It’s Zap Time: Round Two in My Cancer Rematch

Today will be my first day of radiation treatments at UCSD’s Moores Cancer Center.

For the next six weeks I’ll be going in twice a day, Monday thru Friday, with treatments in the early morning and late afternoon. Although the sessions are only 15 minutes long, the travel time back and forth will be as much as 2½ hours daily. 

Add this to all my post-operative caretaking regimens and getting better will just about be a full time gig. I know from my past experience (2011) with getting zapped that my energy will be fine for the first few weeks, and then it won’t.

While the short term physical side effects are minimal, the psychological consequences can’t be ignored. Strangers in scrubs are in charge of your body. Mechanical devices make disturbing sounds. And then your daily dose is over, only to be repeated in a few hours.

The specialists at UCSD have created a cast of my head and shoulders that gets fastened over my body and the surface under me to keep my body in place whilst the ionizing radiation attempts to scramble the DNA of the targeted cells.

In my case, the cells in my throat aren’t quite cancerous yet, but might be some day. I had two rounds of some serious surgery in December that left me unable to speak and dependent on tube feeding. Getting both of those capabilities back has nothing to do with radiation-- it's just a matter of healing.

All of this is to say my postings may be less regular. Going forward, I’ll publish as time and energy permit, whenever I get around to finishing a post. 

Jim Miller, Cory Doctorow, and other occasional contributors will continue to appear in this space.  

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Email me at WritetoDougPorter@Gmail.com