Last Monday, I have my regular check-up with my oncologist and he said that I'm "doing great". He's not the most ebullient guy on the planet so I was pleased by his comment. He couldn't say whether my neuropathy would ever go away, but decided to give me a drug at my next chemo (on 3/28) to help curb the severity.
Hair growth and loss
The side effects of the chemo continue to surprise me. The hair on my head is starting to come back slowly, slowly, slowly. My hair looks like a combination of peach fuzz and newly planted grass -- soft but sparse. I've definitely got more white hair than before --ugh!! Known as "chemo hair", the first growth isn't indicative of what it will look like in the long run. The chemo hair may even get curly, although its much too short to know at this point.
While the hair on my head is growing, I'm rapidly losing my eyelashes and eyebrows. I can actually count the number of eyelashes and I'm sure after the next chemo, I won't have any eyelashes left. I used to have to pluck my eyebrows, but that exercise is no longer necessary. Instead, I fill them in with an eyebrow pencil.
When I asked the nurse why I'm growing hair on my head, but losing it around my eyes, she just shrugged. Just another inconsistency in the side effects.
Movie Reviews
"Music and Lyrics" -- This romantic comedy with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore, isn't one of the best, but it's entertaining. As an aging 80's pop star, he seems a bit old for her, but the pseudo 80's video that is shown is hilarious. He also has a weird signature dance where he swivel his hips and jerks his hands as if driving a motorcycle. Very funny.
"Amazing Grace" -- Based on the life of William Wilberforce who fought for 20 years to get anti-slavery laws passed in the House of Parliament in the late 18th century. Because many of his colleagues were landowners in the new America, he fought for 20 years on his anti-slavery platform. The movie gets its title from Wilberforce's relationship with John Newton, a former slave ship owner who wrote the song "Amazing Grace". Newton is old and blind and lives a poverty-strickened monastic life as his personal penance for the thousands of people he enslaved. The lyrics of "Amazing Grace" refers to Newton's life -- "I once was lost but now I'm found. Was blind but now I see." While not a perfect film (a bit too long), it's worth seeing.
"Starter for 10" -- Another quirky British comedy about a working-class guy who gets into Bristol University in the 80's and joins a College Bowl-type of team to gain acceptance with the students. James McAvoy stars in the film. He was so great in "The Last King of Scotland" as Idi Amin's physician and plays a completely different role in this film. He's really cute and enduring in this film and may be on his way to become a big star.
Next chemo
My next -- and 2nd to last -- chemo treatment will be on Wednesday, 3/28. At this point, I'm want to get the whole thing done. As I keep saying, the light at the end of the tunnel is growing brighter and brighter with each day. Soon it will be a white hot light and time to celebrate!!
Monday, March 26, 2007
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
March into spring
Sorry I haven't submitted a blog lately. I've been reminded by several people, including the infamous Jeannie, that I've been remiss. Nothing's wrong, just getting a bit lazy I guess.
Treatment update
I had my 6th chemo treatment on Wednesday, 3/7. My good friend, Nancy, drove me to the appointment and we had a great chat -- in between my frequent naps.
Unlike the previous treatment, I had limited muscle and joint pain, which was good. I did, however, get neuropathy (numbness) in my feet and fingers. It's a weird sensation because of the prolonged time. Unlike when you fall asleep on my hand and it goes numb, with neuropathy you can't shake off the tingling by simply flapping your fingers around. The numbness and tingling remains for several days. The feet are the worse as it's difficult to walk around, but since I'm not going anywhere anyway, I just continue my deep relationship with my couch.
TV on the fritz
As they say, timing is everything. 2 days before my chemo, my semi-new 42" plasma TV decided it wanted to turn itself off all of the time. Not conducive to watching anything for more than 2 minutes. Ugh!!! So I called tech support who walked me through some steps that helped temporarily. Called again and received more instructions (unplug the TV from the power strip and plug it directly ino the wall, change the source on the remote) which didn't help. So, they said they'd send over a part to the technician who would call and repair the TV on Friday. FRIDAY!! That's 2 post chemo days without a TV.
Now, I'm trying to manage my treatments with limited sympathy, but every once in a while it's helpful to throw out the Cancer Card. While the support guy was sympathetic to my plight ("I'm having chemo in 2 days and all I do is watch TV for a week!! Can't you help me?"), he couldn't speed up the process.
