Bald is Beautiful

Hi, all

My hair started to come out a few days ago, so we had a "head shaving" party with the kids so they could see my new "haircut" happen as the whole thing went down and, of course, they don't care at all. When we were done, Adam wanted to go back to his book and Zoe wanted to go back to her toy vacuum. Oh well, so much for trying to create some drama around here . . .

Above are the "before" and "after" pictures (co-starring the Balogs, Jeff, Zoe and Adam). Having done this before, it is no big deal at all. It's actually very liberating and cool for the summer! Despite the chaos that is our garage these days, I have found all of my hats, wigs and other bald person supplies, except my wig shampoo, which I've ordered online, and then I'll be all set.

As for my medical situation, my 2nd chemo treatment was supposed to take place today, but it was pushed back by one week to allow my incision to completely heal. The infection is gone, but my doctors want to reduce as much as possible the risk that it becomes infected again, so I begrudgingly agreed with their decision (not that I had much choice in the matter). :-)

Treatment no. 2 will hopefully go forward on Wed. July 25, and we'll be on our way again. I am using this time during which I'm feeling pretty good to buy stuff for the new house and pack.

Love to you all,
Shannon

Treatment No. 1 Done and Minor Bump in the Road

Hi, all

This will be a quick one because I am updating this from the Stanford Hospital "Cyber Cafe" (which curiously serves no food or beverages . . . just Internet access).

I completed my first chemo treatment on Friday June 29. It was quicker than my 2006 treatments, but unfortunately, the after effects were not as mild as I had expected/been led to believe. I felt pretty good for the first 2 days, but days 3-7 were somewhat rough. However, since then, I have felt pretty normal except for the fact that I get very tired at the end of the day and/or when I do too much (which is most days).

The "bump in the road" - and the reason that I am updating this blog from the hospital - is the fact that my surgery incision became infected as a result of my low white cell counts after chemo. To kill the infection as quickly as possible and maximize my chance of going forward with my next chemo treatment scheduled for Wed. 7/18, my doctors admitted me to the hospital on Tuesday so that I could get I.V. antibiotics.

I am doing fine, feeling fine, and the infection appears to be gone; so I should be set free tomorrow (Friday). Other than boredom and missing Jeff and the kids, the major drawback is being so close to Nordstrom and feeling physically well enough to go there, yet not being allowed to do so. :-)

In sum, I feel like I am hogging a hospital bed for a sick person that really needs it, but I am glad that my doctors are treating this aggressively and I hope that it does the trick. I will update the blog again soon.

Signing off,
Shannon