Twister, Cymbals & The Peeling Phase

Twister, Cymbals & The Peeling Phase

🌼 Date: Monday, May 4, 2026

⚡ Energy: Exhausted, uncomfortable, and slightly over it

💓 Status: Sleep is now a competitive sport I am losing

🤨 Outlook: Hoping for rest… even if it comes in small, broken pieces

Well… sleeping has officially become a challenge that I am not able to conquer.

I can still only sleep on my back because—well, obviously—sleeping on my stomach is out of the question thanks to the expanders.

And my right side?

That’s not much better.

For starters, my hip hurts too bad to lay on it for very long. Joint pain after chemotherapy and radiation is pretty common, caused by inflammation, hormonal changes, and immune system activation.

Now add in the fact that I already had psoriatic arthritis before any of this started…

That’s what we call a double whammy.

Also, I’ve lost over 25 pounds, so I don’t exactly have much cushion left on my hips anymore.

So that’s fun.

Then there’s the expander situation.

When I try to lay on my side, the expander shifts toward the center of my chest and—

CLANG.

It’s like cymbals crashing together inside my body, and I can feel the reverberations everywhere.

Highly recommend. Zero stars.

And now, just to make things even more interesting…

Thanks to the radiation reaction in my left armpit, I can’t lay with my left arm comfortably against my body.

So now I’m stuck trying to position my arm either behind me or in front of me without letting it touch anything…

Which basically turns bedtime into a solo round of Twister.

In my own bed.

No spinner required.

And just when you think it couldn’t get any better…

We’ve entered the peeling phase.

Remember those days of slathering on baby oil, squeezing lemon juice into your hair, and laying out in the backyard trying to get the perfect tan?

Now picture the palest girl with freckles doing that…

And the burn that showed up the next day.

Now multiply that by about ten…

And wait for it to start peeling.

That’s about where I am right now.

So for now…

I’ll be over here, trying to get a couple hours of sleep wherever I can find it…

Waiting for my skin to calm down…

And hoping that eventually, my body and I can come to some kind of agreement again.

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One Badass Day at a Time