Starting chemo September 2014

BHD, You are to funny, my friend and no offense taken!!!  I will have to admit, it certainly embarrassed the male nurse, but my husband and I both had a good laugh on the way home about it.  I thought about squeezing one of them, but he was already embarrassed enough.  After that I thought, what the hell, so I took my hat off and walked around the hospital with my "stand up and wave" look.  It felt so good and not one person made any kind of a comment.  It was a good thing or they would have needed a hospital - oh wait, that is where we were.  LOL!!!!  Mark Wahlberg -- oh yeah -- I would do him in a heartbeat!!!  YUMMY!!!!  Glad you got a good report from your doctor and are on your way back to a healthy you.  What in the world does "he who shall not be named" want?  Poppy, where are you when I need you?

Love you guys, you always lift my spirits. Had my sims today. I am scheduled to start rads on March 16th. Love, Jean

Oh, ladies you are rubbing off on me!!!!! 

Today was the first beautiful day here in the Midwest, so I took my SIL and my son to lunch at my favorite restaurant.  I am still a little self-conscious of my 3/4 inch long hair, but my son assured me it looked great, so I spiked it and off to the restaurant we went with no hat on.  As we were finishing up lunch, I noticed a man staring at me from across the restaurant.  I tried to ignore him, honestly I did, but when I had had enough I asked myself  -- what would my BCO sisters do?  So, I waved and blew him a kiss!!!!!  It wasn't long after that he and his family left.  What a fun lunch that was!!!!! 

Oh friends! What a rough couple of days it has been around here!

Little E started throwing up Weds. night about 9:30 pm. He threw up all night, and all the next day. Every 15 minutes, like clockwork. At the 24 hour mark, I put my foot down, and told he who shall not be named that we were going to the ER. My poor little man was so weak and dehydrated, and we were completely exhausted! After IV fluids and some Zofran, Little E stopped vomiting profusely, but the Big D arrived! Ugh! This poor boy just couldn't catch a break! By Friday night, his vomiting had stopped, but the diarrhea is still hanging around, although not as severe as it was. Of course, Sat. morning, I woke up feeling like crud, Thankfully, I had leftover Zofran, so I started popping them. Throwing up with four belly incisions didn't appeal to me. Of course, the Big D struck me too, but I am managing it with a small dose of Imodium. My cancer stash definitely came in handy tho: baby wipes, Aquaphor, etc. Good thing I saved all of that stuff, just in case!

I guess the bright spot is that he who shall not be named and I spent a ridiculous amount of time together the last several days, and nobody is bleeding from the head! He has actually been extremely supportive and helpful, which is freaking me out a little. Trying not to read anything into it, but keeping my guard up! Little E and I have had a lot of snuggle time, and thanks to Netflix, we've watched a bunch of old Disney movies, like The Fox and the Hound. He is now angling for a Bassett Hound, LOL! I am going to keep him home from school again tomorrow, and hopefully by Tuesday, we can get back to our old routine again. I have my follow-up with the GYN on Thurs, and will hopefully be released to drive again.

Nomatterwhat, I loved your hair story! My hair is a hot mess right now. I need a bit more length before I can really do anything with it, so for now I have crazy hair that is growing in all sorts of directions, is salt and pepper colored so that I look 100 years old, and is trying to curl! I am so over the wig at this point. It has been so freaking cold here in Ohio that nobody glances twice at a knitted hat, so I have been rocking those. So looking forward to going "topless" soon!

Hope you all are feeling well! Love and prayers to each of you!

Oh, Badhairday, I am so sorry you had such rough days, but glad that you both are feeling somewhat better.  He who shall not be named probably knows better than to mess with you at this point and fears your wrath.

Just think, you could have been watching Jungle Book!!!!  LOL!!!!!  That was my favorite.  Sounds like our hair looks the same.  I have it going in all different directions and when I spike it, it really goes in all different directions.  Pre-BC I already had the salt and pepper look since I was 30.  Now, it is coming in snow white, going in every different direction it can and is very soft, like a lamb and it is getting very curly, which I hate. 

While you are wearing warm wool hats, I have been sitting here with my fan on and enjoying 70 degree weather.  We are sending warmer weather your way and then you can go topless. 

Ya know, when I picked my user name, I had no idea how perfect it would be for me! LOL! Guess I only thought I was having a bad hair day! Little did I know how much worse it could get!

I find myself complimenting strangers on their hair constantly these days. I think I have hair envy! When it is long enough to do something with, I am going to reward myself by doing something fun with color. I do not want to be mistaken for Little E's grandma!

