April 3 - Tuesday I woke up feeling fine, no nasea or anything, just a mild headache. I was sitting and reading in my chair and had an itch on my head. So, of course, I reached up and scratched it. Lo & behold, 3 or 4 strands of hair came out. Uh Oh, I thought, its beginning. I decided since I felt pretty good other than an annoyoing headache, and I was a little more nervous about the upcoming chemo - maybe I should get a massage. Then I thought, "Is that even allowed?" I called the nurse at the doctors office and she told me as long as they used light to medium pressure and stayed away from the lymph node area on the left side, I should be ok and have fun. Remember, I haven't had surgery yet.
So off I go to Mind, Body, Spirit for a massage session with Heather. She also told me that massage and cancer are a contraindication to each other. The thinking on this is that even though massage gives you stress release and relaxation, the jury is still out whether it spreads cancer. Heather did the massage, staying away from my lymph node area. It felt so good!
After going home and doing a few chores, I sat down. I was kind of starting to feel like the dog shedding hair everywhere. I started to get worked up so I called my parents and asked if they would be willing to come out and shave my head the next day. Naturally, I broke down. This was a surprise to me. First of all, I always seem to cry when I talk to my mom about this kind of stuff. Always happened when I was worried about Adam or Jake during some medical issue. The surprise was that I had been talking to my brother earlier and we were laughing about it. I've discussed losing my hair with several people and it never seemed to bother me. Why did it hit me all of a sudden when I was expecting it? Not sure, but I worked through it.
I think I was having a pity party because not only do I lose my hair, but I'm also told no massages, pedicures or hot tubs. But oh boy, but I can get cancer!! On a good note, since the hair fell out when it was supposed to I'm taking it as a sign that the chemo is working.
Mom & Dad came out this morning and did the dirty deed. I'm not completely bald yet, will let Dane complete it when he gets home tomorrow.
Having another good day and getting some house chores done. Then its off to the Breast & Cancer Institute tomorrow for Round #2. Not sure what to expect this time, but hope it is as tolerable as the last.
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