Day 7: I took Advil around an hour before the treatment. I’ve been playing with taking it at various times, and so far, this was the most effective time to take it. The magnet was maxed out (for me) at 110 and while it hurt it seemed the Advil helped take the edge off.

Last night, I was suffering from headaches on the scalp at the treatment contact site. The area was super sensitive touch and no additional Advil or medication caused the pain to subside. I tried icing it. That relieved the pain for a while, but at the time I went to bed, it was still very much present when I put my head on the pillow.

So far, the site level headache is minimal. I’m hoping it isn’t just a good day and maybe the so-called ‘getting used to it’ phase has begun. One good day does not make an actual dataset, so here’s to hope for more of the same goodness tomorrow.

If you’ve been following along, it probably seems like today has been a much better day. To that point, I’m also writing this the same day as my treatment instead of the day after.

Pain: How badly did the treatment hurt? Did I have headaches afterward? Other issues?

3/5 – Unpleasant during the treatment

There was some surface scalp pain that continues to occur after every treatment but this is easily avoided by not touching the area or adjusting my hat to hit it.

Sleep: How’d I sleep? How many hours? Quality?

2/5 – I woke up many times during the overnight. It wasn’t the most useful sleep of my life. No dreams, no sweats.

Appetite: How’d I feel about eating? What did I eat?

3/5 – Mediocre. I didn’t think anything sounded great and so I ate a Sedberry Sandwich.

Physical Activity: What did I feel capable of doing? What did I ultimately do? How did I feel afterward?

3/5 – I didn’t partake in any physical activity, but I also didn’t intentionally avoid it. I wasn’t opposed is probably the best description.

Motivation: How much proactive motivation did I have? What motivated me? What were my goals? Did I hit them?

2/5 – Motivation was still low but I accomplished much. Achievement!

Baseline Mood: What am I feeling as a baseline.

2/5 – Depressed. I felt much better than yesterday, but a lot weighing is on my mind. There are so many unresolved and unknown factors.

Happenings: What’s happened today that may impact my baseline?

A mostly uneventful day. A minor reminder of how difficult life currently is and a therapy session with my favorite betterhelp.com therapist Erin Lingle. She’s been instrumental over the past few months in helping my logical brain work through the complexities of emotional discourse.

Reactions: What were my reactions to the happenings?

Depression
Pride
Relief
Exhaustion

Learnings: What did I learn, observe, etc.?

I learned that I could write more than one post in a day and not die from exhaustion. Also, I learned how fantastic Neil Gaiman’s short stories are. I chewed through several shorts this morning during treatment but especially enjoyed “The Truth is Save in the Black Mountains” or buy the excellent short story collection Trigger Warning.

Day 6: Wednesday was one of the lowest days I’ve had in months. It was the epitome of why I am torturing myself with magnetic radiation.

Pain: How badly did the treatment hurt? Headaches after? Other issues?

4.5/5 –Very Intense, but bearable. Just.

Sleep: How’d I sleep? How many hours? Quality?

1/5 – I slept off and on. It was miserable and sweaty. I wanted to sleep and couldn’t stay there. I didn’t want to leave my bed either.

Appetite: How’d I feel about eating? What did I eat?

1/5 –I hated everything and didn’t eat much.

Physical Activity: What did I feel capable of doing? What did I ultimately do? How did I feel after?

1/5 – I wanted to stay in bed or on the couch and not move. I had no desire or energy to do anything.

Motivation: How much proactive motivation did I have? What motivated me? What were my goals? Did I hit them?

1/5 – None.

Baseline Mood: What am I feeling as a baseline.

1/5 – The worst day in months.

Happenings: What’s happened today that may impact my baseline?

Depression. I was so low I didn’t care about anything.

Reactions: What were my reactions to the happenings?

Depression
Exhaustion

Learnings: What did I learn, observe, etc?

I learned that no matter how many good days I’ve had. There’s always one of these days coming back around to wave hello. I’m not cured of this. We have tough days. We fight, we stay alive, we rise, we fight again.

Keep fighting, Don.