I had children kind of late in life, my youngest one when I was 37, so by the time she was in school I was routinely mistaken for her grandmother. Her older brother used to get very indignant when one of his friends would ask if I was their grandma. I found it a bit amusing, but I also started coloring my hair.

I'm getting thicker and thicker fuzz on my head now, and it's REALLY gray. I don't remember it being quite this gray, but it's a real light silvery color, so if it stays this color I might just keep it. I have never worn a wig or scarves through all this, just caps to keep my head warm, but otherwise I went bare and let other people deal however they want. It's fun now because everyone keeps commenting on how much hair I have.

Now, if the eyelashes and brows would come back a little quicker, well that would be great.

Good for you LA Rock!!!  I went "topless" at work today too.  I am so done with that wig and hats and just spiked it and went on to work with the same attitude I had on Saturday.  Screw'em!!!!! 

I have colored my hair for so long that I have forgotten what color it is supposed to be. I was born a blonde, but by the time I hit high school, it was a rather mousy brown. I have been coloring it blonde for many, many years now, and noticed for the last few that the roots were coming in a bit gray. I am amazed at how gray it is now! Much more salt than pepper. I only have about a half inch or so on top, and a bit shorter on the sides and back. When I was diagnosed, my hair was extremely blond and about halfway down my back and straight as a stick. I wore it up quite a bit and rocked pony tails pretty often. When I found out I was going to have chemo, I donated my hair and had it cut into a chin length bob, which I got a ton of compliments on. My wig is also a chin length bob, a very light brown with blonde highlights. It is very flattering, but I am so sick of it! I'm thinking that in another month, I will try some temporary color, perhaps very light brunette with a few highlights. I'd love to do something crazy, like magenta tips! LOL!

Little E was born when I was 41, so I am often the oldest mom at school, soccer, scouts, etc. That doesn't mean I want to look like it tho! I feel like the last several months have really aged my face as well, so I am trying to step up my skin care and repair some of the damage.

I never lost my brows, but lost all of my bottom lashes, and all but a few of the top ones. I started taking the Nature's Bounty Hair Skin and Nails vitamins as soon as I finished chemo and they began coming back in about 3 weeks. When they first began to grow back, they looked like I hadn't cleaned off yesterday's eyeliner, but they filled in relatively quickly.

It looks like we have kicked the stomach virus to the curb, finally! We are going to spend tomorrow catching Little E up on his schoolwork, and the plan is for him to start back at school on Weds. I am so exhausted, and he hit the boredom stage today, so I let him buy a new Minecraft app so that I could take a nap! (There goes my Mother of the Year trophy! LOL!) I am so ready to get back to some sort of normal routine again. Hoping the GYN clears me for driving and some activity when I see him on Thursday.

Venice? As in Italy? Count me in! I have always wanted to go to Italy!

Heck, if it's Venice, California, you can still count me in! After the lousy winter we have had, anyplace without snow, ice, and wind chill advisories works for me!

LARock, That trip sounds amazing! What an awesome reward for you and your family! I hope you will share a few pics with us when you return.

I have never colored my hair and this is how it comes back in!!!!  My son says this is my "scared chicken" look.  What a great kid!!  LOL

Nomatterwhat, you look beautiful!

Jmo, I hope your mom is doing well. I never heard of doing henna eyebrows, but that sounds much easier than trying to draw them on, and worrying about smearing makeup.

Jean, I am sure you will sail through rads, after everything else you have been through. I wish you well, and as always, will keep you in my prayers!

Just returned from my follow-up appointment with the GYN. I have been cleared to drive (Yay!) and run the vacuum (Not so yay!) and pretty much resume normal activity. I am also allowed to start exercising, albeit slowly. My doctor said the surgery went great, with no complications, and that I should be feeling 100% in another few weeks. I told him I haven't felt 100% since July! LOL! We went over all of the pathology in more detail. The cervical cancer was contained, with very good margins, and all other pathology was negative for cancer. I did have adenomyosis, which explains the heavy bleeding I have been experiencing for well over a year. So I am feeling very good about the choices I made, and so excited to never have to buy another box of tampons in my life!

Took my friend to lunch to thank her for the ride to the doctor and we laughed so hard that my belly button incision hurts! I'm feeling oddly blessed about that! God is good!

Thanks ladies for your kind words. 

Jean, How did it go on your first day of rads?

I gotta share --- Saw a lady today that we shall call "Barbie doll" and when she left our firm, someone asks me if I thought her boobs were fake, and my reply to that -- "as fake as mine are".  LOL!!!!!  The only thing that was real on her were her leather shoes.