Costco Applesauce = New Best Friend

So, good news first; I had a wonderful time yesterday enjoying my last day out in public.  I know that soon my brain chemo drug will start to affect my immune system, and that will be combined this coming week with the normal chemo drugs, so I might as well enjoy myself while I can.  After this weekend I will view you all as potential virus and bacteria hoarders.  Sorry, my immune system and I are going to have some relationship issues.

Les Miserables was an absolutely awesome musical movie (it actually didn't cut out any of the Broadway music, which was nice), and Costco was Costco at its finest with free food samples everywhere and enough people to run them dry.  I also decided to make a run to Great Clips to get my hair its final cut before my chemo hits full swing.  Since I started my Temodar, I've noticed that all my hair growth has stopped.  Which is nice, (I haven't had to shave my legs in five days,) but it does imply that hair loss is coming once regular chemo drugs are added on top.  Plus radiation to the head guarantees hair loss, and I'm already getting that and beginning to notice a few more hairs leaving my head when I brush it in the morning.  So I went short.  The shortest I do believe that I have ever had my hair:

The hairstylist who cut it was awesome, she actually made it so it covers more of my scar than my longer haircut did.  Since I started this brain journey, I officially have had eight and a half inches of hair cut off.  Now I get why men like having short hair.  My hair brushing this morning was called "run hands to front of head through hair - done!".  The woman who cut my hair is also a cancer person; she has surgery later this week for a thyroid tumor.  I made sure to tip her very well, and let her know that there will be some prayers out there for her as well this week.

Now, the not so fun news.  I'm back on a anti-seizure prescription.  Since I started my radiation, I have been noticing random flashes of light, just like the flash from a camera, at odd times.  A couple times even with my eyes closed.  I now get why the famous find paparazzi annoying.  After talking with the docs, it was decided that the flashes I'm seeing could be one of three things:

1.  Seizures
2.  Cue that a seizure could be coming
3.  Damage to optic nerve that is just now appearing

So, I'm now back on my good ol' Keppra, and the flashes have not been a problem since.  My dosage is lower than before, but the pills are impressively large.  This is by far the largest pill I have ever seen in my life:

This is a pill that I cannot swallow with water, even cut in half!  So my Mom gave me the trick they use with the elderly . . . applesauce.  If I cut it in half and take a spoonful of applesauce with it, it goes down easier than my smaller prescription pills with water!  Plus it is a good excuse for a late night applesauce snack.  So my medical advice for all future large pill users; visit Costco and buy applesauce, A LOT of applesauce.