Spring has sprung... and so has my hair!!!

Week in, week out, I have at least one dream of a night time, of my hair growing, or having long wavy locks. To say that I'm obsessed about my hair is probably a little bit of an understatement. Like looking at Donald Trumps "hair" I am found regularly in the bathroom, examining my scalp for signs of new sprouts!!!  And it is happening! Even the family checks out the new growth when they see me. We're all eagerly anticipating the arrival of a full head of hair!!!

What is concerning me at the moment although, is the apparent way that its coming back.                 At the  moment, I look as though I'd fit in at the old fellows bowls club! It's all around the back and sides.... and seemingly sparse on the top. As to the colour, there is a lot of grey, but there is also a fair bit of black. I'm watching with different levels of jealousy, the other ladies who are going through this and are "ahead" of me (pun intended) who are now sporting a really cute short pixie cut style of hair. I've decided to embrace the nana side of me when it returns, and jazz it up a bit if they still make Magic Silver Rose. I'll give the greys a bit of a pink tinge. For you young ones, it's what your great (or even great great) grandma's would put in their hair to give them that lovely pink or blue colour. Hence the term "blue rinse set".
 I will avoid a Dame Edna look. I just don't have those glasses anymore :)








So this week I start week 3 of radiation treatment. The skin is bearing up okay so far, with just a bit of tightness and tingling around the decolletage area (again for the men and the young ones, the area of the neck under the chin down to the chest) The is my already sun damaged area, so I'm wondering if that is making things worse. I was advised by the lovely radiation staff to use "Moo Goo Udder Cream" liberally. It's made by a lovely Aussie company from Burleigh Heads. Their products are all natural and they send out samples to a lot of the radiation treatment Doctors, and also donate products from their Dusty Girls range of natural cosmetics, to the Look Good Feel Better workshops. If you spot their products in health shops or some of the pharmacies, please try them out. I'm finding them to be particularly good.

One side effect I didn't enjoy last week was a sore throat that progressed to something akin to a lump in the back of my throat that made swallowing food very difficult and painful. I got to the point of wondering if the next 6 weeks or so would end up seeing me on liquid meal replacements. The upside being that most of these are low calorie, so I would be doing myself a bit of a favour and hopefully losing a few more kilos that the boss/doctor would like to see come off. I need to get my weight down a bit more, to be at my optimal health and fitness and help keep me healthy and well and keep this nasty disease from rearing its ugly head again. Luckily, the lump feeling has eased, but food and I still don't completely get along. The brain is saying eat biscuits, cake, sweet stuff like I used to. But if I give in, the tastebuds revolt about half an hour later I have this awful taste in my mouth, and if I'm lucky enough I'll feel, not exactly nauseous, but just yuk for a while after eating. I guess I have to get used to going from a sweet tooth, to a more savoury palete.


I suspect the fatigue they suggested would kick in, has started to show up. I do get a bit tired by mid afternoon, but I'm not yet willing to admit that it's the radiation.

Today I'm off to have my neck CT Scan so they can map the last week of my treatment. That week will see radiation only to the area of my neck that the cancer spread to. I also get to wear a specially made mask to hold my head and neck in place so that the treatment is very accurate. It will also be a higher dose of radiation, so I can expect more burning to that area. Better stock up on the moo goo.




So for the next 4 weeks, we just spend our days, pottering around the house and waiting on daily appointments. It's an exciting life (insert sarcastic tired tones). But at least it's not chemo!!!!