I'll Never Beat my Cat When it Comes to Hair Volume

I figure since I have not written anything since the end of the school year, that it is time for a update.

First order of business, I had another MRI last week.  The doc who did the MRI didn't pull me into his office afterwards, so I am guessing that all is good.  I'll be seeing Dr. Wagner next week, so I'll bug him for a copy of my MRI write-up then.  This MRI I did for Dr. Wagner is also serving a dual purpose as a MRI for Dr. O.  He will be looking over the MRI himself as well, then let me know the results more specifically when I meet with him in two weeks.  I've asked, and if the MRI is still looking as good as my blood work has been, then my three doctors might make a decision early about any future treatment with my (hopefully now non-existent) James Dean tumor.  I know without a doubt that they will have me finish my next two months of chemo, but I might know what is happening after those last two months in just a couple weeks.  I'm going to cross my fingers and toes on this one.

Second thing of importance, my hair is continuing to return.  The sides of my head right now look like two-face from Batman.  These two pictures were taken yesterday, each showing one side of my head:

Left side

Right side

The hair on my right side that received a lower amount of radiation is growing back really well, but the left side where I got my mega-doses is a bit slower to respond.  Believe it or not, there actually is hair growing in all the spots on my left side that look blank, they are just so light it is easier to feel them then see them.  The good news for all of this funky hair?  I now have more hair on my head than my husband.  The bad news?  He still has more on his back.

Alice Cooper . . . Crazy, But Perfect

The last week has been a bit crazy.  The main reason?  I started another round of chemotherapy.  When did I start it?  Tuesday afternoon, the day before 8th grade graduation for the students at Marion School.  I am very happy to say that I made it through the entire graduation without feeling the need to lose my lunch or crying (only tearing up), seeing some of the students that I have taught for three years in science leave and head off to high school.

I am not ashamed to say that I crashed that night.  I literally slept in the dress I wore to graduation for awhile, before my eyes sealed up by dried up contacts woke me up.  The next day I went back to work, the last full day of the school year.  Unfortunately this time I went back with a cold.  Ugh. 

The last time I had a cold, it was not during one of the weeks that I was undergoing chemo; this time it was.  As a result, instead of getting better, I got worse.  A lot worse.  I left school that day practically the same time as the kids I was so wiped out.  The one positive thing about this is that after talking to Dr. Wagner, he decided to take me off this week of chemo a couple days early so that my body could actually fight off the virus more effectively.  Sure enough, two days later, except for a drippy nose I am now feeling back to normal.  

I also have had another set of blood work done (the same day as 8th grade graduation; needless to say, that was one crazy day).  They have been drawing and checking my blood work every two weeks, and it always came back really good.  Almost like I was a normal person not undergoing chemo; but all three doctors agreed (the world must be ending soon if three doctors agree on something) that my results must be contaminated or inaccurate if I was continuing to get those abnormally good results.  Their solution was to test me more . . . five drawings of blood in one sitting instead of one, from locations other than my arm, and doing the two tests my blood normally goes through ten times instead of two times.  The results were still good enough that one of the nurses who drew the blood told me I should join Marvel Comics as the next superhero.  I'm afraid that I do not feel like only wearing spandex and a cape, so I will stick with teaching as my career.  On second thought, I wonder if tight fitting black clothing is as flattering as a good black dress . . . 

Hair vs. Lawn . . . Least I Won't Have to Spray Weed Killer on it

Today is a blog post of happiness.  First of all, my hives are gone!  Within 24 hours of taking me off the different version of Keppra, my hives had decreased by about half.  I am now very happily itch free.  Over the last six months I've had more allergic reactions then I think I have had my whole life.

Second piece of happy news is that my hair is coming back very wholeheartedly.  Now that a bit of time has passed, my hair seems to be coming back in darker, but when the Sun hits it, it has a bit of red-tinge to it.  I'm very intrigued to see what it will look like in the end.  Here is a picture of me trying to raise both eyebrows while Rock manage to catch me off-guard:

The hair is now back on about 90% of my head.  With any luck, by the end of the summer it will be back to 100% and will have grown longer than the hair that the balding man in every neighborhood has.  

The last piece of happiness is that I caught my first cold since I had my tumor-removal surgery/radiation/on-going chemo treatments back in November 2012.  This may seem like a bad thing, but it is actually really good.  I managed to fight it off!  I had a sore throat and fever on Friday, which turned into a clogged up nose and cough on Saturday.  By today (Sunday), I almost feel back to normal!  Now it is just a bit of a drippy nose; and other than that I do not feel sick anymore.  My immune system is now my hero (hopefully a really hot looking one - Avengers here I come!)

