So, after the emotional haircut afternoon, I wrapped my head in a scarf and Evan went to pick up the twins. I had been telling them of the haircut for days before in order to prepare them. Creed walked in, looked at the scarf and said "What's this?" AS I unwrapped my head, I said "This is Mommy's new haircut." He looked for a moment, grinned and said "I (y)ike it!" Then he kissed me on the head. I took Zelda's hand and placed it on my stubble - she said "Mommy, haircut!" and laughed. The next morning, Creed woke up and crawled into bed with us. He took one look at my newly shaved skull and said "No more haircut Mommy!" Sorry Creed, I can't go back...at least, not for a while.
Chemo #2 was yesterday. Again, it went off without a hitch. Accompanied by Evan and our friend, Joaquin, a filmmaker, we met with Dr H. I always feel good about our meetings because she tells me how great I'm doing and how young I am! Her latest comment was "You have great marrow!" I'm so pleased with that one...as my blood counts remain strong and that means I can continue the chemo on the every 2 week schedule and be done in 6 more rounds. I am beginning to know the nurses and always ask lots of questions. We tweaked my meds so I haven't had the lingering, bothersome headache although the nausea persists. Crackers and ginger ale have been doing the trick. I eat well and have started taking pro-biotics. I even worked yesterday. Right now, besides the nausea and fatigue, the most troublesome SE (that's 'side effect' in chemo lingo) is the insomnia. The steroids wake me up and I am soooo restless. It's difficult to read because my eyes are dry, blurry and unable to focus. My mouth is so parched, I constantly sip on a bottle of water. I got up to make jewelry but was too tired and cold. I was awake for hours.
Today - 24 hours after chemo - I return to the lab for my shot of Neulasta. It is a drug that boosts the white blood cell production in preparation for the day 7-10 typical plummet. I had little trouble with my first shot but they say common SE's are intense bone pain and flu like symptoms which can occur within 24-48 hrs of the injection. I'm hoping to keep smoothly sailing through...
P.S. My new profile photo is from Saturday night - a black tie affair at the Blanton Museum. It was my first attempt at an 'Aretha-like' turban in .89/yd black fusible interfacing. I wore a leather ball gown that I had designed several years back. The event was very 'old' and very 'monied'. 70-year old women in ballgowns from the 1960's would come up behind me and say "Honey, I like your hat!". If only they knew...
No comments:
Post a Comment