Targeted Therapy Infusions are DONE!

I'm On December 8th, I received my last infusion of herceptin. I had a shorter visit to the chemo lab for my last dose. They gave me a certificate and a blanket, then I hit the gong and hugged the nurses. It's been a long year and I was fighting back the tears. I don't know if it's that I'll miss the wonderful nurses or if it's the huge emotional sigh of relief at the end of it all. I feel like I held strong during all of it, like I just did what had to be done with the best attitude I could because there really wasn't an option. But now that it's over and I look back, it's a little sad. As pathetic as it sounds, I feel sad that I had to go through it. 

There are things that remind me of that time and of feeing sick. It's hard to face those things, kind of like the aversions from morning sickness. For example, my hats/scarves, I can't stand to look at them. But there's a pessimist hoarder in me that's worried I'll need them again one day and wish I had them. Sad, I know. There are foods and situations that remind me of chemo too. Like I hate the smell of the medicine cupboard. Reminds me of getting all my meds. 

I decided to end my clinical trial so that's why I'm done early. The Perjeta was causing such a horrible side effect with my skin. Some people have said it sounds like shingles, but it isn't shingles. My arms and neck itch and burn and sting and it's awful! The doctors don't have a lot of experience with this side effect from this drug, so they are trying everything they can think of to help my skin. Nothing's really worked. I can ice it to numb it, but now that there's snow outside icing makes me too cold! I can use lidocaine creams and patches too. I just hope it goes away soon!!

Oh and the port is out! That means it's really done. But oh how thankful I am for ports!!!! I can't imagine getting all of those infusions through my veins. I wouldn't have any usable veins left. 

I've got another outpatient surgery with my plastic surgeon next week and that should be it!! Now it's time to keep working out and attempting to eat better (exercise is much easier for me than eating right). I just need to get healthy and strong and get all of this behind me. 

Tamoxifen

I'm starting Tamoxifen today. I'm a little nervous about it, if I'm being honest. I know it's the regular standard of treatment. Most women do just fine on it. I hope I'm one of those women. I'll be on it for a minimum of 5 years, but most likely for 10 years. I should feel grateful that there's a medication that helps to make sure that cancer doesn't come back. I just wish that good medications didn't have side effects.

Radiation's Over!

These are my radiation techs, Dana and Katy. They were awesome! I'll miss chatting with them every day and the kids will miss cookie Thursday. But I'm so glad I'm done! I ended with the burn near my clavicle getting worse. I have to use silvadene cream on it. But it's quickly getting better. 

I was told it would be a couple of months before all of the effects from radiation have settled. Once that's resolved, I may look at additional reconstruction, fat grafting. We'll see. 

Radiation Burn

UPDATE: While talking with the radiation tech today, I was saying that I was so happy to only have one more treatment on this burn area. I was glad that it wasn't going to get worse. Well, I was WRONG! She said this burn is probably from radiation 10 days ago. She said that the damage today's radiation caused won't be seen for another 10-14 days!! That means this burn could get much, much worse. 😟 

This, my friends, is a radiation burn. So not fun. I have several creams, gels, ointments, essential oils (lavender and frankincense) and I use them all throughout the day. I hope they're working. Maybe this would be worse without them?? Let me just say that a seatbelt is a problem here. Rubbing against a burn/rash, not good. Two more treatments on this spot (lymph node involvement near my clavicle) and 5 more total!

Oh, and this is me getting used to seeing myself with super short hair. I hate it! It's SO not me. But I'm trying to be brave and go without the scarf. If I wait until it's at a length I could feel normal with, I'd be waiting another 9-12 months. 

First Post-Chemo Haircut

My first post-chemo haircut! It was a small, shaping haircut, but that means the hair is growing. The area around the ear really needed some help. We didn't touch the top, it's not growing as fast as the back and sides. I've been told that your hair can stay thin while getting Hercetin/Perjeta infusions, which I'll get until June 2016.

 I would NEVER go this short intentionally and I'm having to get used to seeing myself with super short hair, but hopefully I'll get used to it. I guess I'll try a few styles as it grows out. Thanks goes to my sister-in-law, Kristina 😊

Radiation Time

Here's my radiation machine. 

Here I am in the machine. It rotates around me to radiate from 3 different angles, They are targeting my chest wall and lymph nodes.