Oooo!  Another happy thing that I almost forgot about!  I am very happy to say that I will not be going through a chemo treatment during my ten year high school reunion in August (Go Ferris!).  My final (knock-on-wood) chemo treatment EVER is the week before, so I plan on being there.  I wonder how many of the women/men who come will be crazy enough to wear heels and suit coats at Manito Park.  This could be amusing. :)  

Mars Here I Come!

I think I would live a lot better on Mars.  I've got to be allergic to less stuff there then here on Earth.  To make a long story short, I've broken out in hives . . . again.

Last time I broke out (after a couple ER visits, Epi-pens, and IVs full of Benadryl and adrenaline), it was due to one of the two anti-seizure prescriptions that I was on.  That was Dilantin, and I believe that drug is evil incarnate after itching non-stop for a month.  This time it is my other anti-seizure that they kept me on since I showed no ill effects initially.  Here is a report of the events that have led up to my new disdain of Keppra:

Sunday - Managed to get a sunburn on the back of my neck.  Put some aloe vera on it, all was good.

Tuesday - The sunburn no longer hurt, but was beginning to itch.  I thought that it was just because it was such a bad burn.

Wednesday - Rock notices that there are bumps where the sunburn is healing, and that there are bumps where there was not a sunburn originally.

Thursday - Bumps/hives have now covered the entire back of my neck and shoulders.  It itches A LOT.

Friday - Wake up, only to find that the size of my hive area has doubled.  Time to contact the doctors.

I went off right after I got off work to see the docs, and their conclusion was that my Keppra was the blame.  First, the Keppra prescription makes some people more sensitive to sunlight.  Strike one.  Next, it was noticed on my Keppra prescription bottle the label of:  "This is the same medication you have been getting.  Color, size, or shape may appear differently".  Strike two.  Last, when they asked the date that I started this "new" Keppra, it happened to be the day before I got my bad sunburn that started the whole mess.  Strike three.  The docs decided to take me off the Keppra I was on (Levetiracetam Cambe), and put me back on the Keppra I was taking (Levetiracetam Lupin).  My next mission?  Finding a pharmacy that still had a stock of my Keppra/Lupin.  This is when imagining some James Bond music helps relive the adventure.

After visiting my original pharmacy, Rock and I discovered that they did not have the old version of my Keppra prescription.  Their suggestion?  Call up other pharmacies until I find one that does.  After calling up five pharmacies, mostly leaving messages, we received a call back from one of them.  It was there!  We drove out, and I let them know my "new" prescription for my "old" Keppra/Lupin medication.  It took them an hour to fill it.  A full hour!!  Apparently the other pharmacy that my prescription was originally at took their time faxing over a copy of it.  If nothing else it was nice to sit in air conditioning for awhile and find a couple types of anti-itch cream.

So, I now have the prescription of Keppra that I am not allergic to.  If my hives spread any more I get to have the duty of heading back to the doctors to try and figure out something else on Monday.  

On a much happier note, I've decided to stop shaving my head.  The hives that popped up stopped me from shaving it this week, so I'm just going to continue doing so.  There is still a section on the left side of my head that is being stubborn and not doing any regrowth, but the rest of my head seems happy.  If all else fails I'll do a epic comb-over or shave my head (you can thank the school secretary for this idea :) like Miley Cyrus.  This could be the next big look!   

Don't worry, I don't plan on doing the Britney Spears hair style when she shaved.  Even I'm not that crazy. . . yet :)

Stupid Sun

The only point of today's entry?  I learned a lesson today.  The doctors and nurses told me more than once to be careful when I exposed my head to the Sun since it would be more sensitive due to my radiation.  I've tried to be a good patient, and have kept my head covered 95% of the time that I am outside (the 5% is mainly due to answering the door when some new person comes along to sell their church - sorry, I'm taken - or putting the hat/scarf on as I'm literally walking out the door).  

For about three hours this morning my husband and I went outside to get some yard work done.  I spent most of my time doing the first set of weeding this spring.  I made a point to be a good person and listen to my doctors/nurses, so I wore big straw hat and some heavy-duty sunscreen.  I even wore a "Buff" head piece underneath since some light could make it through the hat (thanks Marie for that gift, it is awesome!).  It was nice to work outside and enjoy the warm weather and sunshine.  At least it was until I came inside.  My husband was observant enough to notice that the sun had made it through part of the brim of my hat.  Here is the end result:

The one good thing is that you can see some of my hair coming back in on the back of my neck.  The bad thing is that I managed to get a sunburn that burned like an iron when we put some aloe vera on it.  The pain from that competes well from when Dr. O pulled the drainage tube out of my head a day after surgery.

So, the end result is that yes, I do sunburn A LOT on my head and neck.  This is truly an momentous event, since normally it is my husband who sunburns when he even looks at the Sun.  Now I will have to be the vampire.  The good thing about all this?  I am soooo going to use this to get out of yard work.    