So, then I get a call on Thursday from the technician who said that the part has been back ordered and they don't know when it will be available. If they can't get the part within 10 working days of my request, they're going to send over a new TV. Until then, I'm watching my little 20" TV that I moved from my kitchen. Not the end of the world, but inconvenient to say the least.
Embrace your baldness, part II
So there are definitely pros and cons to being bald. The obvious downside is that you look like a dork -- despite what Ms. Brittany Spears may have thought. Mother Nature intended women to have hair on their head. Even Cleopatra had a perm. Guys look okay bald -- Yul Brynner, Bruce Willis, Michael Jordan all look great. Name me one woman who looks good bald. Even Sinead O'Connor looks better with hair. By the way, whatever happened to her?? Probably opened a wig shop in Dublin.
But the upside is that you save tons of time and money. Getting ready in the morning is a breeze. I can shower and be done in 5 minutes. No shampoo or expensive conditioner that I get from Japan. No blow drying in an attempt to create a coiffure. Just towel dry and I'm done. Also, no shaving is necessary -- another time savings.
I'm losing my eyebrows and eyelashes now though and that creates other issues (besides looking dorky). When I exercise, there's no hair to stop the sweat from flowing directly into my eyes. You kind of take it for granted when you've got eyebrows. Beside framing your face, eyebrows protect your eyes. So I just have to keep a towel handy when I'm at the gym and wipe down my head.
6 down, 2 to go
Only 2 chemo treatments left and I'll be done in mid-April. HURRAY!!! The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter.
Treatment update
I had my 6th chemo treatment on Wednesday, 3/7. My good friend, Nancy, drove me to the appointment and we had a great chat -- in between my frequent naps.
Unlike the previous treatment, I had limited muscle and joint pain, which was good. I did, however, get neuropathy (numbness) in my feet and fingers. It's a weird sensation because of the prolonged time. Unlike when you fall asleep on my hand and it goes numb, with neuropathy you can't shake off the tingling by simply flapping your fingers around. The numbness and tingling remains for several days. The feet are the worse as it's difficult to walk around, but since I'm not going anywhere anyway, I just continue my deep relationship with my couch.
TV on the fritz
As they say, timing is everything. 2 days before my chemo, my semi-new 42" plasma TV decided it wanted to turn itself off all of the time. Not conducive to watching anything for more than 2 minutes. Ugh!!! So I called tech support who walked me through some steps that helped temporarily. Called again and received more instructions (unplug the TV from the power strip and plug it directly ino the wall, change the source on the remote) which didn't help. So, they said they'd send over a part to the technician who would call and repair the TV on Friday. FRIDAY!! That's 2 post chemo days without a TV.
Now, I'm trying to manage my treatments with limited sympathy, but every once in a while it's helpful to throw out the Cancer Card. While the support guy was sympathetic to my plight ("I'm having chemo in 2 days and all I do is watch TV for a week!! Can't you help me?"), he couldn't speed up the process.
So, then I get a call on Thursday from the technician who said that the part has been back ordered and they don't know when it will be available. If they can't get the part within 10 working days of my request, they're going to send over a new TV. Until then, I'm watching my little 20" TV that I moved from my kitchen. Not the end of the world, but inconvenient to say the least.
Embrace your baldness, part II
So there are definitely pros and cons to being bald. The obvious downside is that you look like a dork -- despite what Ms. Brittany Spears may have thought. Mother Nature intended women to have hair on their head. Even Cleopatra had a perm. Guys look okay bald -- Yul Brynner, Bruce Willis, Michael Jordan all look great. Name me one woman who looks good bald. Even Sinead O'Connor looks better with hair. By the way, whatever happened to her?? Probably opened a wig shop in Dublin.
But the upside is that you save tons of time and money. Getting ready in the morning is a breeze. I can shower and be done in 5 minutes. No shampoo or expensive conditioner that I get from Japan. No blow drying in an attempt to create a coiffure. Just towel dry and I'm done. Also, no shaving is necessary -- another time savings.
I'm losing my eyebrows and eyelashes now though and that creates other issues (besides looking dorky). When I exercise, there's no hair to stop the sweat from flowing directly into my eyes. You kind of take it for granted when you've got eyebrows. Beside framing your face, eyebrows protect your eyes. So I just have to keep a towel handy when I'm at the gym and wipe down my head.
6 down, 2 to go
Only 2 chemo treatments left and I'll be done in mid-April. HURRAY!!! The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter.
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