Day #16 ... A Major Pain
They say you never know how tough you are until you have to be. While I still don't know who "they" are, I have to concur with them. I just finished what is the hardest physical show I have to work all year with the most challenges this past weekend. It is also one of my favorites. Called the Poteet Strawberry Festival, it is held the second weekend in April every year in a VERY small town most people would otherwise never hear of about 45 minutes Southwest of San Antonio. The population of Poteet is listed at about 3400 people and it is about as sleepy a little town as you could image. Neither a McDonald's or a Walmart here, folks (although the do have a Dairy Queen). There's not even one motel here, ergo, my stay at a motel in South San Antonio which is the closest I could find. So this little town transforms into Las Vegas overnight for three straight days when the festival begins with fireworks, rodeos, all night parties, bands everywhere, vendors lining SH 16 for miles, and much, much more. More than 100,000 people descend into this town and fight traffic, crowds, parking, etc. to catch a piece of the action, drink copious amounts of brew, and maybe take home some fresh-grown local strawberries. Then, come Monday morning, everything disappears and little Poteet goes back to sleep as if the whole thing never happened. It's the weirdest thing you could ever imagine.
Well, I had to do the event for Sears. Since the hours of the festival are so long, I was there anywhere from 12 to 16 hours for the event plus and hour and a half more in drive time each day. I averaged about 6 hours of sleep each night and ate unhealthy fair food for three straight days. To boot, Friday night a huge storm blew in and picked up our tent and mangled it into a big, unsalvageable mess. So all day Saturday we had no sign and no tent. And late Saturday night I picked up all the rest of my booth supplies including two tables, two chairs, the sign that blew down, two large crates and more and hand carried all up a hill to another and better location. Then I got up extra early to go out of my way to get a new tent to set up in the new location Sunday morning. I did all this late into my radiation schedule where I am supposed to be suffering from fatigue and getting extra sleep ... Whaaaat?!?
Needless to say, I am feeling a little triumphant. I basically backed fatigue into a dark alley and proceeded to kick the living daylight out of it.
I finished #16 today and the final whole breast radiation. I have 5 more to go and these will change to what they lovingly call "tumor blasts." They are more specifically aimed and concentrated on the area where the cancer was. While is is very true that I have been lucky and that my skin looks pretty good, over the past week I have been experiencing an increasing amount of shooting pain deep inside. I had a lot of pain last night after that busy weekend and even more today after my session. It was almost like labor pains coming one after another in wave after wave (just in a different location ... lol). The pain has subsided tonight but I honestly don't think I can take a lot more radiation. I am hoping that the last five, since they are more narrowly targeted, will give me some relief. This isn't easy ... and I didn't expect it to be ... but it's almost over.
Well, I had to do the event for Sears. Since the hours of the festival are so long, I was there anywhere from 12 to 16 hours for the event plus and hour and a half more in drive time each day. I averaged about 6 hours of sleep each night and ate unhealthy fair food for three straight days. To boot, Friday night a huge storm blew in and picked up our tent and mangled it into a big, unsalvageable mess. So all day Saturday we had no sign and no tent. And late Saturday night I picked up all the rest of my booth supplies including two tables, two chairs, the sign that blew down, two large crates and more and hand carried all up a hill to another and better location. Then I got up extra early to go out of my way to get a new tent to set up in the new location Sunday morning. I did all this late into my radiation schedule where I am supposed to be suffering from fatigue and getting extra sleep ... Whaaaat?!?
Needless to say, I am feeling a little triumphant. I basically backed fatigue into a dark alley and proceeded to kick the living daylight out of it.
I finished #16 today and the final whole breast radiation. I have 5 more to go and these will change to what they lovingly call "tumor blasts." They are more specifically aimed and concentrated on the area where the cancer was. While is is very true that I have been lucky and that my skin looks pretty good, over the past week I have been experiencing an increasing amount of shooting pain deep inside. I had a lot of pain last night after that busy weekend and even more today after my session. It was almost like labor pains coming one after another in wave after wave (just in a different location ... lol). The pain has subsided tonight but I honestly don't think I can take a lot more radiation. I am hoping that the last five, since they are more narrowly targeted, will give me some relief. This isn't easy ... and I didn't expect it to be ... but it's almost over.
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