I Can't Think of a Good Title...

Hey Guys,

I don't know if I've written about this before, but I STILL haven't lost 100% of my hair... I had a little bit of fuzz left, and it's super annoying! My mom has to shave my head every few weeks, and it's always a little bit of a terrifying experience - I don't know how men shave their heads every day (maybe they use an electric razor?)

Anyway, I'm pretty sure the only person I would ever trust to shave my head is my mom - but even so I get really nervous. We always make sure to use a new razor, and she uses some kind of astringent on my scalp with copious amounts of lotion to make sure that I don't get razor burn afterwards. So far, no major bleeding incidents - just a couple of tiny nicks here and there (nothing that even shows up unless you look really, really close) so I'm pretty impressed with my mom's head-shaving skills. I'm hoping to have her do it again tomorrow, so be on the lookout for some pictures of the process in the next couple of days!

In other news, Planet Cancer just announced that they are officially teaming up with the Lance Armstrong Foundation - even going so far as moving into the same office building as LAF! I think this sounds like GREAT news, because with these two foundations working as one, it'll be even easier to reach Young Adults with cancer that have needs (whether it be financial, medical, general support, etc...). I'm lucky enough to have insurance, access to amazing medical facilities, and a huge network of support, but not everyone has that. It'll be really fantastic to have one GIANT organization to help provide as much as they can (you can go read more about it at the link above).

Also, Holly was awesome enough to send me a link to her friend's science blog, Urban Science, where she recently wrote an article about H1N1. I checked out the article (pt 2 coming soon), and I think you all should as well! Holly's friend is a Doctoral Candidate in Biology, so she definitely knows what she's talking about (not just some random person posting about things they don't really understand). The rest of her blog is really consumer-friendly as well - it's easy to understand AND there are some really pretty pictures!

I've been feeling kind of crappy lately - lots of nausea and heartburn (as well as a few unmentionable issues you all probably don't want to hear about!) and my taste buds are still all wonky. I'm hoping that will go away in a few days, because I'm expecting to be out of class all next week and my mom and I want to go to Rouster's (an apple farm) and I want to be able to taste all the apples and the homemade cider (this is why fall is so amazing - I love apples!). I've also been having this really strange thing happening in my feet - my muscles will tense up compulsively and it wakes me up at night, so I haven't been sleeping too well. It's kind of like a Charley Horse but in my feet... I used to get them very occasionally before the chemo, and my dad gets them sometimes, but now I get them ALL the time! I've been wearing heels more lately, so I don't know if it's the heels or the chemo that's making them really bad. I talked to Dr. Adams, and she advised that I eat more potassium - I can't eat bananas with my Procarbazine, but I've been trying to load up on spinach and broccoli. So far, no change, but I'm betting it takes more than a couple of days for the vitamins to start working their magic...

Finally, I want to post a little bit of a shout-out to some of the other writers of cancer blogs (especially the ones I've been following). It seems like everyone I discovered when I first got diagnosed is successfully finishing treatment now, soon, or has recently finished, and I want to congratulate all of the great success, especially to Chris (who had his last treatment today) and Jennie, who just celebrated a month post-treatment. Congrats, guys!

Lots of Love,

Lauren

ps check this out :-)