The Skinny on Susan

I've finally tapered off the Prednisone, and none too soon. Since my last post, "Bring on the Calories," I've continued on my binge eating "Booty or Bust" food tour of Los Angeles. But in spite of going hog wild over high fat foods, the needle of the scale moved two more pounds in the wrong direction yesterday. (I'm down to 118, according to the scales at CoH.)

It seems that the plight of a rail-thin woman eating her way through Los Angeles in pursuit of pounds (and curves) is not generating a lot of sympathy. I was trying to think of a few items that might evoke even less sympathy:

• Britney can't manage to save any of her $737,000 monthly income (according to US News & World Report).

• If John Edwards won the presidential election, he'd have to downsize from his 25,000-square-foot mega-house to move into the White House.

• Angelina Jolie was snubbed by the Oscars.

What would you add to the list?

I'm also glad to be off the steroids because I don't feel like "myself." I haven't experienced any of that "inappropriate happiness," but I've felt lethargic on the outside with a calorie-burning motor racing on the inside. The end result is a snappy impatience that I usually save for my closest family members. I nearly got into a bathroom brawl with the hipster mom of a toddler in Silver Lake. I was itching to get into a fight with a man at the bar at Smitty's (but walked away instead).

The best news and cause for celebration and appropriate happiness are my blood counts. I look at them and can't believe they belong to me! I'll never call my stem cells "sluggish" or "under achievers" again.

Day 62, Wednesday, January 16, 2008
WBC 4.0 (4.0-11)
RBC 3.37 (3.8-5.2)
HGB 11.1 (11.5-15.5)
PLT 55 (150-350)

Day 68, Monday, January 20, 2008
WBC 7.0
HGB: 12.0
PLT: 90