Bye Bye, Blue!

They said it would happen. 

Dr. Patel said I could expect my hair to start falling out between two and three weeks after my first infusion.

She was correct. Over the last couple of days, it was coming out way faster than normal, and speeding up, so I shaved it (also at doc's recommendation).

Before treatment started, I felt like it wouldn't be that big of a deal. I figured I'd just have a bald head, or wear a scarf, and it wouldn't really impact me much.

And then I started treatment, and after a couple of days, my hair started to HURT. Anytime my hair moved, it hurt. And hair moves a lot.

After that, it started to itch. And also, I broke out with an awesome rash from one of the medications that looked remarkably like horrible teenager acne - face, chest, and yep, my scalp. And that hurt, too.

So I thought many times over the last couple of days about shaving it because of those things, but of course part of me was holding onto the "maybe she's wrong" line of thinking. But, it definitely made me less attached to it.

Until it actually started to fall out quickly a couple of days ago... And then I thought, I'm not sure I can handle this. Monday night, I scheduled the appointment for today (Wednesday) and lost sleep over it for two nights. This morning, on the way to the salon, I thought I might puke. I even skipped mascara because I totally expected to lose it and bawl during the shaving part.

And then a funny thing happened.

It wasn't a big deal. 

I mean, it wasn't my favorite haircut I've ever gotten, but I didn't cry, and I am not as upset over it as I thought I might be the last couple of days.

Luke isn't a big fan. Jay was absent-mindedly petting my head while talking to me earlier, so I guess he's alright with it. Crispin was looking at me like I'm crazy - he convinced Mom to pick him up and let him smell my head, then he licked my ear and he's been fine since then.

So anyway, that's what's new with me. I'm feeling fine now, and have been since about the middle of last week, so it seems like about a week and a half of feeling crummy and then things get back to normal.

Round 2 is Monday. Specific prayer request: for normal results on some liver enzymes that were elevated last time. They need to stay the same, or preferably go back down to normal, so that we don't have to delay Round 2.