Six Weeks Later...

Hey Guys,

So remember how my last hair post I said that it was thin but I was assuming it would thicken up soon? That hasn't happened yet. It's probably close to 1/2" long, but still not any thicker than before (with the exception of a few random patches). I'm starting to get nervous because by this time in Brian's recovery, he had SO much more hair!!! I am, however, starting to sprout tiny baby hairs on my arms and legs (the arms is good, the legs... well, I was hoping that might miraculously stay gone!) My eyebrows and eyelashes have mostly come back in as well. My eyelashes are still pretty short, but I noticed yesterday that they were suddenly so much thicker! Maybe that'll happen with my head as well...

Has anyone else had really thin hair regrowth?? If so, what did you do about it? Did it eventually thicken up?? I've been using the Nioxin 3-step program every day, as well as taking prenatal vitamins (which are supposed to make hair & nails grow faster). I've got a lot of length, but no thickness! If it weren't so thin, I'd be totally happy with the buzz-like look...

this is how much hair I had after my buzz (and even after some of it had fallen out!) it's SO much thicker!!!

new Christmas hat - it's handmade from Peru (bought by my mom at Ten Thousand Villages - if you haven't been, you should check it out! it's an amazing fair-trade shop with locations all over!) I got another hat also, but it's in my bedroom & I have a sleeping cat on my lap... pictures of that will come soon!

let me know if anyone has any hair advice!!!

Lots of Love,

Lauren

No More Port!

Hey Guys,

I FINALLY got my port removed! The surgery was pretty quick, only about 30 minutes, but I had to get to the hospital an hour and a half early for check-in and vitals and all sorts of paperwork. When I had the port put in, I was really glad to be given full anesthesia, but I wouldn't have really minded being awake for the removal. Instead of putting me all the way under, I just got gas and was in kind of a "twilight" state. I don't remember anything, but I woke up really fast! When I woke up, I was moving from the operating room to the "wakeup" room, and I totally thought I was on my couch at home - I was so confused because the couch was moving so much!

My surgeon was really young and nice - she came in beforehand to introduce herself and make sure I didn't have any questions. Mostly I just wanted it out as soon as I could!

The worst part by far was having the IV put in - I hadn't been able to eat or drink for about 12 hours prior to surgery, so I was pretty dehydrated by the time I got there, and they couldn't get the IV in my vein. It hurt more than any needle I've ever had, and they stuck me four times (plus wiggling... eugh) before they finally gave me the gas and I fell asleep before they got the IV in. They offered to give me gas before they tried to IV me, but I said it was ok. I wish I'd taken the gas! When I woke up, my hand hurt way more than my incision!

So far, I haven't really had much pain - I'd say it's comparable to the scrapes I'd get falling off my bike as a kid. It's painful, but it's definitely not hindering me at all, and it's WAY better than the incision from my biopsy or when I had the port put in. One thing that I wasn't expecting was the empty space I can feel where the line was under my skin, and the squishing sounds that occasionally come from my chest where it's filling back in the areas where the line was running. It was really unnerving the first time it happened, but now it's not as bad.

The coolest part is that my surgeon let me bring my port home! My little brother wasn't allowed to keep his, so he was totally jealous when he got home from school and saw that I'd gotten to bring mine home!

My port! The round part was under my side (where they accessed me) and the tubing ran under my skin from my ribs into my heart... it's so weird to think that was under my skin for seven months!

On the hair front, it's getting much longer, but still extremely thin. It's filling in a bit more in some places, but not a whole lot. I'm crossing my fingers that it'll start to thicken up by New Years...

Lots of Love,

Lauren

Good News!

Hey Guys,

I had my post-treatment scans this past Monday, and I'm THRILLED to report that everything is NORMAL!!!! I had a little bit of scar tissue in my lungs (probably from living in the Ohio River Valley for my entire life) and I have to stay out of bars with lots of smoke (i.e. Newport) because of the potential for lung damage from the drugs I was on, but other than that, I've been given a clean bill of health!

I'm having a little issue with an extremely extended cold - lots of sniffles and coughing that's keeping me up at night, but otherwise I've been feeling really good! My counts are basically normal (on the low side of normal, but normal still!) and I have to take Bactrim (an antibiotic to keep away a chemo-specific pneumonia) for the next six months, but other than that I'm off pills and back on my vitamins in the hope that my hair will grow back more quickly. Once the incision from my port removal heals, I can't wait to start doing Pilates again. I want to get a little back into shape before I start my classes up in the spring, because I'm planning on taking Pilates and possibly aerobics at BW.

I'm also SUPER happy to be able to be back on my normal diet. I had my favorite salad from First Watch the other day. I hadn't been able to eat it since June because it has spicy dressing, bacon, avocados, and a few other things I haven't been allowed to eat. It was just as delicious as I remembered! I've also lost about 7lbs of what I'm assuming was water weight from steroids - not that I ever really felt like I gained weight, but it just kind of went away. I haven't been trying to lose anything, but it's nice to be back where I was when I started treatments and be (mostly) rid of the bloated stomach I've been sporting since the steroids kicked in (for awhile I felt like one of those little kids with the skinny limbs and big tummies)

My hair's sort of still coming back... it's getting a lot longer and has a little bit of a reddish cast, but it's still SO thin. I'm getting a little worried, but I guess it hasn't even been six weeks since I finished treatment. If it's still this thin at New Year's, I'm going to start to get seriously worried...

Lots of Love,

Lauren

I Forgot to Post This Earlier...

Hey Guys,

I've been meaning to post this for a few days, but I kept forgetting! My mom got this video in an email from a friend, and forwarded it to me... It's hilarious, so I hope you enjoy it!


***UPDATE***


hopefully THIS LINK will work better...


Lots of Love,
Lauren

Hair Today, More Tomorrow

Hey Guys,

I'm stealing the title of this post from Kaylin at Cancer is Hilarious. I've started to get a little bit of hair in, and underneath the dark hair you can see is another layer of baby fuzz where the rest of my hair is starting to poke through. The fuzzy stuff is coming in very fair, and the rest is SO dark! I have no idea what color it's going to end up, but I don't really care as long as it's still curly. I hear curly isn't usually a problem... I'm hoping that by New Year's I'll have a pretty good amount of hair... We'll see! I've been using a few different things to help my hair grow back in - Nioxin, which is a three-step program for thinning hair (shampoo, conditioner, and a weird mousse thing that you leave in) and I've been taking pre-natal vitamins (the over-the-counter ones, not a prescription...) It seems to be helping, because it's been about three weeks since my last treatment and I'm already getting a little poking through. Monday should be my next chemo, and since I'm not getting it, I'm hoping my hair will really start coming in in the next couple of weeks!

Notice all of my pills (plus my pill organizer) - I don't have to take ANY of those anymore! The only pills I still take are my antacid, an antibiotic called Bactrim on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and my vitamins! I still haven't gotten around to cleaning out all of those prescriptions, though...

Lots of Love,

Lauren