Hair loss

I wonder why it is that some people’s first reaction when I mention that I will be receiving chemo is “will you lose your hair?” It’s not that this question bothers me (o.k., well maybe it bothers me a little bit), but I just wonder why it is the first question. Perhaps its just that a bald head is really what identifies a cancer patient or perhaps its because those individuals can’t imagine the thought of losing their own hair. Whatever it is, I’m sure there has to be a better response unless your planning on buying me a hat.

The hair loss doesnt bother me to much. Dont get me wrong, it sucks, no doubt about it. But I would gladly trade my hair for 6 months in order to get rid of this terrible disease. In the scheme of things, its a small sacrifice to make.

There are also, I think, a lot worse side affects to chemo than hair loss which could include heart damage, increased risk of obtaining other cancers, memory loss (also known as chemo brain...I guess that’s like pregnancy brain), permanent tingling in your fingertips, and much more. Yes, unfortunately with these kinds of drugs comes serious side affects but what alternative do you have? I say none.

So, then what do I do to deal with the hair loss....I prepare by shopping with some fabulous girlfriends for wigs, bandanas and hats. Which by the way, we did last weekend. But more importantly, when I need a laugh, I have my husband (or my friends husbands -- you will look fabulous as a blonde Chuck!) wear my wig around the house.

And, when the next person says to you they need to have chemotherapy, try to hold back the desire to ask if he/she will loose their hair unless you are going to follow it up by asking: “Do you prefer knit or fleece?”

1 down 5 to go

Well, first treatment down, five left to go. Unfortunately, actually getting the chemo treatment is the easy part, it's the side effects that hit after treatment that makes life difficult. Don't get me wrong, there are certainly cancer patients in the "Infusion room" that are having a hard time with the treatment. You do need to learn to tune those sounds out when you are there or it can make your time a bit uncomfortable. But in general, everyone is just kicked back in their barcalounger with a tube attached to them and a nurse coming in every once in a while to change the IV bag. There are a couple chairs with each barcalounger for guests and a curtain to provide some sense of privacy if you want. For those having a difficult time, there are individual rooms.

My "cocktails" consist of 3 different drugs, along with some anti-nausea medicine first. In total, we were there for about 4 1/2 hours. They give you the drugs slow the first time to be sure that you don't have an allergic reaction which could be anywhere from mild to very serious. Luckily, I did not have any reaction. The next chemo treatment, they can speed up the time in which one of the drugs is administered but I will have to see my doctor first and get blood work done before treatment, so I don't expect to be there any less than 4-5 hours each time.

My port worked wonderfully. I have a "Power Port", though I am still trying to figure out what kind of super powers it gives me. If you are wondering what a port is, check this out..
http://www.bardaccess.com/port-powerport.php
This is truly a chemo patients best friend! It prevents your veins from collapsing with all the times they get hit up for blood, injections, etc. The port is installed under your skin, though you can see the bump in my chest where it is and a tube is run directly into your vein. When its time for chemo or blood withdrawal, they stick the needle in the port, and voila!

Tuesday I felt pretty good, Wednesday was my bad day as expected. Mostly just a nauseous feeling that you feel everywhere in your body. A bit hard to explain. Today, still a bit nauseous but the muscle aches have also set in just giving me an overall achy feeling.

We did learn today that you CAN actually over do it on the anti-nausea medicine. Ooops. Had to cut back on that, it was making me a bit jittery and irritable.

I hope to turn the corner tomorrow, and be on the road to feeling a bit better. The good news is since treatment is once every three weeks, I will have a few weeks of feeling pretty good before I go back again on 12/31.

Chemotherapy is cumulative as well, so as you go through treatments you do progressively feel worse. The drugs build up in your system and you feel more tired, and more side effects start to take hold. But, good news is the docs say "we have a drug for that" so you can curb most of the side effects.

I've added a picture of me in chemo. It really is just this exciting though I did love playing with my new itouch for 4 hours! Next chemo....knitting lesson with Jennifer. Looking forward to crafting our $70 hats!

Love to all.