Taking it all off

That night (Sunday, January 2, 2011) I asked Summer to help me shave my head. I still had a couple of patches of hair but rubbing my hand over it to make it fall out also made my scalp hurt and there wasn't enough with which to do anything. I believe this is where the scarring process started for poor Summer. We looked all over for the electric hair cutting set Mario used to torture the boys with when they were growing up and we couldn't find it anywhere. Finally, Mario said he thought he gave it to Alex (who, I'm sure, burned it--not one of his favorite childhood memories!). So we pulled out a new disposable razor and Summer got to work.

They tell you not to use a razor to shave your head and now I know why. It's practically impossible to not nick yourself and head wounds bleed quite a lot. When I finally stood up and looked in the mirror, I was shocked to see a wrinkled old man with red dots all over his head looking back at me. I had not realized how feminine hair makes you look! My head also looked a lot smaller than it should--again, hair makes your head look a lot bigger than it really is. I'm not sure I ever came to terms with my new bald look although it doesn't shock me anymore like it did back in the beginning.

The insurance company told me they would not pay for a wig no matter what caused the baldness but Mario, I guess seeing how affected I was, told me to go ahead and buy it. I went back on Tuesday and bought the wig, a couple of sleeping caps that I wore around the house and a wig care kit. Here is a picture of the good wig. Notice the blotchy skin and watery eyes--all side affects of the chemo.

1/23/2011

5 1/2 weeks after beginning chemo