Want a Good Horror Story? Have a Cat Lick Your Head!

Three weeks after my last round of chemo, and I finally feel as if I am eating normally again.  In the couple weeks after my last round of chemo ended, food that often sounded delicious did not agree with my stomach, and eating more than half a bowl of cereal was a rarity.  I am very happy to say that I just ate two pieces of pizza and no thoughts of potential stomach "expenses" have passed.  Yeah!

I am also very happy to say that I am almost back to my original starting weight before they filled me full of steroids.  I'm a human female, so trust me . . . this is bigger to me than the hair.  I never thought being able to slip on an old and grungy pair of jeans would be so wonderful!  On another ascetic note, my hair follicles are growing back like weeds.  There is hair growing back on my entire head except for one section on my left side about half the side of my hand.  Everyday there seems to be more hair coming in, so I am really hoping that in a week or two I will be able to succumb to an itchy-hair-growing-scalp and stop shaving my head each week.  My new hair that is coming in seems to be an reenactment of my childhood head in a quickened time lapse.  It comes in blond and curly, falls out, comes back dark.  It is like being a childhood toe-head compressed to a two weeks span.  It is too early to tell if the hair that returns will be wavy like my previous hair, curly like when I was a kid, or coming in straight just to be different.  Time will tell!

The most important medical news is that my left ear is still a mystery to Dr. Stilles.  All swelling and redness are gone (woohoo!), however, now that all that gunk is gone, some scarring is now visible.  My hearing in that damaged ear has improved to about 50% though, so I'll take what I can.  We're going to let my ear continue to sit and (hopefully) heal more for the next six months, then do some more tests and take another look to see how this ear will be in the long run.  My next goal is to be able to turn my ears in two different directions to hear things said around me just like cats and dogs can do.  Now that would be cool.

Next big medical event will be my next round of chemo.  I did really well on my triple dose of chemo meds according to Dr. Wagner (apparently most people he deals with don't even feel well enough to get out of bed when they are on a dosage similar to mine - thinking about it, I really wouldn't mind being able to sleep in a couple hours each day over the span of a week ;).  My next round will be starting Tuesday night next week when I take my first dose for the next five days.  I didn't really feel this higher dosage too much until two or three days had passed; I'm hoping for the same this time.  If I do lose my stomach, I'll just make sure to aim for the cat instead of my husband.  He (the cat, not my husband - you know you thought it was Rock) owes me anyway for licking my scalp while I was asleep.  Trust me . . .waking up to a giant cat licking your head is more traumatizing than waking up from brain surgery.

Hairy and Loving It!

I am now (FINALLY) on my last day of this round of chemo treatment on my triple dosage.  The first three days went well, I was certainly more tired than normal, but it was manageable.  This weekend however has been a new chemotherapy adventure; it was much like the weather, stormy with occasional glimpses of sunshine.

Step 1:  My tummy felt a bit upset on Saturday when I woke up, so I decided to just make a couple pieces of toast for breakfast.  Bad idea.  Don't know if it was the butter or the bread that resulted in the rapid evacuation of my stomach contents.

Step 2:  Don't eat anything!  Smells were gross, thinking about food was gross, TV commercials were gross,  meals in my book were gross, water was gross, etc, etc.  My husband was kind enough to only eat non-scented food.  Anti-nausea pills did nothing!

Step 3:  Take more anti-nausea drugs!  My stomach stopped rolling enough that I decided to try and eat something.  I still wasn't hungry, but I do know that food is an important thing that contributes to survival of the fittest.  Toast still seemed like a big no-no, so I went with some good ol' $0.89 box of mac and cheese.  I managed eat about 1/4 bowl of it, and then stopped.  YEAH!  Survival!

Step 4:  Waited a couple hours for my stomach empty (NOT out of my mouth thankfully), and then took my last round of chemo drugs for the next four weeks.  Then to bed, my vomit bowl coming with me.  The cat may throw up/drool on the bed, but I refuse to.

Step 5:  My tummy this morning felt like it did yesterday morning, so I decided to try a small bowl of cereal instead of toast.  Success!  I haven't eaten anything since then, but the food is staying down.

Despite everything with my intestinal tract, my hair is very happy right now.  It is growing like there is no tomorrow!  (Much like the grass is some patches in our yard).  A couple months ago we had to shave about 20% of my head, now we are at least up to 50%, if not more.  We also now have to shave my head more often, since the hair that is there is growing in faster.  YEAH!  I'm planning on gradually beginning to switch over to wearing hats to work instead of scarves as the growth continues.

Two months ago

Today

Right now my head looks more a balding man's head than my own, but least my hair is coming back instead of going away!  Unfortunately, it does seem to coming back the same color now.  Darn; I was hoping for green or blond.