Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Everyone I talked with at the Huntsman told me to expect to lose my hair by the second chemotherapy treatment.  In order to not be totally overwhelmed when this happened, on Monday, February 9th, I had my hair cut really, really short. It looked like a boy cut in the back, but I had a little side hair that I could comb forward, and I had a fringe of bangs.  My second chemotherapy was the next day, February, 10th.  I hadn't lost my hair, and I was anxious to show everyone that it was still there.  Pat kept saying, "you probably won't lose it".  Such positive thinking. Everyone liked the cut, and I wondered how long it would last.  

Anyway, I went through the second chemo without a hitch.  The Power Port worked perfectly. The first thing I have to do before having chemo is have my blood drawn to make sure all the counts are up where they should be.  If they aren't, I can't have the chemo.  So anyway, the  girls in the lab accessed my port with one EASY try, the blood was drawn, and a tube was placed for the chemo.  My lab work came back A-OK, so at a little after 9am, the chemotherapy began, and by noon, it was finished and we were ready to head for home.  

I stopped by the Wellness Center and set up an appointment to have a physical fitness accessment.  I haven't exercised since all of this began back in December, and I need to get back to doing something.  They have a great program at Huntsman, just another reason I'm so thankful I'm there.  From there, we went to the Pharmacy to pick up the medication I needed to take home, and surprise, surprise, both meds had been removed from the computer and no refills were shown.  For the next almost two hours the Pharmacy and I were chasing down my doctors to resubmit the perscriptions.  

Finally, at nearly 2:30pm, we were on our way home.  I felt kind of queasy on the ride home, and by the time we got there I was downright nauseated.  I immediatly took an anti-nausea, but it was too little too late.  I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening trying to get things under control, and finally succeeded after a good night's sleep and more medication.  My daughter, Amy, came over on Wednesday and gave me the Neulasta shot.  The rest of the day went pretty well, and I still had my hair.  

Thursday morning dawned with my whole body aching.  Dr. Ward's assistant, Dr. Haslam had told me the Neulasta shot would probably have a stronger affect, and it did.  Ibuprophen and a soak in our Jacuzzi helped some, but most of the day I felt like I had the flu.  It was definitely a down day, and even more so, because when I washed my hair during my soak, I got a handful of hair.  It was finally happening.  In a way, I was almost relieved.  I knew I was going to lose it, but I just kept hoping to hold onto it for as long as possible.  Well, here it was, reality was hitting me in the face.  I barely combed it, and decided not to touch it anymore than I had to.  I knew the next time I washed it, it would all come out, so the answer to that was hold off on washing it.  

That lasted till yesterday, Monday, February 16th.  I finally had talked myself into accepting the inevitable.  I got in the shower and started shampooing.  My hair literally came out in clumps. It really was disgusting.  I would run my hand over my head, and I would have a handful of hair. I finished my shower, cleaned out a large wad of hair, then looked at myself in the mirror. Jack Nicholson was looking back at me.  My hairline had suddenly receded by at least an inch. The hair that was still there was very thin and the only thing I could do was comb it straight back Everytime I did that, there was another wad of hair in my comb. So, here I am, bald and frustrated.  Hats and headcovers are my future, at least through the summer.  Thank goodness I had already bought a wig and some hats.  Now, to paraphrase Jack Nicholson  in the movie 'The Shining', "Here's Connie!"