One of the less awesome things about Carter having eight gazillion rounds of chemo are the steroids. They are lame to the O. That's right. Lame-o! They make him SOOOO hungry. And I mean STARVING! This is what he eats on an average day: 6:30am: Wakes up to pee and BEGS us for a snack. About 7:00 we finally give in and he has a cheese stick or a banana.
7:30am: Breakfast: 2 packs of instant oatmeal, a heafy bowl of cottage cheese, a big bowl of some kind of cereal, 2 glasses of milk. (He use to eat 2 things of oatmeal and 1/2 a glass of milk)
By 8:15 he's asking when snack time is... not kidding.
10:00: Snack: He'll have some fishies or a cheese stick and then beg for more. We tell him if he wants more he can have some cucumbers or carrots. 1/2 the time he will; 1.2 the time he won't. (He use to only eat a snack about 1/2 the time.)
10:20: "When's it going to be lunch time? I'm STARVING!" Really? Wow.
12:00: Lunch: an entire turkey sandwich, a cheese stick, 1/4 of an apple, some cucumber slices, a gogurt, and some crackers. (He use to have 1/2 a turkey sandwich and a gogurt.)
12:30 "You know what sounds SOOOOO good, Mom? A CHEESE STICK!!" No.
12:45: "When's snack time? This medicine makes me SOOOO hungry!"
3:00: Snack: a banana or some other healthy snack.
4:30: BEGGING for more food. ("I don't think I can wait for dinner!")
5:30: Dinner. He eats almost as much as me. Goes back for seconds if I don't give him enough. Makes sure before he leaves the dinner table that he'll be able to have a snack before he brushes his teeth for the night.
7:30: Heading for bed: "Dad, I'm seriously SOOOO hungry. Can I PLEASE have something to eat? I'll brush my teeth again! PUUUU-LEASSEEE!?!?"
11:00ish: Usually wakes up to pee and informs us that he is literally starving to death. Seriously? He's got to be kidding, right? Nope. All he wants is.... that's right: a cheese stick! We send him back to bed and assure him that breakfast will come quickly.
He's gained 6 pounds. (The next part of chemo kills the appetite so it will all go away.)
Aside form the food aspect (I feel like I have a teenage son!) he has SERIOUS muscle weakening. It sucks. Bad. He struggles (and I mean STRUGGLES) getting up and down. It breaks my heart. When he gets up off the ground he has to walk his hands up his legs to get completely up. He trips a lot. Stairs are near impossible. I hate watching it. He's literally deteriorating. This is not a super common side affect and thank heavens when he's done with this round of the steroids (it's over TODAY!!) they'll be much less often for the rest of the chemo.
These steroids make you retain water. And crave salt (for him it's cheese). Bad combo. But, it's totally killed his sweet tooth. Hopefully that sticks. :)
He pees ALL the time. ALL. THE. TIME.
Most kids on these steroids are seriously cranky. They are little Jeckyl/Hyde type personalities. The doctor warned us that we would nearly despise our little sweetie by the time Induction (the first section of chemo) ended. Carter is a little more touchy but we have been very lucky to not see this. He definitely wants to spend more time alone rather than playing with Addilyn but he's not mean, which is what we were ready for.
