Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Shaved Head Day

I had been hoping that Ifosfamide would be like Doxorubicin -- I would have some hair loss, but that some hair would stick around. This time, I would not be so quick to get my head shaved. This time, I would try to keep any hair that was strong enough to stick.  Maybe I could have sideburns sticking out of my baseball cap...

Not how it happened.  I have been shedding lightly for a couple of days, and then suddently this week, large patches of my scalp started to hurt. And in the shower yesterday, I would say that 75% of my hair just washed right off my head.  Yikes.  That was a shocker.

When I finally got out of the shower and fluffed up what was left, there was nothing worth keeping. So my big excursion yesterday was to go out and get my head shaved.

Lou came with. He got himself a French-press cup of Italian roast coffee from Electric Beanz while I was in the chair. The lady who took care of me was very sweet, would not accept a tip, and told me about several relatives who died from cancer.

Lou and I did a quick run through the grocery store for some essentials. When we got home, I basically went to bed and slept on and off for the rest of the day.

I have been sleeping pretty much all day, every day, Sunday through yesterday. Boring!  Yesterday I tried to stay awake, but mostly I was just a zombie. Can't read, can't watch TV, can't iron.  Plus, when you sleep all day, it is hard to sleep all night. I wake up from vivid dreams every two or three hours. By 4:00AM, I am happy to give up trying to sleep.

Every morning, at about this time, I feel pretty good.  I am alert and awake.  I am hoping that today I stay alert and awake!  But it seems as though I crash right after breakfast.  Today might be different.  No more Decadron.