Hair today.....gone tomorrow

I kinda took a long break from blogging so will catch up now!  My wonderful husband said these 20 weeks are mine and I can do whatever I want!  What a great guy!  I took a blogging break.

The cancer center by me has a wig boutique.  American cancer society gives you the first wig free and the cancer center boutique has a wonderful volunteer who helps you pick it out.  I decided I better make an appointment soon before I wake up with a pillow full of hair and a head without hair.  I made my appointment for 2 weeks after my first chemo.  It was a Friday.  The night before I was brushing hairs off my face when I was sleeping.  In the shower, clumps of hair were coming out.  When I got to the boutique, the stylist combed out more clumps so......I got my head shaved!  She turned me away from the mirrors so I didn't have to watch.  I picked out a reddish brown wig which makes my eyes look really blue.  Everyone says they are surprised it's a wig because it looks so natural.  That helps!

Emotionally I'm fine.  Now thrilled that I have no hair and that I have to wear wigs and hats.  I've never been a hat person but I'm doing pretty good at the scarf, hat and wig thing.  My problem is that I sometimes think the wig is a hat so I'll adjust it in public....LOL Look, that lady is moving her hair!!!

Dealing with Cancer, Resources, Support, Understanding, Living through it all

It was difficult being called Ma'am at 28 but I knew I was young and it really wasn't a big deal - she probably called most women Ma'am regardless of age.  I've noticed that people who have military training are very respectful and use Ma'am and Sir regularly.

So, double the 28, almost.. and you fast forward to now.  Life is busy, lots of responsibilities like work and a small business, taking care of parents, 2 teenagers still at home, oldest son officer in military gaining knowledge and heading towards a great deal of responsibility, oldest daughter married and living in another country, youngest making bad choices and me diagnosed with breast cancer.  

It always hit me how you can be running and doing and juggling all these things. All are so important and you need to keep them all going.  And then life takes a turn and then its like someone hit the pause button or stop button. Time to reflect....

I'm 55. What I know is that 55 is not young and 55 is not old.  My parents are 90 and 86 and still alive.  Dad has Parkinson's Disease and he gets around with his walker but doesn't want to leave the house and moves very slowly, Mom has Alzheimer's Disease and is stuck in a long term care facility in a wheelchair unable to finish sentences or do anything for herself.  So, I see what my possible future could be.  That's 30 years away. Thirty years is a lot of living, heck I was called Ma'am at 28!

My purpose for this blog is to blog about something important that may help others. Cancer sucks but there are options and resources galore!  I plan on making an appointment at the Wig boutique this week. That's where they will help me pick out a wig and hat for when my hair falls out, which could be anyday now.  This is a free service through the American Cancer Society and the boutique is close to my house at a facility similar to Living Well Cancer Resource Center and Waterford Place - Cancer Research Center. They also offer massages free to cancer patients.  I will take advantage of this as well and may go to my first Yoga class this Thursday night.  One of my dearest friends is crocheting hats and made me a beautiful hat. Checkout Crochet for Cancer.

For friends and family, I have suggestions as well.  I'm blessed with so many wonderful people in my life. I work in a hospital emergency room as a patient registrar. Emergency room people are the most amazing people. Everyday they deal with so many different people with so many different issues. My co-workers have been delivering me meals during my first round of chemotherapy. They set this up using MealTrain.com.  This has been so helpful, especially since I have Dad living with me. There are days I'm just too tired to cook. Other co-workers gave me gift cards for restaurants in the area. My girlfriends from college are providing cleaning service every 2 weeks for awhile and my cleaning service suggested I contact Cleaning for a Reason because they provide free cleanings for cancer patients. The application was very easy and you need your doctor to fax them a note. Other friends text or email to see how I'm doing, stop by, meet up with me and walk.  I'm sure I'll gather more resources and will post a list on this blog.  Please let me know if you have any other helpful resources or want me to look for some!

She called you "Ma'am"!

I was 27 years old, a "DINK" (that's double income no kids) and at lunch with work friends.  My most recent bff, Fred - was the "She called you  "Ma'am" culprit when the waitress asked me if I needed anything else.  Fred's a great guy - great heart, hard worker and tons and tons of fun to be with. We met in a training class for our first professional programming jobs out of college.  As it turned out, we didn't live too far away from each other, in Chicago, so we carpooled to Oak Brook everyday.  I think we laughed all the way to work and all the way home everyday.  We worked at 3 different companies together and became family.  Fred and his wife Eva are Godparents to my oldest daughter, Lee. Eva is my friend from college's sister. My friend, Ann, and I were golfing one day and decided Fred and Eva would be a match!  We were right.