When I heard that my hair was going to fall out, I chose to take the upper hand and have it shaved off. After head-shaving-day, I sent something like the text below to friends and family. The response was overwhelming! I'm truly blessed.

 

SO - What’s a girl to do when she finds out that she has cancer and that the chemotherapy is going to make all her hair fall out? I don’t know what normal girls do, but this is my story so far.
First of all, I got my hair cut in a cute, spiky fashion, then I dyed it bright red, put on makeup, stood in front of a closet door and had Tiffany take a “before” picture of me. There I am on the left.
Actually, before the “first of all...” I had 3 surgeries under a general
anesthetic - a lumpectomy, a lymphectomy, and the installation of a port to receive the therapies for the next year. I found that the anesthetic made me very tired for 6 weeks but it has finally worn off, and I feel great!
The first chemo treatment made me a bit nauseous a couple of times in the next few days, but not too bad. I lost my appetite, which was the oddest feeling EVER. However, the appetite came back with a vengence - which seems quite normal.

 

YIKES! I’m as nervous as a cat that is watching a freight train come head-on. The red hair is showing up better here.

 

Soon I calm down. They like me so much that they paint the room to match my outfit. The doc says my hair is going to fall out in 18 days... SO...

 
DAY 12 AFTER CHEMO - gather bunches of people in the garage and start cutting hair. This is a preemptive move for me, but the others are getting haircuts in support of me. I’m very blessed to have such friends and family. 24 gathered for the spectacle, 5 got all their hair cut off and one got a partial haircut. We all had lots of fun. My granddaughter, Tessa, said, “Grandma, I’m glad that everyone is laughing, not crying.” That pretty well summed it up for me, too. Our friend, Matt-the-Stiltwalker, even showed up to help kids learn how to walk on stilts! Some kids climbed a tree, some people smoked cigars in the sun... It was a marvelous day.

 

 

I didn’t realize I looked so much like my mom and brother, David. Do you see the family resemblance?

 

Well, here we are. Day is done: Matt, Ernie, Tiffany, Kay and Tylor.

 

The end of a long day. Tired, happy and ready for whatever
comes my way.
I have cancer, cancer does not have me.

 

The following pictures were also taken on Head-Shave Day.

The beautiful little gal is Tiffany - my daughter.

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My hubbie, Ernie, with more hair than he has ever had before! I decided not to wear this wig...

The "Ila Club" with my mentor, Barb Wheeler. I created a different page for that story.