Bye, bye hair!

Okay...so I have decided to go get my head shaved tomorrow. My hair hasn't started to fall out yet. However, I want to avoid the experience of finding clumps of hair on my pillow or having bunches of it come out in the shower. I've heard how traumatic it can be, especially for women, to start losing hair by the handful.

Just making the decision to shave my head has made me feel empowered. It's like I am choosing to shave my head, and not being forced to do it because my hair is falling out. It is also giving me a sense of relief that I will have one less thing to worry about when I get ready in the morning. I'm just crossing my fingers that I will have as pretty of a head as my mom did when she went through chemo.

Some of you might be wondering if I might be one of those people who defies the odds and doesn't lose her hair. Well, I have been assured by my oncologist and her nursing staff that this first round of chemo I am receiving will without question make my hair fall out. So I know I am not doing this all for not.

I have made an appointment at Shine, SCCA's salon, which has cosmotologists that provide the free service of shaving heads for people receiving the type of chemotherapy that attacks the hair follicles. They will also hopefully teach me some different scarf-tying techniques. Lord knows I will need the help!

As you know, my first chemo session was on Friday. The day was definitely a long one, but it went really smoothly. And it was so great having my big sister, Laurie, there for all the fun;) Here's how the day went: 9 a.m.- Physical therapy. 10:20 - blood draw. 11:30 - Appt. with nurse practictioner. 12 p.m -Lunch at Chandler's Cove on Lake Union (Never again! Right Laur?). 2 p.m. - Quick tour of  the chemo infusion floor, which is basically when they show you where all the food is:). 2:15 p.m. - Receive IV premeds, 2:45 - chemo infusion begins. 5:30 - All done:)

The chemo infusion rooms at SCCA are called bays. I was in bay #36 and was quite impressed with the accommodations: a spacious room with an incredibly comfortable tempur-pedic bed, a nice flat screen TV, and a comfy recliner for my sis. Not all the rooms are like this one so I felt very lucky to have landed it. I also loved my chemo nurse, Michelle, and hope to get her again for some of my future infusions.

I felt fine at the end of the infusion and it really wasn't until I got home that I started to feel a little weird...kind of felt like I had a couple glasses of wine on board. Then before I went to bed that night, I started to feel a little nauseated, but not too bad (I didn't throw up! Yay!). I was able to manage the nausea with just one of the several prescription meds they sent home with me. Saturday morning, I felt like I had done a whole lot of partying the night before. And it was more of the same on Sunday and Monday. And today I'm feeling almost back to normal...just tired. However, I'm finding that if I force myself to keep active, walk etc. that definitely helps reduce my fatigue.

That's all for now...wish me luck on my head shave tomorrow:)