Best Thing about Christmas

12/25/2011
Almost 9 months after my last chemo session

The red hasn't faded much (the flash makes it look lighter) but I can't worry about silly things like my hair when I'm holding this beautiful little one. What a joy!

Yikes!

Since my hair has been growing in so dark and grey, I thought I'd go get it colored to what it was before this chemo thing. I even took my wig (which was really close to my hair color before--a little darker but not bad) and asked the stylist to get as close to that as she could. When she showed me the color swatches, it looked like the color was pretty close. When she finished my hair it was not even remotely close. I now have red hair and, although I have had a red-head's complexion my whole life, I hate the red hair. I hope I can stand it until January when I can get it redone. It's still thin, especially on the crown where it used to be really thick, but it is getting longer and doesn't look quite so concentration-camp as it used to. I sure expect a lot from a head of hair!

11/30/11

eight months after last chemo session

Losing it again...

My great sadness is that although my hair started to come in pretty thick, I'm losing it again, this time due to the drug they have me on. I don't think I'll lose it all like I did with chemo but it's definitely thinning. What an indictment that my hair loss bothers me more than my mastectomy!

I underwent plastic surgery this past month for reconstruction and am now completely through with everything on my to-do list as far as this cancer goes. Yeah! I'm flying out tomorrow to see my new grandson (who is on his way but not here quite yet...)

11/08/11

seven months after last chemo session

Growing...

9/30/2011
six months after last chemo session

Very kind people constantly tell me my hair looks great. I think they're all headed straight for the celestial kingdom...

I saw my oncologist yesterday and have been declared officially healthy and completely DONE with cancer. I'm through with treatments and don't plan to ever need them again so life is very good. My final surgery (cosmetic only) is scheduled for October 17 after which I can turn my back on this past year and truly feel like I'm back in the human race again. Yeah!

Glad to be cool

Here's the latest--running behind like always. I decided to go to monthly but I didn't even make that deadline (which would have been August 31).

9/5/2011

5 months after last chemo session

It's coming in really curly and grey. I mousse it down on the top and up in the back so it looks darker than it really is. The ends, especially, are really light (white?). I am able to part it now (with enough mousse) so it's looking more deliberate than accidental. When the mousse starts to wear out, I just wet it down again. It's been great to have short hair during August and is a breeze to "fix" in the mornings but I'm still looking forward to longer hair.

Is it long enough to be called a hairstyle?

I'm a little behind on these postings as well. I have only worn my wig to church for the last several weeks. (I would have given that up as well but I didn't want Sabrina's homecoming or my Relief Society lesson to be overshadowed by my "new" hairstyle.) It's almost enough to be called hair now.

7/31/11

4 months after last chemo session

Look how curly it is! for the first time in my life I have naturally curly hair!

7/31/11

4 months after last chemo session

Thickening up

Although I can't really see progress from day to day, my family notices a difference and I can tell the difference from picture to picture. Summer went on trek for three days and when she came back she could tell my hair had grown quite a bit. My parents were here in June for Summer's graduation and came again this past weekend for Sabrina's homecoming and they could really see a big difference. I have finally ditched the wig at work and it is SOOOO much cooler. The young woman who works with me said my haircut was "fierce." I think that describes it pretty well.

7/15/2011
3 and 1/2 months after last chemo session

It's hard to comb because it has a mind of it's own. It grows in any which way and although I can mousse it down, some of it lays right and some left. In the front, it grows away from my face the way my brother's did when he was a little boy with a buzz cut.

I CAN see a difference almost daily in my eyelashes. (Or course, I put mascara on them to make them look darker and longer. Maybe I should try that with my hair!) Even if they don't get any longer than this, I'll be happy.

7/15/2011
3 and 1/2 months after last chemo session