I started radiation on July 1st. The first couple of visits took a little longer while they did scans and put on my little dot tattoos. But a normal visit is very short. It takes longer to get me situated on the table than to do the actual radiation. They play an 80s alternative station for me to listen to while I'm in there. One day the song Take On Me by A-Ha started right when the radiation started and the song ended right when the radiation was done. So that's how long radiation takes :)

I can't feel anything at all from it. I just finished radiation #12 yesterday and I can see a little line where my skin is changing color. I'm using MiaDerm and Radiation Rescue, plus LavaDerm and frankincense throughout the day. Hopefully that all helps prevent horrible burning. We'll see how I feel in a few weeks. I am getting 28 treatments total and should end August 11, assuming everything goes well i don't  have to take any breaks in treatment.

Post Surgery Report

I'm finally getting around to a post.  Surgery was Monday, June 1st.

I was so scared to go in, but everything went well. One big fear was the anesthesia. And when I ended up with a young anesthesiology fellow, I was nervous. The supervising doctor would be switching off with her because it was such a long surgery. And I was just that, a long surgery. I was expecting 8-10 hours and was worried about that. But it ended up being 12 hours!

I went to the IMU (a step down from the ICU) from surgery and was there for 4 days. It was a rough recovery. It's hard when you've got abdominal and chest recovery at the same time because you can't compensate for one by using the other. I had to rely on my legs and it was hard. I won't go into the detail of my surgery but you can look it up if you feel the need. I chose to do a double mastectomy with immediate DIEP reconstruction (that's the part I'll leave up to you to look up). 

When I received my pathology report, it was great news! It looks like chemo was very effective. There were a few, random cancer cells still present, but a lot of tissue showing "chemo effect". That basically means the masses where cancer was present were destroyed! They removed 16 lymph nodes and 6 of them showed chemo effect. They still remove everything because of the few cells left. We don't need them replicating!! 

Because the surgery was so long, blood clots were a worry. I had to take lovenox shots every day for 4 weeks. Not fun. Luckily I have a couple of nice friends that were willing to come over and stick me every morning. I was too scared to do it myself.

Again, it was a rough recovery. But I had a lot of help and I'm VERY thankful for it. It's been very hard for me to be so useless to my kids. I want to be able to take them to the park or the carnival or for ice cream or a walk. I couldn't do any of that for several weeks. It's a little sad for me to send them with others.

But I'm feeling pretty normal now. My energy is coming back and I'm doing well. I have limited range of motion in my left arm and I'll have to do exercise therapy and work on that. It's because of the lymph node removal. 

Anyway, I'm so happy to have that behind me!!

A Break, Tests, Cleared for Surgery

May has been a nice break. I've had a couple of appointments: echocardiogram, blood work, mammogram, ultrasound, venous ultrasound, and one pre-surgery doctor appointment.  And the results from the tests say that my heart is normal, they can't find the little indicator that they put in the tumor in the beginning (which means the rumor is pretty much gone), I still have a clot in my jugular vein from the first port (but it looks stable??), and I'm cleared for my super long surgery on MONDAY! 

If I'm being honest, I'm terrified. I HATE surgery. I'm so worried that something will go wrong, or there will be a post-surgery complication, and I'll die. I'm also scared that the anesthesia won't work, even though I've had other surgeries and the anesthesia worked just fine. Totally irrational fears, I know. I asked my doctor if people die from this surgery and he said he's never seen a case where someone died. But I'm just worried. He did say I have like a 2% chance of getting a blood clot after surgery. And that's with the anti-clotting shots I'm going to have to give myself for a few weeks.

At the same time, I'm anxious to just get it over with! It will be one more phase done and one left go to. Well, one more of the "big" phases to go (radiation). I'll still have maintenance kinds of things for a while. 

Wish me luck and say a little prayer that all goes well. 

The End of Chemo!

I finished my chemo yesterday, May 5th! I'm SO happy to have this part over. I'm feeling pretty tired today and I'm assuming this week is going to be about the same as last week - TIRED! But in a week or 2 it will all be out of my system and I hope to be feeling pretty good. No treatment for the rest of the month! Just a couple of appointments for tests. 

Then I was surprised when I got home by my sweet friends from church with a decorated yard and door. I'm so thankful for all the love and support I've received. 

We wrapped up the day with my family at Outback for dinner. It was Sue's 60th birthday, so it was a double celebration. 

Chemo Fun!

