There Is No Spoon, er, Chemotherapy

As bad as last week's cycle was, I feel surprisingly good this week. Not really tired, almost able to drink iced beverages, and a fairly minimal impact from the rest of the usual side effects. I was even able to make it all the way through a normal workday (and then some), despite IT's ongoing inability to make my computer work properly.*

But here's the weird thing: As good as I feel, every now and then my brain will go, "Next week is another cycle," and all of a sudden I'll feel really, really crappy. It's like I get all of the chemotherapy side effects, without the chemotherapy. Sort of the opposite of the placebo effect: like a sugar pill can cure you, nothing but the expectation that you will be sick can actually make you sick. 

Aren't our brains fun?**

But the question is: if it's only some weird brain wave that's making you feel terrible, how do you get rid of that brain wave -- especially when you're fully aware that it's just a brain wave and it's still making you sick? Where's Laurence Fishburne, with his blue and red pills, when you need him?


* Under normal circumstances, chemotherapy + IT issue = early departure from work. 
** I was Philosophy major as an undergrad, and the phenomenology courses were always my favorite.