perilously like rubber when I walk. Oh, and someone has turned up the volume on the ringing inside my cranium. Those are the symptoms associated with the inflammation caused by my brain tumors. In the worst cases of inflammation, my sense of balance also deteriorates and I experience small, fleeting headaches in the back base of my head.

These symptoms have been ebbing and flowing over the past couple of months. They are more annoying than painful, but the worse they get the less mobile I become. They are less annoying in the morning when I get up and then they seem to get worse during the day.

The first time I experienced these symptoms my oncologist put me on steroids. The steroids alleviated the symptoms by decreasing the inflammation but they came with their own uncomfortable symptoms (crazy sleep patterns, anxiety, puffy pie face, huge appetite). When I stopped the steroids, things returned back to “normal“.

Since the symptoms of brain inflammation have returned yet again, my oncologist has given me the now familiar choice: I either go back on steroids for the umpteenth time to suppress the inflammation or I become sedentary and wait till the inflammation (hopefully) subsides.

For now, I’ve chosen to stay off the steroids and remain mostly sedentary. If I start getting headaches and a decreased sense of balance, I will go back on steroids. Do you think it’s the right choice?