signing out for the week

Alright, I lied. I'm not bald. Lucy, my dad's hairdressser, came over and looked at my hair and said there's just too much good thickness still in there for me to shave it yet. I trust her judgment, so I just let her cut it really short. It kind of makes me look like a pixie :) She said that once it really starts to thin out, she'll come shave the rest for me. Until then it will be nice to have hair so I can still get away with going wigless/hatless in the summer heat.

Speaking of summer heat, my family is leaving for our week vacation in Ocean City, NJ today. I am trying to write this entry quickly because my dad is pretty anxious to get going. We have some new furniture arriving for the house, so he wants us to get there before the movers arrive. I am SO looking forward to a week of distance from all of this cancer business. I am still feeling a bit sick, but the symptoms get better each day. So hopefully this week will give me a chance to really get back on track.

Unfortunately, I do have to come home on Tuesday for my second round of chemo at HGCC. This time we're doing it all in one day. I'm a little nervous that my body will go bonkers from having all of the drugs at once, but Dr. G doesn't seem to think it will be a problem. It's good that I won't be missing too much of our vacation, and I'm actually excited to be back on the Prednisone. That stuff gave me a boost of energy which I could really use right about now.

One more exciting piece of news: I got my wig!! After all my talk of trying a new hair color, I ended up sticking with red. Mom and I went to a shop at the New Castle Farmer's Market. The man there was very nice and brought us to a special room in the back of his shop where he keeps his best wigs for people who are cancer patients. He works very closely with the hospital where I am being treated, and they highly recommended that I go to him. I tried on wigs in every color you can imagine, but in the end we all agreed that I look best as a redhead. The only other color I was close to purchasing was a dark brunette with red highlights. But that wig was long, and I really need a shorter one if I'm going to be able to stand wearing it in the summer. So I ended up going with a red one that is just slightly darker than my natural color. It's a shorter cut, but it frames my face nicely. It actually looks a lot like my hair looked before. It's nice to look in the mirror and feel like I'm still looking at the same person. I'm happy with it :)

I got a chance to talk on the phone with a woman from Boothwyn, PA whose son survived lymphoma last night. He has been in remission for 3 years, and he is now 20 years old and a junior at Temple. I will hopefully get to meet them both sometime soon. It's good to know that there's someone else around here who can relate to my situation.

Chiya and Justin stopped by for a brief visit last night since I was feeling ok. We sat and watched tv and chatted and they gave me their approval on the wig and on my new hairdo. It was good to see my best friends. I really needed a little pick-me-up after how rough the past week has been, and they never fail to make me laugh.

Mrs. Mahler and Kathleen also stopped by and brought me a hat and two bandanas. I love them! There's a very pretty cranberry colored bandana for my girly days, a Harley Davidson bandana for when I'm feeling wild and dangerous (Dan will love that one), and a cute floppy hat for the beach. Perfect timing since I'm headed there now.

I hope everyone enjoys the week. If I end up coming back to the house on Tuesday I will try to sneak in an update, assuming I'm not too knocked out from the chemo. I'll be back next Saturday. Farewell until then :)

Lots of love,
Lauren