Oh Where Is My Hair Brush

The Veggie Tales song, "Oh Where Is My Hair Brush" keeps playing over and over and over again in my head.  Along with the treatment plan of my "c word" will come chemotherapy.  When I found out I was going to have to have chemo, I all of a sudden became extremely ill to my stomach.  All I can remember is seeing those Life Time movies where the person that has the "c word" is violently ill, projectile vomiting and basically can't move.  Well yipee, or not! I think the thing that I'm most worried about through all of this is the chemo.  I don't want to be violently ill, I don't want to puke my guts up, I don't want to be so tired that I can't even move!!  Along with all of these side effects comes THE HAIR LOSS! Ayyyyyyy!!!!!!! So, I spoke with the Oncologist RN and she says that they now give anti nausea drugs three days before chemo starts, they give another dose of the drug with the chemo treatment and they give the anti nausea drug three days post treatment.  They also give you a script for Zofran PRN (as needed).  She said the nausea part of this is actually no big deal!  Well yahoo for me!!! (Let's keep our fingers crossed that this medicine actually works!!) I will take my chemo treatment one day and get a shot the next day that basically demands my bone marrow to try to reproduce more red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.  RN says that typically it's the shot the day after that kicks your butt! She said I would basically feel exhausted and feel really achy, like I have the flu TIMES A BILLION! I can certainly deal with all of that business if I'm not hanging over the trash can!  Sounds like a fair trade to me?!?! So, lets hope that I can keep the stomach under control during all of this!!!
   Alright, the hair loss... WHEW!  Little "wigged" out over this, pun intended... haha I've decided that I'm going to first, take back every single time I've ever said that I hate my hair and second, I'm going to go cut my hair and get some super short and sassy hair cut before I even start my treatments. If I'm going to lose my hair, which I am, I would rather have to look and see less hair falling out rather than my long hair falling out!  Logical thinking, right??? :)  I've been told that I will not lose my hair until 3-4 weeks after my first chemo treatment.  I've also been told that I will start to feel when my hair is going to fall out.  Apparently there is a tingling, burning, itching sensation that comes along with the release of the hair??  So here's what I'm gonna do... I sortof like being in control of situations, I tend to be organized and have a plan in place prior to any event starting, so once I start to feel "the burn", I'm going to shave my head.  I feel that if I shave it on my own, it will be ME shaving it and not the CHEMO making it fall out.  ***This is where the Veggie Tales, Oh Where Is My Hair Brush song comes in to play*** If you've never heard that song before, you should listen to it because it's pretty darn hysterical and honestly, it fits this situation perfectly!  Why do I need a hair brush if I don't have any hair???? haha I'm really not looking forward to losing my hair, but hey, maybe...just maybe I'll get some killer straight, thick, gorgeous hair in return?!?!  It's kinda like a super secret surprise and I do love surprises!!! As panicked as I'm going to be over not having any hair, my mom and sister have assured me that they will kiss my little bald head every chance they get!!!  I should really be thankful for the hair loss actually because I do have to go once a month and get this mess colored, hilighted and cut due to the massive amount of gray that I have!  I'm just getting a huge money savings now, be jealous all you women who have to spend $200.00 a month getting your "hair did"!!! lol 
   In the midst of all of this trauma of losing my hair, my friend Kristel, who I've known since we were about 5 and my friend, Kimberly, who just so happens to be the girl that does my hair decided that they were going to throw me a hat and rag party. Ok, so I'd never heard of such a thing before and to be honest, I was quite frightened about having one of those for myself.  Kristel assured me that it would just be a fun party and I would be able to get lots of hats and scarfs and rags and such so that it wouldn't be so hard for me to go out and purchase a "Dana's hair loss hat" by myself.  I was hesitant when Kristel approached me about it, but I decided that I would accept her offer and just go with it!  The morning of the party, I woke up and was just so sad.  Who wants to go to a party for themselves because they are going to lose their hair?  Get real, this wasn't going to be fun!! How was I going to walk in this place and put a smile on my face and be all happy Dana because I was going to lose my hair?  I was a nervous wreck, I wanted to cry, I didn't want to go, I just wanted it all to go away so I didn't have to deal with any of it!!! I got up, took my shower, fixed my hair and put on a pretty dress.  I needed to feel pretty that day because I knew if I didn't, my day was pretty much going to be shot! haha Mom and I walked in and saw all the balloons, the absolutely adorable cake, the flowers, the table decorations, etc.  I saw Kristel and Kimberly and gave them the biggest hugs and the tears started to flow.  I just honestly thought that day was going to be so incredibly dreadful and that I was just gonna cry through the whole thing. Not even five minutes after we showed up, all of my friends started walking through the door.  That darn party was probably one of the best parties I've ever been to!!! I laughed so hard and smiled just about the whole time!!! It was soooooo much fun!!!!! I didn't think I was going to be able to deal with everyone looking at me, thinking, "this chick is gonna lose her hair, so I brought her a hat to cover it up". Little did I know that trying on those hats and hanging with tons of my friends and family was going to be SO MUCH FUN!!!! Don't get me wrong, it was still slightly awkward, but the fun definitely outweighed the sad that day!!! I got some seriously awesome hats, rags and scarfs!!! I tried each hat, rag or scarf I got on, which was fun!!  They were all so soft and comfy!!  I'm certain my head will really enjoy them all when it doesn't have any hair up there!! :)  Beyond the hats or the pajamas or the fun presents that I recieved, I most enjoyed all the love and support that I got that day! I left there smiling and just overall so incredibly happy!!! Seeing all of my friends there, giving me support and loving on me was AMAZING!!!!! So, thank you Kristel and Kimberly for making that day happen! As much as I was uncertain about that day, I'm SOOOO glad it happened!!! The fact that I got to hang out with my friends AND not have to go search for hats and scarfs pretty much ROCKED!!!!!!! :)




So, here are some of the pictures that were taken from the party... They are SOOOO cute!!!

                                        LOVE YOU KRISTEL, KIMBERLY and TYNLEE!!

So, I just want you all to know, I will PROUDLY wear all of your gifts and I want to say THANK YOU so much for the love and the support!!! There is no way I could have gone and bought these things on my own!  LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!