Speaking of forecasting, there might be snow on the ground as you're reading this. I saw it on WYMT and the Weather Channel.
Considering I have to be in Pikeville at 8am Friday morning, I hope it's minimal. Not much I can do about it, though. I've got a standing Monday through Friday for the next six weeks. There will probably be a few slick mornings.
After 4 chemo treatments 3 weeks apart starting late August, tests before the 5th treatment showed enough progress to start radiation therapy and shift the chemo regimen to weekly through the 6 weeks of radiation.
I've dreaded the radiation, for a number of reasons. It could have no side effects or it could have terrible side effects. I'd like to keep my vocal chords, though some wouldn't mind if they were shrunk a bit. I can be loud and I'd like to continue being loud.
And since you have to be still so the beam doesn't fry the things you don't want fried, they basically restrain you. In my case I could kick and flail my arms, but my head is held down by a mask that is bolted to the table. The bolts may be plastic, but they're still bolts.
I've never been good with restraint.
The first radiation treatment was Monday, followed by my now weekly cocktail of chemotherapy. I'd gotten used to the rhythm of the 3 week cycle, in the phases of chemo effects that were very distinct and predictable over the 21 days between. I had figured out which days I could actually be productive and which I'd probably just be hanging on. Luckily, there were never more than 4-5 just hanging on days in the 21.
So this week has been about learning a new rhythm in the way the cocktail works in compressed time. I'm having trouble with the beat so far. All the phases that passed over 3 weeks are showing up in a day.
I've got a ton of energy in the morning, I'm worn out at midday. By mid-afternoon my energy has rebounded somewhat but I'm wandering around in an altered state. Granted, it's only been 3 days. It might all be different tomorrow.
It's hard to say how much the morning blasts of radiation twist the chemo effects. I'm sure the fatigue factor is multiplied, but not sure how it could add to the trip effect. The worst of the altered state was contained in 4 days of the old plan. It's been in effect to varying degrees since Monday's injection.
In case there's any confusion, there's nothing enjoyable about the altered state I speak of. If you're old enough, you might have seen a movie in the 80s called Altered States. It was a horrible pretentious two and a half of hours of celluloid crap and if you haven't seen it don't.
But if you have and you haven't repressed it like any normal person would, imagine it running on a loop in your brain with the volume rolling up and down and you'll get an idea of the trip I've been on.
Unexplainable if you have to explain it.