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Chapter 13 "The Hormone Wars Part 2: Oncologist Strikes Back"  8/16/04 A brief lesson in hypothyroidism. Hypo (slow) thyroid, (which in my case is NO thyroid) may result in some of the following: fatigue, depression, difficulty concentrating, memory loss, and last but not least, weight gain (Oh Goody!-I love gaining weight!) Writing is difficult. Thinking is difficult. Moving is difficult. I write a sentence, I take a break. I often get frozen in place. One moment I will realize I have been in the same position for 15 minutes, eyes staring into nothing, hand in mid-air poised to write something incredibly witty…what was it again? Why do I have this notebook out? Who are you people????? 
I wake up daily around 9am. By 10:30am I need a nap, having spent all my energy in such vigorous endeavors as: eating cereal and watching the Today Show (actually just thinking about Katie Couric's perkiness exhausts me.) My limbs are made of lead. Every cell in my body is on a sit-down strike for better working conditions. I can't say I blame them. As management, I'm doing my best. And really, my day is packed with "activities" like napping and watching Oprah. It's not like I'm running a marathon or anything (that's next week).
Steph's quick-stats: Napping Average: 2.4/day Clumsiness level: 1 bruise a day and climbing Favorite pastimes: crying, staring at nothing Top Speed: shuffle  I went to the oncologist today and (as expected) he ordered me to immeadiately stop taking the Thyroid Replacement Hormone Cytomel. Also as expected, he was angered at Lord Endocron and swore revenge against him and his people. When I got home I had to break it to Cytomel, whose little kick had gotten me through the week, that we wouldn't be seeing each other any more. (It's been a fun week C, we had some good times, we cried, we stared at the wall. But we must part ways now. It's not you, it's me. So long partner…)
 Now I enter the really fun part of the thyroid cancer treatment plan. Some books call this period "profound hypothyroidism". "Profound" meaning my body will be so slow that motion may not register to the human eye and if I even glance at a bakery, 5 lbs will instantly turn up on my ass. Ok, gotta run…er..um…shuffle..right, gotta shuffle off now. Until next time…..
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