Day 5: Tuesday’s treatment was okay. I was able to read but the pain was so intense that I had to keep closing my eyes to endure the pain. I’m writing this post on Wednesday in the wake of one of my lowest days in months and easily my worst day since starting TMS. This will not be a verbose post.

Pain: How badly did the treatment hurt? Headaches after? Other issues?

4.5/5 –Very Intense, but bearable. Rough.

Sleep: How’d I sleep? How many hours? Quality?

3/5 – I slept.

Appetite: How’d I feel about eating? What did I eat?

3/5 – Soup and pizza were groovy.

Physical Activity: What did I feel capable of doing? What did I ultimately do? How did I feel after?

2/5 – I initially felt like I wasn’t able to do anything and yet rose to the occasion. It served me well.

Motivation: How much proactive motivation did I have? What motivated me? What were my goals? Did I hit them?

2/5 – I wasn’t ultra motivated.

Baseline Mood: What am I feeling as a baseline.

2/5 – Depressed. Bouts of Happy. Depressed again. A healthy dose of Meh.

Happenings: What’s happened today that may impact my baseline?

A rough daytime, a great dinner with friendly folks, and a decent bedtime.

Reactions: What were my reactions to the happenings?

Depression
Exhaustion
Pleasurable Happiness

Learnings: What did I learn, observe, etc?

I learned that potentially writing these posts the day after is actually opening me up to misrepresenting a good day (yesterday) by my mood today. I will likely adjust this in the coming posts.

Day 4: The treatments are only conducted on business days and so I had the weekend off to recover from the first three rounds. It wasn’t long enough. I’ve noticed that I exert a great deal of energy keeping the headache at bay. The more tired I am at the end of the day the worse it hurts because it seems like I don’t have the energy to fight it off.

It’s not all bad. There have been several days that I honestly feel some changes. I don’t know if it’s just a series of good days as far as mood goes but I have had some very positive feelings and experiences over the past week. There’s a certain lightness in my mood that I haven’t felt in a while. I don’t want to discount the possibility that it’s simply positive feelings related to attempting to do something about my depression.

Just prior to starting TMS, I began focusing on practicing mindfulness. This was done in conjunction with therapy, a focus by Salesforce (my company) on mindfulness and mental well-being, and some personal reading on how to incorporate mindfulness into your daily life. This enhanced focus allows me to reflect on how I’m feeling in the space of the treatment.

Pain: How badly did the treatment hurt? Headaches after? Other issues?

4.5/5 –Very Intense, but bearable. Rough.

The magnitude of the electromagnetic pulse was increased again to 110. This increase came with an intense amount of pain during the pulses. As in previous days, the tension releases immediately after the last pulse. However, I can feel the muscles in my head tensing across my jaw and the base of my skull. Ultimately, it feels this tension is contributing to the headaches I feel later in the day. The base of my skull being the root of all evil as the pain takes hold.

Last evening, I attempted to take ibuprofen and eventually even tried a THC edible to relieve the pain. Legality note: I live in Massachusetts. Neither was effective. It constantly feels like the weakest migraine I’ve ever had with a strong sense of pressure behind my eyes and near the base of my skull.

Sleep: How’d I sleep? How many hours? Quality?

3/5 – I slept. It wasn’t the best sleep ever.

I slept for about 7 hours. I felt groggy and grumpy when I woke up. I think I slept poorly and would very much like a nap.

Appetite: How’d I feel about eating? What did I eat?

4/5 – My friend Edmund invited me to lunch at a Korean/Japanese fusion restaurant for Bulgogi and sushi. My appetite for this food was ravenous. However, the rest of the day’s appetite was pretty blase.

Physical Activity: What did I feel capable of doing? What did I ultimately do? How did I feel after?

2/5 – I wasn’t motivated to conduct any physical activity but I wasn’t unmotivated either. This weather is dark and oppressive and makes it difficult to desire any interaction with the elements.

Motivation: How much proactive motivation did I have? What motivated me? What were my goals? Did I hit them?

