Today I decided to retire my scarves. My hair is just a little bit longer than the "fuzzy" stage, but not long enough to comb or do anything with. I was going to wait another few weeks, but this morning I just was so tired of trying to color coordinate my head that I gave up. On the way out the door I told my 5 year old I was going to work without anything on my head. He just looked at me and said, "Mom, I really think you better go back in and get one of your scarves." So I didn't start out with much encouragement, but I decided to ignore him and go bareheaded anyway. The reactions at work were kind of fun. I got everything from those who would look at me funny and then quickly avert their eyes to the ceiling to those that said, "Well, it's better than no hair at all, right?" (I was standing right next to a friend of mine who has had no hair for years when I got that comment.) We all got a good laugh out of that one. It was a good day. So thank you again to all of you who sent me all sorts of hats and scarves so I could be fashionably hairless. Now I get to figure out how to wear them as part of a normal wardrobe.
I have four more radiation sessions to go and I'm done until November 10th when my tummy tuck is scheduled. It's pretty easy to get excited about it when I think about that. The whole bilateral mastectomy thing will be part of that day too, but it's the tummy tuck/butt lift that makes me smile.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
Had an awkward gospel conversation?? Bet I can top it.
So I'm slowly working my way through radiation. My radiation oncologist and I came to an agreement about the number of treatments I have to have. She cut off about 3 or 4 days so I'm happy. Although, the only reason I was trying to limit my radiation exposure was because I was afraid I'd have a Dermatomyositis flare. That hasn't really happened, thank heavens. I guess the doctors were right when they said that the DM was caused by the Cancer and would go away when the Cancer was taken care of. I even tested it. When the DM was at its peak, I couldn't go out in the sun at all. If I did, I had to make sure that I was covered from wrist to ankle and every piece of flesh left exposed had to be covered with a hat, sunglasses, or 3 layers of sunscreen. If not, my skin would explode in a fiery, red rash, my hair would fall out, scalp would itch, and I'd start to lose strength in my legs and arms. So last Saturday, I went out in the yard and worked for 4 or 5 hours, in the sun, in short sleeves and no sunscreen, and NOTHING HAPPENED!!!! Well, except for a sunburn, but nothing else. It was definitely a good day. I don't have to be scared of the sun anymore. (Knock on wood.) Definitely cause to celebrate.
But I have something more interesting to report. My radiation technicians were two women. They were really great and I got really comfortable with them. Then, one day I walked in and there was a guy in there. It kind of caught me off guard. It was just a little awkward, so I didn't say much to him. He tried to do the small talk thing and I was.... well, the word I'd use is "reserved," but I've been told that what I define as "reserved," others call "hostile." I usually didn't give him too much more than one word answers. He was there almost everyday after that so I kind of started getting used to him. After a few days I started answering with TWO words. Well, one day he asked me where I worked and I told him at the LDS Church History Library downtown. I was a little surprised when he started talking about the fact that he had been talking to some missionaries from the LDS Church and he really liked what they had been teaching him, and one day, when he was sick, they even came over and gave him one of those "blessing things" and it was really kind of "cool."
Are you picturing this? I'm lying there half naked on a table with him standing over me with a magic marker, playing connect the dots with my little tattoos, all the while talking about his experiences learning about the gospel. It was a little weird. I couldn't really bring myself to say much in response other than, "Oh, that's really nice." What I was actually thinking in my head was, "I would really love to have this conversation with you if I were fully clothed!!!!!" I had some pretty strange gospel discussions on my mission, but I'm pretty sure this one tops them all.
But I have something more interesting to report. My radiation technicians were two women. They were really great and I got really comfortable with them. Then, one day I walked in and there was a guy in there. It kind of caught me off guard. It was just a little awkward, so I didn't say much to him. He tried to do the small talk thing and I was.... well, the word I'd use is "reserved," but I've been told that what I define as "reserved," others call "hostile." I usually didn't give him too much more than one word answers. He was there almost everyday after that so I kind of started getting used to him. After a few days I started answering with TWO words. Well, one day he asked me where I worked and I told him at the LDS Church History Library downtown. I was a little surprised when he started talking about the fact that he had been talking to some missionaries from the LDS Church and he really liked what they had been teaching him, and one day, when he was sick, they even came over and gave him one of those "blessing things" and it was really kind of "cool."
Are you picturing this? I'm lying there half naked on a table with him standing over me with a magic marker, playing connect the dots with my little tattoos, all the while talking about his experiences learning about the gospel. It was a little weird. I couldn't really bring myself to say much in response other than, "Oh, that's really nice." What I was actually thinking in my head was, "I would really love to have this conversation with you if I were fully clothed!!!!!" I had some pretty strange gospel discussions on my mission, but I'm pretty sure this one tops them all.
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