Hair Loss

So, today begins the second week of chemo treatments.  As of yesterday, I was feeling fantastic and going at full steam.  Over the weekend, I spent lots of time playing with Sadie, cooking in the kitchen, cleaning in the garage, feeding bottles to Sadie, helping with the laundry, running errands, going to synagogue, watching TV and swimming in the pool with Sadie.  If it wasn’t for the fact that I’ve started noticing some hair loss, I might not have even remembered that I have cancer…

Let’s talk about the hair loss.  In the comments section, please feel free to make the obligatory jokes like “How do you notice that you have LESS hair?” and “But you’re already bald!”  Anyway, it started on Thursday night.  When I took off my undershirt, the inside of the shirt looked like the outside of a gorilla.  And when I showered the next morning (because I like to shower in the morning, not at night), there was a nice smattering of hair on the floor.  Each night since then, I have continued to notice hair loss on the inside of my undershirts.  I can handle this, and I’m not really upset about it.  When I started to notice the hair falling off my head, however, that saddened me a bit.  I always knew my head hair was going to fall out, but it’s one thing to know it’s going to happen, and an entirely different thing to actually experience it happening.

Back to the chemo…  One full chemo cycle has been completed – a week of chemo plus two weeks of recovery.  I consider myself very fortunate because, all things considered, the three weeks went almost as well as could be expected.  Yes, I did have to endure 5 consecutive days of chemotherapy, but I only suffered from extreme fatigue and multiple IV puncture wounds, no nausea or vomiting.  Yes, I did have to spend 4 days in the hospital, but thankfully it was only a precautionary measure and it did end up being like a mini vacation, only if your idea of vacation is being cooped up in one room with limited TV channels and piss-poor food options.

Here’s to hoping that the second chemo cycle goes “as well” as the first!