Halfway There...

Actually today was 7/12 so I'm over the hill... again.

Latest activity:
We got through the holiday season. Whew! Actually, once the cabaret was over, I was also done teaching for the semester- second semester doesn't start until February, so I always have a 6-7 week Christmas break, so things have slowed down significantly. This is always how my life runs in December.

GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO 

STOP!

I played/ sang one of our four services on Christmas Eve, we went to Matt's parents' for a couple of days and visited some old friends. Other than that, things have been pretty slow around here. Maia's back to school, Matt's back to work, and Xander & I are holding down the fort. He goes back to college this weekend.

In general, I feel pretty good. I rest on the weekends as much as possible, and on weekdays, I find that if I don't get up fairly early and just do something, I waste the entire day watching Netflix. I mean, that's fine sometimes, but I don't feel great if I'm not up and moving around.

I have had a couple more oncology appointments in the last few weeks. 3 weeks ago, I asked Dr. Krie, "So what's the deal with my spine? If these lesions are not cancer, what are they?"

She said, "It's probably cancer."

I said, "Yeah, but if it's NOT?!"

There is a chance that they are something else, but she says with as pervasive as they are, it is most likely cancer and the biopsy was inconclusive.

Well dang it. That's not what we want to hear!

She said that the only way we will know is after the first 12 weeks of chemo they will run full body scans again. That will fall roughly around Valentines Day. How romantic!

***this is important***

If the scans show no change in the spinal lesions, then they are NOT cancer, because cancer cells change. They would respond to the chemo treatments.

No change = No cancer

If they do change, then I'm officially Stage 4, and we go back to the Cleopatra Plan. 

Change = Cancer

So this is a targeted prayer request: that the lesions in my spine would NOT respond to chemotherapy.

One good indicator is that my spine does not hurt and I don't have any spinal symptoms, which should be many and varied.

Now for some lighter fare...

Progress on the hair situation:
I gave myself a pixie cut when my long hair started pulling out in big gobs. That's about the time I started wearing wigs in public and hats at home.

I usually have a strict rule to never cut my own hair,
but what did I have to loose?! Haha!

About a week after that, I was sick of hair falling out and landing in my food, so I had Maia shave it off.

This is the buzz cut. It lasted about 2 days,
then I shaved it bald in the shower.

The weird thing is, it grew back immediately, unlike the last time I had chemo and was shiny bald for a good 4 months. We'll see how long it sticks. If it falls into my food again, it's going bye-bye.

Here are the wigs I have been sporting most frequently:

Church/ fancy wig

Funny Girl wig
This is the one Maia decided to alter last summer.
It didn't used to have bangs. >:{

The Original Wig. My old standby.
I always know this one will look good.

My new Farah Faucett wig. This one is curlable!

My hats:

I hate turbans. I think they look weird. But I need something to keep my head warm without smashing my ears or making my scalp itchy. It takes a while to adjust to being able to wear a wig all day. My scalp itches A LOT, and the band across the back of the wig makes my head feel bruisy. The wig lady at Avera says it takes a couple of weeks, but that goes away. It's already getting better. 

Anyway, I wear hats at home. Like, I walk in the door and rip off my hair. My family is totally used to this. So far, I haven't freaked anyone out, unless the neighbors are watching.

I got this one for free at the cancer center. Matt picked it up for me when I asked him to go looking while I was in treatment one day. It's got tiny white polka dots on it. Everything else was too pastel. I like it because it's jersey knit and it's not too tight. It's too loose, actually, so I'll fiddle around with it. I already remade it to be more a slouchy hat with a red bow than a turban. 

I've been sewing a lot lately. I thought maybe instead of remaking hats, I could just make them from scratch. I'm not a turban girl, and slouchy isn't really my style either. I started poking around on the internet and Pinterest for patterns and came across cloches. DUH! So I made one out of scrap fabric I had on hand using this tutorial.

There was one small problem, however. Every time I caught a glance at myself in the mirror, I thought it looked like I had my lunchbox on my head! 

Sewing has been my current obsession, so I recklessly went to JoAnne's Fabrics- a very dangerous store for me- when I had plenty of time to browse. I picked up supplies for a stretchy pencil skirt, a dress or maybe leggings, pockets to put in all my dresses, and two new hats. 

I made the pencil skirt last week, and this hat last night. I wore it today WITHOUT HAIR! IN PUBLIC! And didn't even feel too weird. It's such a great hat, it distracts from the fact that there is no hair sticking out from under it.

It's a little big on purpose to make room
for a wig underneath and not squish my ears.
The lining is really soft and easy on my scalp.

Next up- the details on this hat. I started on that part this morning during treatment while I could still use my hands, but before I knew it, my hands had to go on ice, and I had to go back to watching Netflix.

Thanks to everyone who has been so supportive and sent gifts and food. We have been well cared for!

Rehearsals for "Steel Magnolias" officially start on Thursday! It's going to be an absolute riot.