Thanks KS95, Moon & Staci - Hat and Headgear Update

Hi Everyone,

First and foremost I would like to thank Moon and Staci at KS95 for posting my blog on their web site and for all of the KS95 listeners who have taken an interest in my story. Thank you for your support and messages, the kindness of total strangers never ceases to amaze me.

Well we’re in a period of treatment that not much new is happening. It’s chemo every two weeks and pretty much a waiting game. Here are some observations about some of the things that I have been dealing with during chemo.

Good Things:

I don’t have to shave my legs any more, I like that.
I don’t have to shave my underarms any more either, I like that too.
Those three pesky chin hairs are no longer a concern.
I don’t have to do my hair.
I’m saving money on shampoo and conditioner.
I can be showered and ready in about 15 minutes.
I found out that I look good in hats.
My head is not shaped funny.

Bad Things:

I get tired out pretty easily.
The anti nausea drugs are miserable to get off of after I don’t need them to do what they do any more. I’m a twitchy, high strung mess for about 3 days, and nights.
I drink a ton of water and have to get up in the middle of the night at least 4 times.
Constipation. I won’t elaborate any further.
My taste buds like sweet and starchy foods now. Especially honey. Not great for the waist line.
Nausea will come out of no where pretty quickly.

So you can see why no one really likes to talk about any of this stuff. They pretty much hit you with it moments before treatment begins so you won’t dwell on what you can’t change. It’s probably a good thing that they do, otherwise no one would show up for chemo. All in all I think I am doing quite well through this and am pretty confident that March 29th will be my last chemo day. Keep your fingers crossed.

In any case, I am completely bald now, oh sure I have some stubble but what is left looks a little like male patterned baldness. (J.R. Says: I don't see a problem with that!) I’d like to think it’s because I just haven’t rubbed that part of my head much yet. The top is almost all gone, (that’s what everyone likes to rub when they see my head) and the back is almost all gone (from sleeping). So I look pretty funny. And you can now see my scar from 5th grade on the back of my head. (I had 5 stitches from a swing set incident). I still have my eyebrows and eye lashes and am not sure what the status of those will be long run.

As I have mentioned so often before, I have the greatest family and friends on the planet. To help me through the baldness, I have received a plethora of head gear gifts. And I went wig shopping too. I got my wig at the American Cancer Society, they take donations and buy wigs and provide them for free to cancer patients. I’ve received a beautiful scarf from Tom and Mary, a whole slew of baseballs hats from the Reed family. A box of fun showed up from Mary in Pittsburgh, Mitch and Paula got me a great suede hat and warm hats showed up from Jill in Seattle.

By the way, my wig makes J.R. look like one of the band members from Spinal Tap, especially when he breaks out the line “And our amps go up to 11!” in a British accent. (J.R. Says: Trying on Jen's wig is not to be considered a lifestyle change....not that there is anything wrong with that.) Mary and John Carters son, one year old Ethan, however, looks like Tina Turner from “Thunderdome”. He’s so cute! The babushka looking thing is not mine, I only tried it on in the store but it was a total riot. I am pretty sure KJ has me on video doing some bad rendition of Russian dance steps with it on. I loved it because it was warm and funny but I was not about to spend $345 on something that just made me laugh.

So that’s it for now, thanks for listening and I hope this e-mail finds you all well today! Thank you once again for your love and support, you are all the best!

Love to you all,

Jen