It's strange to be saying this a month after chemo, but my eyebrows and eyelashes have finally fallen out. I was so hoping I would have escaped that, but no, chemo got them, too. Chemo doesn't just hurt physically, it wreaks havoc on one's self-esteem as well. But I have never been without something to encourage me. While my eyelashes are falling out, my hair is starting to grow back!
Last week I looked in the mirror and wondered how my head had gotten dirty. I worried that one of my scarves wasn't color-safe and had bled onto my head. When I looked closer, though, I discovered it was my hair coming back! Yay! I can't wait to see what it's going to look like. I hear it often comes back curly after chemo, and sometimes the color is different, too. I'll keep you posted...
I go tomorrow to get my port taken out. I can't wait! Besides looking ugly, my port has often been itchy or irritated. I always know it's there. But tomorrow, out it comes, and I am one step closer to putting cancer in my rear view mirror.
The procedure to take it out will be similar to what it took to put it in. They'll prep me for surgery, but I'll go under conscious sedation, where they use some powerful drugs to put me out of it, but still keep me conscious. The drugs are amnesiacs, so it's likely I won't remember what happens in the operating room. They'll reopen the scar left from when they put the port in, remove the port and pull the tube from my jugular vein, and stitch me up again. I guess I'll be able to say when I leave that "I've left a piece of myself behind at UVA." Haha.
Last week I looked in the mirror and wondered how my head had gotten dirty. I worried that one of my scarves wasn't color-safe and had bled onto my head. When I looked closer, though, I discovered it was my hair coming back! Yay! I can't wait to see what it's going to look like. I hear it often comes back curly after chemo, and sometimes the color is different, too. I'll keep you posted...
I go tomorrow to get my port taken out. I can't wait! Besides looking ugly, my port has often been itchy or irritated. I always know it's there. But tomorrow, out it comes, and I am one step closer to putting cancer in my rear view mirror.
The procedure to take it out will be similar to what it took to put it in. They'll prep me for surgery, but I'll go under conscious sedation, where they use some powerful drugs to put me out of it, but still keep me conscious. The drugs are amnesiacs, so it's likely I won't remember what happens in the operating room. They'll reopen the scar left from when they put the port in, remove the port and pull the tube from my jugular vein, and stitch me up again. I guess I'll be able to say when I leave that "I've left a piece of myself behind at UVA." Haha.
Oh, I'm so sorry your eyebrows and eyelashes are falling out! But, since your hair's starting to come back, perhaps they won't be gone lone.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on getting your port taken out! That is wonderful news. So happy for you. :)
Katherine, Thank you for continuing to keep us updated even as you are sprinting towards the finish line!!! It's such a joy to witness the courage and fortitude with which you have wrangled your nemesis. And like the winner you are, you have come out on top!
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