Wasting Away

Another problem I dealt with after the surgery and radiation was regaining the weight I had lost during my illness. I felt that I was eating enough, but the calories weren't sticking. I spoke to a doctor who specialized in nutrition for cancer patients, and he suggested that I might have “Wasting Syndrome” a condition that causes severe muscle wasting, weakness, fatigue, and loss of appetite.

I eventually gained a little weight, but it came slowly. It was frustrating for me to be so scrawny. I thought that I might be the only woman in America who wished she weighed as much as it said on her driver's license.

One day, my friend Jane gave me a ride to a doctor's appointment. On the way home, she asked me what my favorite candy bar was. 

“Snickers Almond,” I answered. I thought she might bring me a candy bar. 

Instead, she brought me a whole case of Snickers Almond candy bars. I was so surprised, I could not speak. “Eat them all,” Jane said, “and when you run out, I'll bring you another case.” 

I ate at least one, sometimes more, every day. And I started to put some weight back on. This high-calorie diet seemed to break the cycle of “Wasting Syndrome,” and from then on, I could gain weight normally.

“Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee?” (Matthew 25:37)

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