2/5 – I ultimately took the day off of work due to the level of headache. I was very unmotivated and the only time I left the house was when my friend took me to eat lunch.

Baseline Mood: What am I feeling as a baseline.

2/5 – Depressed. Anxious. There’s a number of problems with my daily life and there are many considerations about the future. Today, these items were at the forefront of the mind. This drove a large portion of my mood.

Happenings: What’s happened today that may impact my baseline?

A rough day with headaches. A gentle reprieve from work. It was otherwise uneventful.

Reactions: What were my reactions to the happenings?

Depression
Exhaustion

Learnings: What did I learn, observe, etc?

Doing nothing is actually worse than doing everything you’re supposed to be doing. I don’t like standing still and doing so contributes greatly to the decrease of mood.

Day 3: I was dreading the treatment on Friday morning. I arrived, headache already well in hand, and hopped into the chair. It was just as bad as I imagined it would be. The pulses started hitting and it was quickly too much. Fortunately, this coincided with the 26-second breaks between pulse barrages. I also believe they had moved the power setting up because they wanted to get me to the prescribed level dictated by my motor threshold gauging earlier in the week.

I also decided to add an arbitrary rating system to my categories below. To get a sense of improvement over time. I’ve also decided to add Pain as a category all it’s own.

Lastly, I experienced something very strange and unusual. I offer the fact that I discussed blueberries with someone I encountered throughout the day. I remember thinking that blueberries sounded delicious and I’d have to find a muffin, pancake, or a yogurt bowl sometime in the near future. Later in the evening, shortly before attempting to sleep I had an olfactory hallucination of the freshest blueberries as if I were chewing them in my mouth. The smell was unmistakable and so potent and fresh as if I were literally eating a bowl of blueberries. I don’t know what that means or if it’s even a common side effect. But, I think, it’s worth noting.

Pain: How badly did the treatment hurt? Headaches after? Other issues?

4/5 – Intense, but bearable. Barely.

The treatment itself was intense and painful. The following hours treated me to a migraine of the light-sensitive variety. Two rounds of Advil and some caffeinated tea later I managed to break it down to a pretty awful tension headache. This headache became my constant companion for the rest of the day.

Sleep: How’d I sleep? How many hours? Quality?

2/5 – I slept, but it wasn’t particularly restful.

I managed to sleep for about 2-3 hours. Unlike previous nights I was barely asleep and it felt like I woke up hundreds of times. It was very unpleasant to go with a crappy headache.

Appetite: How’d I feel about eating? What did I eat?

3/5 – I had no desire to eat at mealtime but once I ate some things it was pretty easy to eat a much smaller amount of food than I normally do. There’s definitely something up with my appetite and willingness to eat. I feel like I’m just picking at food instead of really eating it as I would normally.

Physical Activity: What did I feel capable of doing? What did I ultimately do? How did I feel after?

1/5 – I didn’t want to do anything. I forced myself out into the world and had a decent time with what I did but really just wasn’t feeling it. My head kept hovering somewhere in between a migraine and complete exhaustion from trying to filter the pain out.

Motivation: How much proactive motivation did I have? What motivated me? What were my goals? Did I hit them?

2/5 – I’m not sure if it was more determination not to stay locked in my head or motivation but I did get out and about for a while. It was refreshing but quickly depleted what little energy I had.

Baseline Mood: What am I feeling as a baseline.

2/5 – Low, enjoyed the evening but fighting the headache kept bringing me back to a place of ungrateful preoccupation with the pressure behind my eyes.

Happenings: What’s happened today that may impact my baseline?

A decent day of work, read a book of poetry by Margaret Atwood, roamed a thrift shop, got a little sad about not owning a house yet, imagined what I’d build into my future home office.

Reactions: What were my reactions to the happenings?

Depression
Exhaustion
Hope

Learnings: What did I learn, observe, etc?

Imagination seems to be waking up. I was able to conjure up smells of blueberries and ideas for a future office. It was fascinating because my imagination has been quiet and almost non-existant since chemotherapy. It was this moment, this thought, an indulgence of imagination that gave me one little blast of hope at the end of the day.