Halfway There with Hair

My last chemo appointment marked the halfway point for my chemo treatments. Six down and six to go.

This was my first chemo since starting class at IUPUI. My good friend Deb took me down early to get my blood drawn to try and speed up the process for later in the day. Then she took me to lunch at the Campus Center, the cheese pizza was surprisingly yummy. Then I went off to class. The first one went well enough except that my port had been accessed and I had a needle in my chest connected to a length of tubing. It was quite uncomfortable. My next class was alright, we had read a short story for the day involving a guy with cancer ("The Pura Principle" by Junot Diaz) and it didn't sit well with me. Due to having chemo that day, I was a bit on edge and while trying to explain my dislike of the story and pretty much all of the characters in it, prefaced by saying I was a cancer patient, I started crying while trying to make my point. For those of you who know me, you know I hate to cry for no reason- if I am bleeding for instance, I am fine with crying, but a story isn't a very good one, so that was a bunch of fun. After class I went to meet Mom and our friend Christine for chemo. Because I had had mouth sores for the previous two weeks, the nurses decided not to order my drugs until they had a chance to talk to me about how bad they were. We worked out that the sores were manageable and fading so they ordered the drugs. We had a nice time while there though the person one booth down from me was listening to the tv at an annoying volume. After chemo we came home to a yummy dinner of ranch chicken and noodles and homemade rolls from Sandy. It was very yummy.

Chemo this time around was more tiring that previous treatments. I think this is because of the amount of activity I have taken up since that last. I am going to class four days a week for 12 hours and am using my brain a lot more than before. It has been nearly two weeks since my last chemo and I still feel a bit drained.

Since chemo, though, I have been busy. There is school- yay! I also put in a few hours at work with Mom and done some babysitting- money! (I definitely work for the money and it is a nice part of babysitting but I enjoy the kids' company and antics as well.) Last night Mom, Dad and I went down to the Super Bowl Village and had a good time. We parked for $0.50 at a meter near the Statehouse and got pizza for $8. It was the cheapest night we have had in awhile. We also got to see the Village People concert for free. (And I got to yell at a drunk guy trying to dance but running into the people around him, the yellow jackets removed him a short time later. It is one thing I hadn't realized that I missed from Bloomington parties, I really enjoy telling drunk guys that they are being stupid.)

Not much else in going on. It feels as if my hair is getting thinner by the day, I find it on my pillow and shedding on my clothes and whenever I run my hands through my hair (which happens a lot when you are thinking about your head). I'm not ready to shave it though. I tried on a wing I got for free and accept that I have been walking around with purple hair for the last few months, it could be my length (had I not gotten the messy bob) and color. As it turns out, purple hair doesn't really work with a transition to wig. Maybe if I had thought to start wearing it when I started classes but I think it would be quite noticeable now, not to mention confusing to some of the teachers that take attendance. As I am filling out internship and job applications, I think I might wear it to interviews but we shall see where things go. The future will come with whatever it wants, I just have to wait and see what it brings, like a church pitch-in.