I love these ladies! Obviously one is my actual sister (maybe not obviously to all of you, she's behind me) and the other 2 are like sisters to me. They are our friends from Texas and it's wonderful to still be such good friends after 30 years!  We can go months-years without seeing each other and pick up right where we left off.

We may have been a little loud in the infusion room at times, which is why I'm glad we had Cyd for my nurse today. She's a bit of a fun, Park City, outdoorsy, let things slide kind of gal. She even stopped and joined in some of our awesome conversations! And added to them well :)

It's funny how fast the time went since we were all there together, catching up and having fun. We ate some Crown Burger and some cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory. And it seemed to be over too soon. I honestly didn't even realized they were switching my chemo IVs. 

TWO MORE CHEMO TREATMENTS TO GO!!

Skin!

Taxol (my current chemo) is not a friend to my skin. You may not be able to tell from the picture, but the backs of my hands are on fire! They are so, so dry and they actually feel hot! Then there are the rashes on my arms, cute. Oh, and the split skin on my fingers. That feels good, especially when cooking and things get in there and make it sting. I bet you also like the black poison marks in my nails. 

I need some really good hand moisturizer! And I need for chemo to be done so that my skin can heal.

Another Chemo Day Done!

Today was a regular old chemo day. I decided to go by myself today. Sometimes it's just nice to sit and watch Netflix. 

I've been feeling pretty tired most of the time. Plus I've had bad sinus problems, that doesn't help. My feet are numb a lot of the time (neuropathy). But, I ONLY HAVE 3 MORE CHEMO TREATMENTS!!

Next week is my last long one and I have my friends/sisters from Texas coming to hang out for the day. I can't wait!

I was handed my schedule for the upcoming month. Looks like another heart echo and a mammogram. I'll be interested to see what the mammogram shows. I was absolutely able to feel a large tumor when this started and right now it's gone! I can't feel it and the doctors can't either. Apparently this chemo is working!!

I was also told which radiology oncologist they are recommending for radiation. They found someone at the hospital in Provo. His name is Dr. Clark. It's going to be so much more convenient to drive to Provo. I should be seeing him within the next couple of weeks but radiation won't start until around the end of June.

Surgery Scheduled (for real this time)

I receieved a call from my surgeons' office this morning and they said I'm officially on the surgical schedule for Monday, June 1st. I'm nervous about the 8-10 hr surgery and the 6 week recovery, but I think I'm much more nervous about leaving my kids during the 5 day hospital stay!! Maybe I should have accepted the anxiety meds that I was offered...

Hair & Taxol

So, Taxol has been a little weird in the hair department. With the AC my hair was just falling out in clumps, but a few hairs remained. And with the AC my eyelashes and eyebrows stuck around for the most part.

Now that I've been on Taxol, I see the hair that didn't fall out with the AC has started to grow. I don't think the rest is starting to grow in yet though. But my poor eyebrows and eyelashes seem to have all but gone. And again, I'm terrible with make-up! To draw them on just looks awful sometimes.

Five more Taxol treatments and chemo will be DONE!  I was told that my hair may stay a little thin during the year that I'm taking the antibody called Perjeta. But I hope it all comes back quickly! In the meantime, I'll stick with the wigs and scarves. 

Taxol Building Up

I thought all 12 weeks of Taxol would be the same. I finished round 6 today. Last week I felt a lot more tired, mostly on Thursday and Friday.  I had a bit of numbness in my feet and a little numbness and tingling in my neck and face.  After chemo today, my pinky toes are feeling pretty numb. Actually a few of my toes. I'll have to talk to my doctor next week. If they go ahead as planned, it can cause permanent nerve damage. I don't know if they'll decide to lower the dose or skip a week or just plow through. We'll see. 

During chemo today, I asked the nurse about the side effects. She said it's most likely the accumulation over the last several weeks. I guess that means it might get worse (fatigue and nerve problems) as I go through the next 6 weeks. At least it isn't nausea! Oh actually, I did have a bit of nausea last week and had to take zofran. 

Let's cross our fingers that the next 2 weeks are easier. My 16 year old got an exchange student from Belgium for us to take for a week! He gets here on Friday (I have to be at the airport at 11:00 pm to get him) and he leaves super early the next Friday. We need to be able to drive them around a bit and show them some things around Utah. Hopefully I'll be up for it. Hopefully his group will keep him pretty busy. 

Nothing Exciting

I realize I haven't posted an update in quite a while. I guess that's because there isn't really a lot to update. All the Taxol chemo treatments are the same. So for 12 weeks straight, it's the same old thing. 

