Week three of radiation

Hey everyone, it's Joe. Haven't posted in a while, and just wanted to give a little update. Radiation is moving right along. The way it works is I go to the hospital every day at 3:30. They call me back to the radiation room, and I take everything out of my pockets and remove my shoes, then I lay on this table-type thing. A towel is put over my midsection, and I pull my pants down a few inches to expose where they shoot the lasers at, but the towel stays. Then the nurses adjust me to make sure my body is lined up correctly based on measurements they took during a planning session before I began the treatment. I've built a friendly rapport with the nurses by this point, so we usually shoot the shit a little while they're doing this. Once I'm lined up, the nurses leave the radiation room and go to another, adjoining room where they watch what is going on and remotely control the table and the big radiation machine that surrounds me. They shoot lasers from the front and both sides. The procedure generally takes about 20-30 minutes. I'm able at this point to block out the sound from the machines, and I've taken to using this as a time for closing my eyes and sorta letting my mind go blank and just breathing. It actually has become quite relaxing. As far as side-effects, the pain is something that I need to keep managing to stay ahead of, and I've had some bouts of nausea and fatigue, and there are times, mostly in the mornings, where I feel like shit. This is all to be expected, but, seriously, for the most part, I feel like my attitude is having a huge effect on keeping me able to function normally. "Mind over matter" is real, in my opinion.

Anyhow, I'm really looking forward to seeing a lot of people in New York next weekend. It will only be a couple of days, but it should be fun! I'll try to keep up on the posting, and will surely let you know if anything changes. In the meantime, hope everyone is well. And stay thirsty, my friends...