{"id":51114,"date":"2019-07-23T06:02:39","date_gmt":"2019-07-23T12:02:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/?p=51114"},"modified":"2019-07-23T06:02:39","modified_gmt":"2019-07-23T12:02:39","slug":"a-sacrifice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/?p=51114","title":{"rendered":"A Sacrifice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Summer and the Radiation Moon<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/20190624_120154-e1562195835618-1200x1944.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-50980\" width=\"335\" height=\"543\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/20190624_120154-e1562195835618-1200x1944.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/20190624_120154-e1562195835618-420x680.jpg 420w, https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/20190624_120154-e1562195835618-744x1205.jpg 744w, https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/20190624_120154-e1562195835618-768x1244.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 335px) 100vw, 335px\" \/><figcaption>The Altar<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Kate went along yesterday on my Lone Tree trek. She saw me get on the table. Kim and Nicky bound my feet and knees, put a pillow under my knees, and handed me the donut. Kate left and it was the cyber knife, John Prine, and me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One guy, talking to Kim, said, &#8220;I drank a quart of water before I left home.&#8221; We exchanged glances, amused at what we have to do to get ready. We want to do well, get that bladder at 100 ml or above. It&#8217;s magical thinking to some degree. If we help as much as we can, the therapists will make sure we get the best from them. And, here&#8217;s the magical part, we&#8217;ll kill all the cancer cells together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m struck by how much like a sacrifice these radiation treatments are. I get ushered into the holy of holies where resides the god of radiation. To get his favor I lie down on clean sheets, the priestesses make sure I&#8217;m in the correct ritual position. They leave the room, the encounter between god and sacrifice being a sacred act dangerous to others. I lie still and let the photon&#8217;s stream into me, hoping the god will grant me a miracle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"259\" height=\"194\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/egypt.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-51115\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>With 12 more fractions to go I&#8217;m at the two-thirds point. Blessedly, I have found a combination of meds that keep my stomach more or less calm and my bowels steadier. I feel better and that makes the whole experience less fraught.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Got our first meal delivered last night. Lasagna from Marilyn. Yummy. A real relief to get help. We both are grateful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This ancientrail of disease, treatment, and healing continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Summer and the Radiation Moon Kate went along yesterday on my Lone Tree trek. She saw me get on the table. Kim and Nicky bound my feet and knees, put a pillow under my knees, and handed me the donut. Kate left and it was the cyber knife, John Prine, and me. One guy, talking &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/?p=51114\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">A Sacrifice<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51114"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51116,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51114\/revisions\/51116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}