I feel fine. Most days I forget I'm even going through treatment. Unless I do too much or push myself. Then I get tired quickly. I still get 2-3 days of leg and joint pain. It can get pretty rough sometimes, but it isn't constant and it's manageable. I'll take it over nausea as a side effect!!

Every third week's chemo day is a long one because of the extra doctor appt and the extra IVs with the antibodies. I've been lucky enough to have good friends and family members willing to come and keep me company for part of it.

Right now I'm trying to gather information about the upcoming surgery. Most women have surgery within a couple of weeks after their diagnosis. Because my surgery is after chemo, I have the advantage of wrapping my head around what's happening and making the most informed decision for me.  And more time to adjust to the shock and reality of it all.

About a week after my last chemo treatment, May 5th, I'll have another MRI. After that, I'll meet with my surgeons. At least I'll understand about the options they give me so that I can decide. Surgery will probably be the beginning of June. About 3 weeks later, daily radiation treatments will starts. Then I'll have an entire year of going up once every three weeks for the antibodies. It looks like regular trips to Huntsman won't be over until July 2016! Then I have 5 years of tamoxifen. I'm not sure how often they'll scan me to make sure it hasn't come back anywhere. I guess I'll find out.

The plan is constantly in my brain and I'm just moving through the actions, trying to keep things as normal at home as I can. I'm really ok though. I feel a little bad for turning down all the help that is offered. But I'll need it again when it's surgery time I'm sure. 

Genetic Test Results

I forgot to post about my genetic test results. My blood relatives will be happy to hear that the test results indicate that my breast cancer isn't in the genetic category. Only 5-10% of cancers are genetic. The rest are either caused by something known, like smoking or sun exposure, OR they are in the unknown category. That's what I am. I'm the "we don't know what causes cancer" cancer. 

But I was BRCA negative. If it had been positive that would have meant that my sisters would have needed to be tested. Hopefully that means I'm the only one to have the bad luck. 

Aches!

I was tricked! I had treatment on Tuesday. I felt ok. Then Wednesday and Thursday I felt pretty good. Tired, but ok. Now it's Friday. It always hits on Friday. I have the worst leg aches! My legs and joints. My right knee specifically is killing me. Plus, I've just been so dang tired. 

Anyway, of course I jumped online and yep, it's a normal side effect of Taxol. Dang it. And the women in the forums say that it gets worse with each treatment. Um, this was the FIRST treatment. How is this supposed to get worse with each one?! A couple of the women said they even had treatment canceled it had gotten so bad. I'm going to hope that my doctor has something to give me for it. I don't know if it's muscle or bone or nerve or what. 

It's like I have the body aches that come with a bad flu. At this point I'd be happy to find out I have the flu so that it would go away. But I'm not sick. Just aches. Oh well. 

Taxol Time

I've moved from the "big gun" to the regular, supposedly easier, gun. I'll be getting treatments every Tuesday for the next 11 weeks (12 weeks total). I had my first treatment on Tuesday, February 17th. 

It was a REALLY long day. I had a heart echo and it was normal. I had an EKG and it was normal. So my heart is doing fine. Then I had labs and I'm anemic and platelets are low but I was ready to start my new treatment. 

I got the chair I wanted! Lots of room and a great view of the valley. Good thing because I was in that chair for 6 1/2 hrs! They started with the 2 antibodies that I have to take, Herceptin and Perjeta. I have to have them because my cancer is her2+, which is a protein that cancer attaches to and spreads (I hope I got that right). They had to observe me for 30-60 mins between each IV to make sure there was no reaction. Hence, the long seat time.

Finally they gave me the Taxol. I was really nervous because some people have a really bad reaction to it where they feel like they can't breathe! Luckily I had no reaction.

I love having chemo buddies. It really makes the time go quickly. My good friend Elisabeth, that I rarely get to see, brought me lunch and sat with me. It's fun to chat and the time really went quickly. Then my neighbor came and sat with me and drove me home. I have just had so much help and support. It's wonderful!

Round 4 = Booty Kicker

I was so happy to finish round 4 of the dose dense AC chemo. But this one has really worn me out! Nausea is up a bit, but exhaustion has been the bigger problem. I've been sleeping more than normal. And really just sitting around it seems. I'm very thankful for all of the help!

