Wig Fun
I mentioned in an earlier post that chemo is going to make me lose my hair. This was the one thing I did not want to face, the one thing I thought I couldn't handle. But I love how gracious God is. He's been revealing the path I have to walk little by little, instead of all at once, so I have time to process each piece and accept it before another difficulty comes.
First I thought I had DCIS, considered stage 0 cancer and curable. When I met with my surgical oncologist for the first time, I found out I actually have invasive breast cancer, most likely stage 1 with a 1.6 cm tumor. A lumpectomy, radiation, and some reconstruction is all I would need. Then I found out I am BRCA 2+, which means I have a genetic mutation that causes much higher rates of recurrence or the development of a second breast cancer. When I learned this, I changed my mind on surgery and opted for a double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction. No radiation would be needed and I could possibly only have to deal with hormonal therapy and not chemo. A week before my mastectomies, I had my sentinel lymph node removed and checked for the spread of cancer. My lymph nodes were clean. Great news! I had the mastectomies and pathology revealed that my tumor was not 1.6 cm, as we had thought, but 2.6 cm, making my cancer stage 2. Then I met with the medical oncologist, who told me that the cells in my tumor were abnormal, nothing like normal cells, and classified as grade 3 (on a scale of 1-3, where 3 is the most abnormal). Which landed me with the recommendation that I do chemotherapy to ensure I don't have any more of those abnormal cells floating around in my body.
Could I have handled hearing that I have stage 2 invasive breast cancer, a genetic mutation that leaves my body at high risk for cancer, treatment options that include having both of my breasts cut off and my body pumped full of toxins that will make me sick for months and cause me to lose my hair, and five years of hormonal treatment that will put me into menopause - all at the same time? I don't think so. Instead, God gently revealed this information to me bit by bit, giving me grace each day to handle the pieces one by one. I am so thankful.
But you are probably wondering where the "wig fun" is in all this. After having dealt with all I mentioned above, I also had to deal with planning ahead for losing my hair. What a drag. My mom had gotten me wig brochures weeks ago and I had optimistically declared that I would not need them. But now I found myself flipping through them and working up my nerve to actually go try some on.
My cancer center has a great little shop that carries just about everything you might need if you have cancer. The manager, Tish, is kind, knowledgeable, and my same age (one year and two days younger, to be precise), and I had already bought several things from her, so a lot of my discomfort was relieved before I even headed out to get a wig. I was told that trying the wigs on before buying is a must and it was surprising to see how the different styles worked for me (or not!). One problem, though, with being such a "young" cancer patient is that a lot of the wigs I had to try on were gray! I'm not so sure it's my best color. I think I'll turn to the bottle when my time comes. ;)
Most things you buy have a model number, but apparently wigs have names. I absolutely love that the wig I ended up choosing is named Lucky - it sounds like a stripper name! And there seems to be a pattern in my choice of hairstyle. The second wig I chose (hey, a girl's gotta have options!) is the one the stylist had labeled the "trashy" one. LOL I suppose it might look trashy on an older woman, but I think it will look hip and fun on me. And I love that I will be able to wake up in the morning and say to myself, "Hmm...who should I be today - Lucky or Trashy?"
First I thought I had DCIS, considered stage 0 cancer and curable. When I met with my surgical oncologist for the first time, I found out I actually have invasive breast cancer, most likely stage 1 with a 1.6 cm tumor. A lumpectomy, radiation, and some reconstruction is all I would need. Then I found out I am BRCA 2+, which means I have a genetic mutation that causes much higher rates of recurrence or the development of a second breast cancer. When I learned this, I changed my mind on surgery and opted for a double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction. No radiation would be needed and I could possibly only have to deal with hormonal therapy and not chemo. A week before my mastectomies, I had my sentinel lymph node removed and checked for the spread of cancer. My lymph nodes were clean. Great news! I had the mastectomies and pathology revealed that my tumor was not 1.6 cm, as we had thought, but 2.6 cm, making my cancer stage 2. Then I met with the medical oncologist, who told me that the cells in my tumor were abnormal, nothing like normal cells, and classified as grade 3 (on a scale of 1-3, where 3 is the most abnormal). Which landed me with the recommendation that I do chemotherapy to ensure I don't have any more of those abnormal cells floating around in my body.
Could I have handled hearing that I have stage 2 invasive breast cancer, a genetic mutation that leaves my body at high risk for cancer, treatment options that include having both of my breasts cut off and my body pumped full of toxins that will make me sick for months and cause me to lose my hair, and five years of hormonal treatment that will put me into menopause - all at the same time? I don't think so. Instead, God gently revealed this information to me bit by bit, giving me grace each day to handle the pieces one by one. I am so thankful.
But you are probably wondering where the "wig fun" is in all this. After having dealt with all I mentioned above, I also had to deal with planning ahead for losing my hair. What a drag. My mom had gotten me wig brochures weeks ago and I had optimistically declared that I would not need them. But now I found myself flipping through them and working up my nerve to actually go try some on.
My cancer center has a great little shop that carries just about everything you might need if you have cancer. The manager, Tish, is kind, knowledgeable, and my same age (one year and two days younger, to be precise), and I had already bought several things from her, so a lot of my discomfort was relieved before I even headed out to get a wig. I was told that trying the wigs on before buying is a must and it was surprising to see how the different styles worked for me (or not!). One problem, though, with being such a "young" cancer patient is that a lot of the wigs I had to try on were gray! I'm not so sure it's my best color. I think I'll turn to the bottle when my time comes. ;)
Most things you buy have a model number, but apparently wigs have names. I absolutely love that the wig I ended up choosing is named Lucky - it sounds like a stripper name! And there seems to be a pattern in my choice of hairstyle. The second wig I chose (hey, a girl's gotta have options!) is the one the stylist had labeled the "trashy" one. LOL I suppose it might look trashy on an older woman, but I think it will look hip and fun on me. And I love that I will be able to wake up in the morning and say to myself, "Hmm...who should I be today - Lucky or Trashy?"
I love your wigs' names! What color are they? What do they look like?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what color Trashy will be, because I only picked from the catalog pictures, but she is razored and edgy. Lucky is almost the same color and style I have now - for when I want to go incognito. :)
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