Monday, May 28, 2012

Memorial Day 2012 & Hair Falling


Memorial Day:

Being the mother of two vets, the ex-wife of a vet, the daughter of a vet, and so on all the way back to the Revolutionary War, I do not think of today has just a day for a good ole BBQ. I don’t think there is anything wrong with having a BBQ as long as you remember those who gave us the freedom to do so.  Due to lack of funds, health, and weather, we choose to stay home and observe the day quietly. I hope that no matter what you did today that you thought about those who are willing to wear the uniform and write that blank check.

Today has been a good day. I am finding that I am still getting tired very quickly but that is okay. I try to take all of the tasks I would like to do and break them down into manageable bite size pieces that I can handle. I do give myself deadlines to get things done by but they are not carved in stone. Each day I look at my to do list and see what I can do for the moment. I do that cross it off my list and say well done.  I am finding that if I work based on time rather that how far I have gotten I actually am getting more things done.

I have rewritten my medical information paper that I take to the ER. The last one seemed to confuse some nurses. Some of it is because the hospital pharmacy does things very differently than the public one does. (How was I supposed to know that?) Then the other problem was caused by a lack of common sense. I had just one nurse who thought that while I was vomiting was a great time to give me a pill to prevent vomiting!!! I have learn, at least for me, that if I take that pill about 1 hour before I eat, the food stays in me much better. So now I have a two page sheet of information. The first tells who I am, my medical history, and the name of the ONLY doctor I refuse to allow to treat me. The second tells them exactly when I take each medication and the grand total amount of pain medication it take. They don’t make it in a pill that size. Then the fact that I take the vomiting medication 1 hour before my next meal is also spelled out on this sheet. I hope this will reduce the confusion the next time I have to get admitted. I also plan to carry two copies of these papers, one for them and one for me to hang onto so that I can show it to them and ask them what they don’t understand.

Hair falling out is a good thing!

My hair is falling out by the handfuls. Everyone yesterday said that they would find that very upsetting. I was told that if your hair is not falling out then the chemo isn’t working.  Now while in the hospital the head oncology doctor, Dr. Hu said she feel that the growth on my neck is down by about ½ of what it was and it is softer. So those two factors and then the hair falling out is a great sign to me. I believe that the chemo is working and doing just what we want it to.  So if going bald means the chemo is working I will be very quick to say that in my case BALD IS BEAUTIFUL, and bring it on!! Now that you have read this and if my information is correct please be happy for me. I expect to wear hats, wigs, wraps, and other things to cover my head. But I also just might go out bald. It depends on what they tell me about sunburn on the scalp. Just one little step at a time.

I have had a great quiet day and I hope each of you have too.  Love to one and all.

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