And it's been busy around the house. Parent teacher conference, with another one next week, Liam registering for his senior year, and we have a counselor meeting next week, then I'm starting to plan Gavin's birthday party... Just the normal mom life, only doing it with the stupid side effects. I'm not feeling so effective these days. I really hope that as soon as all of this treatment is over that I'll be back to my old self. My more motivated, organized, effective self.

And as always, no judging my writing. Tired, chemo brain and all.

Bye Bye Red Devil

Today was my 4 and final round of dose dense AC!! The Red Devil, aka Adriamycin, is all done. 

I have to say that I'm a lot more tired tonight than I usually am. I knew that this might happen. After your immune system takes a beating for 4 harsh cycles, each round can build on the last. My arms are tired just typing this! I was also told that my labs show that I'm anemic. That equals tired too. And life doesn't stop. There's homework, and parent teacher conferences, and senior year registration (I cannot believe we are registering Liam for his SENIOR YEAR!) and just life. I really just want to go to bed. But I also want to be as present as I can for my boys. They need as much normalcy as they can get.

Let's hope tomorrow's better. And let's hope that my new poison, Taxol, will be easier to take.

Port #2

I was able to get port number two placed bright and early yesterday morning. They told me to be there at 5:45 and it turns out that my surgery time was 7:30. So I have a lot of waiting to do.  It went smoothly but they had to put it on the left side because the blood clot on my right side was still there! Now I will just have matching scars on both sides of my chest.The only bad thing is that the surgeon did not want to leave it accessed for my chemo today. So I'm going to have to have a needle poke through my fresh port when I go in today. I hope that won't be a problem. Ouch!!

Oh My Throat!!

So. Side effects are hitting and they are not fun. At all. I have a deep, congested cough. Not awesome. And it's making my extremely sore throat even worse. 

I was told that chemo just wrecks the digestive system, beginning to end, and now I see what they are saying. I was really hoping to be one without any kind of mouth/throat sores, but no such luck.

You cannot imagine the pain of simply swallowing liquid! I don't even dare to swallow spit most of the time. I don't want to take any of my pills, which I need. I've got 2 news meds on board to deal with this unpleasant situation. I hope they work QUICKLY! Plus I have no taste buds. We've been getting meals from family, friends, and neighbors and I'm just going to assume they were delicious. 

This cold has knocked me on my butt. I could sleep all day long. Problem? My husband also has a cold and we have a very mischievous 2 year old. He can destroy things so quickly. Hard to rest when he's on the loose. Can we fast forward to bedtime?

Oh and I'm now scheduled for a new port next Monday, first thing. I hope everything goes smoothly so that I don't have to do IV chemo next Tuesday. 

Bills

It looks like 2 chemo infusions will pretty much wipe out my out of pocket for the year. Yikes! That's ONE chemo round! January expenses and done for the year. 

Feeling Ugly

At the end of this journey, I'm planning to print this blog as a journal. So I'll throw in some of the emotional reality.

I started strong. I still feel strong. But the chemo is taking its toll physically and, let's be honest, the results are not attractive. All of you can tell me that I have a good head shape for bald, but ladies, actually imagine shaving your head BALD. No matter the shape, it's not  a good look. And wigs...look like wigs. And scarves and hats without hair coming out of the bottom just tell everyone that you are sick. Sad but true. And wigs with hats over them are like tiny heaters on your head! I have a lot of cute hats and scarves, but there's just no way around it.

Next up, weight. I read and was told that most women gain weight during chemo. There are various reasons. It screws with your hormones, your mouth always tastes weird so you snack to cover up the taste, the meds given to help with nausea cause weight gain, then there are the steroids. And I wasn't going into this at my thinnest. My abdomen just feels bloated and huge.

I went to the store tonight and caught a glimpse of myself. I seriously looked like a clown. Oh, that could have also had a little something to do with the fact that I tried to draw on eyebrows for the first time today. Ugh. Wig, make-up issues, weight issues, and overall just not feeling normal. 

I'm trying to take the "make the best of it because there's nothing you can do about it" approach. Some days I just need to do a little more self convincing.

My 2 year old has his opinions too. If I wear a wig, he tells me to put it back in the box and get a hat! He's so cute. And he likes to put on my hats too. 

