Hair Today (and it better still be there tomorrow)

Mom and Cathy wanted to know how my hair was coming in. The back has the most and the front and sides are lagging bit behind. What surprises me it the curls. I had read about people having chemo curls, but I didn't think I would get them. I have never had a curl in my life that wasn't chemically produced. Yet, I have them now. I find myself playing with them and of course I am enjoying having hair again. Still not loving the gray, but I am learning to accept it. It is still too early to think about putting color on it unless I like the color orange. I have never liked orange, unless it was juice.

Please forgive the wonky angle of the picture. It is not so easy to take a picture of the back of your head.

Square On

I decided to make a couple of more hats for Ken before he starts chemo. He seems to like the previous hat I knit for him. This pattern, Turn a Square, is very popular on Ravelry. It was a fun knit. It was the first time I knit using two colors with out cutting and tying on a new color. Learning how to carry the yarn not in use up the back was easy to learn, but I need to play with my tension some. I love how the hat pattern looks like squares once you start the decreases. I can see why this pattern is popular.

Hat #9 in my 11 hats in 2011 challenge.

This Just in...an Update on My Hair

Well, the hair is slowly coming in and it is still very platinum blonde. Now back to whatever you were doing before reading this...

Chemo is Done!

If I had a picture of fireworks, I would post it here. I am finished with chemo. These last 4 rounds were harder than the first 4. It is usually the other way with most patients, but then again I will find a way to be difficult.

The worst parts of chemo were losing my taste buds for the past 2 1/2 months and my lack of energy. Almost everything tasted like nothing and what little I could taste, didn't taste the way it should. It was the pits. Instead of curtailing my eating, I found myself eating things just in hopes I could taste them. The worst was not being able to taste donuts or a Hershey bar with almonds. I really wanted those two in the baddest way possible. There are supercentenarians with more energy than I have, but it will come back. I also have the lovely side effect of having blackened fingernails and toenails. All but one of my fingernails has a blackened area on it and both of my big toenails are black. I lost part of one toenail and will possibly loose the other. Oh joy. One other toenail has a tiny bit of black, but the rest are ok. My side effects could have been worse. I only felt nauseous twice and both times I forgot to take my medicine to combat that. I have some neuropathy in my fingers and feet. It is annoying and hopefully it will go away. I didn't have many of the other issues others had.

My greatest source of support was my family and friends. Phillip was amazing and did what he had to do without a single complaint. The Oncology staff at Ochsner Clinic Covington was wonderful. The nurses did a great job and I especially loved the nurse practitioner, Michelle Anthony. The ladies of the May Chemo 2010 group at BreastCancer.org were a tremendous support as well. No topic was taboo and believe me, there are some questions you might be afraid to ask. From here, I will be taking Tamoxifan for 5 years and then an Aromatase Inhibitor for another 5. At least that is the plan at this point. I will have periodic visits to the Oncologist and lab work and tests as well.

It is all up from here...

The College Experience Has Begun

Robyn is off to college. She drove up to Tech on Friday and we followed with the rest of the stuff on Saturday. I don't remember the dorm rooms being this small back in the day, but I guess they were and I blanked out on that. Robyn had not met her roommate before arriving at the dorm, but the talked several times online and they sound like they will be a good match. Cyrus was hanging out with Robyn and helped us move her things into her room. I was grateful for that.

I was grateful I was able to go at all. My Oncologist was able to adjust my chemo schedule so I would feel well enough to make the trip. They moved it up 5 days. Since I didn't have the full three weeks between treatments, I got the lovely side effect of hand and foot disease and had some blisters on my hands and heels. A prescription of a steroid cream made it bearable and off I went. Blasted chemo interrupting my fun...

Can I Pretend it is Blonde?

My hair. My hair. Well...it is starting to come back in, but it is white. I am calling the color very platinum blonde. I plan to channel Billy Idol or Annie Lennox.

Half Way Through

I don't have a picture to go with this post. I thought about taking one, but I was too busy knitting and forgot. Today I am halfway through with my chemo. Four down and four to go. I have finished what everyone said was the hardest of the four rounds. I didn't find it to be too bad compared to what I expected. I hope this means the next four will be a breeze.

It's Time

Yup. Goodbye hair...for now. This morning I was reading and kept feeling tickles on my neck. Lots of hair was falling on my shoulders. I went to the bathroom to take a shower and combed my hair to get all of the loosies so I didn't clog the drain. No use. It was too much hair. It was time for it to be it shaved. We borrowed a razor from our next door neighbors. Phillip, Robyn and Cara took turns working on my do. They gave me the Mohawk and then took it all the way down. Now I just have stubbles. It is much cooler. When I look in the mirror I can hear Tim Gunn telling me "That is a lot of look." He is right.

The Hair Exodus has Begun

Well it has started. My hair is falling out. If I run my fingers through it I get 5-8 hairs. Well poop. I so wanted to avoid this even thought it was virtually 100% definite that I would loose my hair with my chemo treatment. Cara is itching to give me a mohawk. I think it will be soon.

Training

Today I went in for chemo training. There were supposed to be a couple of other people in the "class", but I was the only one who made it. I was happy to have the nurse all to myself. I could ask all of the questions I wanted and no one else could hijack the class. The nurse was great about explaining about the procedure and all of the potential side effects. My cousin, Evelyne, told me that a friend told her that with cancer you get "cut up, poisoned, and fried". I will get to do the "cut up and poisoned" part. At this time no radiation is needed as there is nothing to radiate. The side effects are many and sound daunting. One of the drugs, Adriamycin, has the nick name "red devil". That should give you a hint how much fun that one will be. I will be given that one and another one, Cytoxan, every 3 weeks for 4 rounds. After that, I will have 4 rounds of Taxotere. All three drugs cause hair loss. I will be a baldy. My friend, Kathy, works at a local high school. She told me a story about how some of the goth kids are starting to transition to rockin' the bald look. I will be cutting edge! But just in case I don't want to go "topless", I now have this lovely prescription for a cranial prosthesis. I love how there are no refills on the prescription.

The Pathway Inside

Today I had the surgery to put in my port. I decided to go with the port because I already have issues which require me to get blood work on a regular basis. I wanted to be able to keep my veins available for that. It is a bit uncomfortable. I don't know how long this discomfort will last, but I am ready for all of the surgery and the aches and pains associated with it to be over.