Going Bald… again…

Well, dang it. I’m losing my hair at a very rapid pace these days. This is the 3rd time I will have gone bald due to cancer treatments, for those keeping score at home. It’s not as traumatic as the first time, and I’m taking it in stride. 

My hair started falling out last Thursday. I am shedding like a long-haired cat in the summer heat. Even though I’ve felt like my hair’s been thinner these last few years, I’m losing vast amounts daily, and can’t believe there’s anything left up there! 

This quote happens a lot at our house right now…

As a result, my bathroom is covered in my pelt. I’ve decided to rename it Gaston. 

I also like the idea of saying, “Excuse me, I have to go 

visit Gaston” when I need to use the bathroom.

Anyway, I made an appointment at the Avera Wig Salon at the Prairie Center right away to order a nice wig with some “maturity” in it, so that when my hair grows back in again (fingers crossed!), it will look roughly the same color.  I went in yesterday to try some colors and cuts out. I opted for this combination. 

The top row is the color

Bottom row is the cut.

Fingers crossed that the combination is in stock, and I’ll get it on Tuesday (6 days, but who’s counting?)

I also decided to visit with the Palliative Care team at the Prairie Center to help manage my pain, and they gave me some drugs: Dilaudid and Ritalin. I was loathe to use either of them because I don’t want to get hooked on anything, but the Dilaudid works well alongside Aleve to keep my aches and pains away, and the Ritalin seems to help my perkiness level. 

Yesterday, I visited Dr. Dawn Flickema at the acupuncture clinic (again at the Prairie Center. I basically live there now), and told her my litany of problems. She said for generalized aches and pains, they do acupuncture on the ears and the scalp. 

ohhh kay…

Oh AND, she put acupressure “seeds” in one ear to help stimulate the areas she needled for longer. These metal seeds will stay in for 3-5 days, then just fall out. She only does one ear at a time, so I can still sleep on the other side.

There are 5 metal “seeds” activating pressure points to help relieve pain.

Also note the headband is covering a lot of visible scalp

Now, I don’t know if it was the acupuncture, the Ritalin or the wig shopping, but yesterday afternoon after all this, I felt AMAZING! Or maybe normal? I can’t remember what that feels like anymore. But I had energy, I was in a great mood, I EXERCISED (practiced choreography) for a solid hour! I made it through our second dress rehearsal for the show I’m playing for this weekend, AND I slept great to boot. 

This morning, I’m continuing to attempt the covering of my scalp. 

This is AFTER attempting to style it.

I don’t know if a headband’s going to do the trick today.

Hat day it is. 

This hat will definitely bother the top of my ear where the acupressure seed is, but it’s the price ya gotta pay for style, I guess. 

Also, everything old is new again. I bought this hat in the late 90s and these boots in the early 90s, when I was going through a “Victorian” phase. 

The whole ensemble (minus the hat) 

for the curious

#bathroomselfie

Top and skirt are thrifted

I doubt I’ll make it much longer without shaving my head and starting in on old wigs until I get my new one. I had hoped to make it through this weekend’s performances, but that’s looking doubtful. Oh well… 

A New Hope

 Yes, that’s a Star Wars reference. You’re welcome, Matty… (And it’s St. Patrick’s Day, not May the 4th)

Happy St. Patty’s Day!

Flashing my bangs even though the 

rest of my hair is rapidly falling out. 

More on that in a minute.

I had an appointment with my oncologist this morning (Dr. Jones), and he got some really useful information from the genetic testing they did on me a couple of weeks ago. 

I’ll see if I can give you a comprehensible recap of the conversation. 

It appears that the cancer DNA has mutated and no longer possesses HER-2, but it does show signs of BRCA-1, which is interesting, since I wasn't born with that particular gene. The good news is, it shows two mutations: BRCA-1 and PICC-3CA and the same treatment hits both. And it's in pill form, not chemo. 

I’m pretty sure this is exactly what my cancer cells are doing.

I'll stay on Eribulin for 3-6 months, depending on 3 month scan, but here's feeling really good about future options. 

This is the picture Dr. Jones drew for me. It's a picture of the cancer cell with 3 possible receptors: Estrogen, Progesterone, and the GF is Growth Factor, which in my case is HER-2.

The center of the cell is the cancer DNA, which replicates itself and grows fast (tumor growth. Those are represented by the bubbles at the bottom (and the GIF above). 

My current regimen (Eribulin) is destroying the cancer DNA, regardless of mutations. 

There’s a war going on inside me at the cellular level.

Eribulin = Death Star

They've had me on Herceptin for ages, because of its track record in wiping out HER-2. (proven!) They’ll keep me on it just in case of microscopic traces of HER-2, and because once they take you off a chemo regimen, they don’t restart it.

Once the cancer outsmarts Eribulin- (expected in the next 3-6 months), I will start on a pill (not chemo) called Olaparib will target the genetic mutations they found in my blood test. 

I’m tolerating the Eribulin really well. It’s two weeks on, one week off, and it only takes 5 minutes to administer. I have felt so well, I was sceptical that it was doing anything… and then my hair started falling out. (This will be the THIRD time I’ve gone bald, for those of you keeping track at home. *sigh*)

It’s ok. It’s very temporary, and last time my hair grew back it curly, so fingers crossed. Meanwhile, I have an appointment at the Avera Wig Salon on Tuesday. Losing my hair still sucks, but not as much as the first time. Time to start searching for sassy salt & pepper wigs.