A Little Gift of Anxiety

I've had a pain in the neck the last couple of days. A literal pain in the front of my neck near the port tubing. I called my surgeon today just to be certain it wasn't anything serious. He said he wanted an ultrasound to rule out a problem. Well, there is a problem. A clot. In my neck. Maybe, hopefully, in the tubing. Now I get to try to hold still today and not swing my head around or anything crazy. I have an appointment with my surgeon for 9:00 tomorrow morning to have the port taken out. Sniff. I really liked the idea of a port! Looks like a lot of IVs are now in my future.

Updated: I guess the clot is not in the tubing. It's around the tubing, which is why they had a hard time accessing the port last time. He plan is to go tomorrow morning and have the port removed. Then, starting today, I take an aspirin a day and possibly other anticoagulants. In theory, my body will just reabsorb the clot and there shouldn't be an issue. But they'll keep checking on me?? I hope to have more specifics tomorrow. 

But they don't have to sedate at all. Just a simple office procedure. Maybe another port later and maybe not.

Days 5-7

So, days 5-7 haven't been my favorite. I've had several ask me how I am, so maybe I'll just throw this out there. 

Nauseous, tired, just sitting in sweatpants on the couch. Thankful for meals coming in, because I just can't face the kitchen. And thankful for those that take my kids away to play. Then I can rest on the couch without a 2 year old jumping on me.

I'm still a bit weirded out when I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, hat or no hat. Wigs are not comfortable. 

I still have a whole week before the next treatment (Jan 20th) so I have hope for normal days.

I Love Zyprexa!

The new miracle drug does seem to be a miracle! I'm not feeling 100%, but NOTHING like last round. I'm awake, I can get out of bed and I can eat and drink. What an improvement! Still tired and a bit out of it, but that's ok. I'm just SO thankful that a doctor figured out that an anti-psychotic med could treat chemo nausea! Crazy.

Bye Bye Hair

And, it's done! Good thing my husband is so good at this haircut. We took a short stop at Mohawk land, since this was my chance to have one! And then it was all gone. And honestly, it's a relief. No more worrying about when it will fall out. No more cleaning up globs of hair everywhere. It's just done. And just think how quickly I'll be able to get ready now!

Chemo Round 2

Today I get a room with a bed. Last time it was a cubicle with a chair. I actually liked the chair better. I don't want to sleep so I'm just sitting in a regular chair for infusion. I like being able to look outside. In here it's like I'm in a hospital room. 

I was feeing sick last night and this morning, but they think it's anticipatory nausea. Next time I'll take meds for it. All of my labs looked perfect. They adjusted my meds a bit, adding one that's supposed to be a miracle worker for nausea. Oh I hope Zyprexa works!!

http://www.medpagetoday.com/HematologyOncology/Chemotherapy/32735

I'm in the middle of the infusion right now. Still not feeling good so they are getting me even more anti-nausea meds. Let's all cross our fingers that this round goes better than the first!

 

Chemo Tomorrow. Hope I'm Ready.

I'm not feeling so well tonight. Maybe it's my body predicting what's going to happen tomorrow. Or maybe I'm actually sick! That wouldn't be good. Everyone in the house was sick last time!

I know I keep talking about hair, but I'm SO ready to shave it. But I just don't dare! It is falling out like crazy!! I mean, it's really thin on the sides. But for some reason the top isn't as thin so I can get away with it. It's kind of like a combover but the top is covering the sides. 

Here's the frustration. I'm sick of being covered in hair! I'm sick of cleaning up hair! I'm sick of having hair in my food and on my pillow and all over the floor. At what point do you just say ENOUGH! It still looks ok, for today. But is that really worth the mess? I'm feeling that it's not. Tomorrow may be the big "head shave day"! We'll see how brave I am.

Day 17

I just carefully combed out my hair after my shower. I lost an equal amount in the shower. I wonder how many days I've got before I'll have to get out the hair clippers.

My scalp feels dry and itchy. I guess that's a sign that it's done with hair. I really need to sign up for the Look Good...Feel Better class soon. "Sponsored by the American Cancer Society, this class teaches female cancer patients beauty techniques to manage side effects of treatment such as hair loss. Participants receive a free cosmetics kit." And I heard it's like $100 in free make up! They teach you how to tie scarves, etc. I'm seriously going to this. I hope I'm not sick when the next one is offered.

Day 15

I've read in several places that hair loss starts around days 14-16. Today is day 15, and they were right! It was hard to shower, dress, or do my hair because hair was just falling out! You can't tell by looking at it, but if I run my hands through I'll end up with hair in my hands. Here we go.