Tracey, none of John's Doc's could pinpoint the cause of the swelling[altho John did have arthritis and joint problems before cancer]. The feeling we got from the Doc's was that it could be related to the trauma of radiation. I think they waited so long to start the steroids because they wanted to see if the swelling would go away on its own-it did not- besides, steroids are serious drugs so they are not prescribed in an offhand manner. Amy