You might think it's funny, but it's'not
Hair loss is a funny thing. My head is basically bald with a few random wisps of varying lengths (Side note: cutting my hair before I started Chemo was a BRILLIANT move). I haven't shaved my legs in weeks and there's really no hair to speak of. My eyelashes and eyebrows have yet to fall out (fingers crossed they won't).
This morning I noticed all the hair in my nostrils is gone. What made me come to this revelation you ask? Well. I was brushing my teeth and my nose randomly started to run. Just one, little, clear bolus sliding down my upper lip. It struck me as super odd. I didn't have a "runny nose". No sniffles, cough or other symptom of a cold. It took me a minute to realize, it was just normal "nose activity." With no nose hairs to stop the progress of said runner...it happily progressed out of my nostril and on to my upper lip.
Yes. When I realized what was happening, I giggled. Something I didn't expect. The doctor says "hair loss" and one thinks coiffure. Not nose hair.
Next week I switch from the AC (doxorubicin hydrochloride/Adriamycin and cyclophosphamide) portion of my dose dense AC-T chemo regimen and start the Taxol portion. Taxol is more likely to cause an allergic reaction (being plant based and all), is typically associated with less nausea, may either cause hair to regrow or continue to fall out and is more likely to cause neuropathy (temporary or permanent nerve damage) in hands and feet. I can deal with nausea and hair loss, neuropathy is a different story. There's some support for chilling hands and feet before, during and after the drug is administered to lower the risk. One study had patients chill just one hand and one foot, and the chilled hands were less likely to be impacted. So, whether it's voodoo magic or real science, I'll be donning chilled booties and clutching cold packs during my next treatment. Lucky me. Maybe I should put hand warmers and wool socks on my Christmas list, right below the fleece skull cap to wear under my ski helmet (so as not to scare the poor people in the day lodge).
Today is my daughter's tenth birthday. I'm not sure how that happened...I certainly haven't aged ten years since she made it on the scene. This morning we talked about all the things she's accomplished in her fist decade. Walking, talking, reading. Playing soccer. Being a kind person. Collecting a good group of friends. Learning how to swim and ski. Starting to learn Spanish. It was an impressive list. Wouldn't it be amazing if each decade was as transformative?
Seven weeks and four treatments to go! Thanks for sticking with me.
This morning I noticed all the hair in my nostrils is gone. What made me come to this revelation you ask? Well. I was brushing my teeth and my nose randomly started to run. Just one, little, clear bolus sliding down my upper lip. It struck me as super odd. I didn't have a "runny nose". No sniffles, cough or other symptom of a cold. It took me a minute to realize, it was just normal "nose activity." With no nose hairs to stop the progress of said runner...it happily progressed out of my nostril and on to my upper lip.
Yes. When I realized what was happening, I giggled. Something I didn't expect. The doctor says "hair loss" and one thinks coiffure. Not nose hair.
Next week I switch from the AC (doxorubicin hydrochloride/Adriamycin and cyclophosphamide) portion of my dose dense AC-T chemo regimen and start the Taxol portion. Taxol is more likely to cause an allergic reaction (being plant based and all), is typically associated with less nausea, may either cause hair to regrow or continue to fall out and is more likely to cause neuropathy (temporary or permanent nerve damage) in hands and feet. I can deal with nausea and hair loss, neuropathy is a different story. There's some support for chilling hands and feet before, during and after the drug is administered to lower the risk. One study had patients chill just one hand and one foot, and the chilled hands were less likely to be impacted. So, whether it's voodoo magic or real science, I'll be donning chilled booties and clutching cold packs during my next treatment. Lucky me. Maybe I should put hand warmers and wool socks on my Christmas list, right below the fleece skull cap to wear under my ski helmet (so as not to scare the poor people in the day lodge).
Today is my daughter's tenth birthday. I'm not sure how that happened...I certainly haven't aged ten years since she made it on the scene. This morning we talked about all the things she's accomplished in her fist decade. Walking, talking, reading. Playing soccer. Being a kind person. Collecting a good group of friends. Learning how to swim and ski. Starting to learn Spanish. It was an impressive list. Wouldn't it be amazing if each decade was as transformative?
Seven weeks and four treatments to go! Thanks for sticking with me.
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