Tuesday was Day Five of my Grand Nicotine Experiment. And I felt damn good. I went to my usual Rock Steady Boxing session, and all the exercises we did seemed effortless. It was the best I’ve felt during a workout in years. Wednesday and Thursday were good, too, though not as good as Tuesday. Friday, Day Eight of nicotine therapy, everything went to Hell. I had by far the worst bradykinesia I’ve ever experienced, especially my lower body. Walking, getting up off the couch, or in and out of my van took forever, as my legs just did not want to move. Today, Day Nine, was noticeably better, especially after another Rock Steady Boxing session. But I’ve still been awfully slow, and more off-balance than usual. BUT, for the entire nine days thus far, I have experienced no anxiety whatsoever. This is strange because usually when I’m having a bad day physically, it’s also a bad day emotionally. So, I find myself wondering: am I going to have to make a choice between being physically incapacitated or emotionally incapacitated? And if so, which do I choose? Obviously, both conditions suck.

Or maybe the physical (motor) symptoms are just a result of the alcohol I had Thursday night. If the problem persists through tomorrow, I can probably rule out the booze. Of course, extreme heat also cripples me, but I’ve barely stepped outside of the air-conditioned house / van / gym, so I don’t think that’s the problem this time. For now, I think I just want to try to power through the next few days. I’ll see how things are going on Day Thirteen, and decide how to proceed from there.

As for the other developing news, I’ve decided I will definitely be getting Refractive Lens Exchange surgery instead of LASIK. I just need to call ’em to get a date set.