Hair today, gone tomorrow part I

Ha, you see what I did there? I'm so funny on chemo. Today's post will be how my hair finally decided to say see ya later and begin falling out of my head. Come along on the journey...it has tequila!

I mentioned in my previous post that I had read that with my type of chemo, hair loss is usually between days 12-14 after the first infusion. As you all know, I cut my hair 3 weeks ago in anticipation of this event and while it gave me a thrill knowing what I would look like with a pixie cut, my hair is just not suited for that length. It's SUPER curly and hard to control and too short to try to straighten so I ended up giving into the chaos and letting it do whatever it wanted. See exhibit A below...


So to say I was secretly looking forward to hair ground zero would be an understatement. Beginning day 12, I would give a little tug on my hair only to be disappointed when it would still be firmly affixed at the root. I did this probably 10 times throughout the day to no avail and went to bed convinced it would happen on Saturday (day 13).

Saturday came and went, same test of change, same result. Later in the day I went for a mani/pedi with a dear friend of mine and we talked about how ready I was for it to fall out, I was tired of my curly mop, how ironic would it be if it didn't fall out and I just spent a fortune on a wig, etc. etc. Saturday night came around and I started to have some doubts. What if it didn't fall out?

Sunday rolled around and as I got ready for church, yet again, all hair follicles weren't giving up the goods. I went with mom to check out an open house around 12:30, hair was still staying put. Later that afternoon, I was planning on attending a Lularoe party to try on a few items before purchasing and I was a little nervous because I didn't know many people that would be there and while I have no problem sharing my story publicly with all of you, it's a little awkward with total strangers. At a leggings party. The last thing I wanted to be was Debbie Downer.



Then 3:30 came around, I performed my test pull and my hair said, PEACE, we are outta here. I lost a whole sideburn. An hour before I was supposed to leave for the party. Apparently God does still have a sense of humor.

So I came up with a plan that I would refrain from touching my head until AFTER the party. And if it randomly fell out at the party, well then it would be a pretty sweet party trick, "watch me lose my hair using only my MIND".

Luckily, the party was uneventful, I was gifted a VERY awesome care package from my rockstar charge nurses at work, which contained more leggings and shirts and comfy clothes that are AMAZING! Truly, the generosity I have received from all of you is humbling and overwhelming and touching and #allthefeels. But that is for a different post...

Once the party was over, it was time for the real party start. My friend Jen wanted to come over last night anyway, so I totally roped her into shaving my head. As a true friend would, she willingly accepted and brought chips and salsa and ranch to make it a real party, Ole!


While mentally, I was pretty ready for this, a little tequila never hurts so I made a makeshift margarita with frozen limeade and some Cuervo, which ended up being DELICIOUS! When life doesn't hand you margarita mix, you make margaritas anyway.

Kate was still up for all these shenanigans so I really wanted her to be involved to make it less scary. We have been talking about how I was going to lose my hair because of "the medicine I get in my button (port)", to which she responded, "can I press your button and make your hair fall out?!?!?". So cute, but not quite that simple!

I asked her if she wanted to help cut mommy's hair, which was met with an ENTHUSIASTIC "YES!!" so we plopped a chair in our kitchen, I took a swig of my marg and the show began.

Getting ready to start

We made a mohawk first because why not??
"Mommy, you look funny!"

Love these two girls
I took a drink of margarita, she wanted some too, so when I said no, enter total meltdown #threenager
So we put some yellow gatorade in a margarita glass and she was happy.
This I'm sure we resurface at her graduation party as the day she had her first drink.

See ya curly blond hair


Saving the best for last, I wanted to upload a short video but I'm having some technical difficulties getting it to load, so I will have Mitch help me with it tomorrow. Sorry!

I'm pretty happy with the final product. Eventually all these little tiny baby hairs will fall out too and I will be left with one naked, cold head but until then, I'm totally rocking the GI Jane look. I had chemo cycle 2 today, so I will post more about that midweek but it went really well. Starting to feel a little crummy as I write this now but hopefully its nothing a little sleep can't fix tonight.

Thank you for the prayers and support! Specific prayer requests for this week:
Evelyn- that she can get over this cold and be healthy!
Kate- we are trying a new bedtime routine, so that she is asleep before the Tonight Show comes on! Prayers that she falls asleep quickly without too much trouble
Mitch- prayers for his second week of black belt training at Cat, he is doing well with it but its intense and stressful so prayers for peace and an easy week!
Me- Prayers for minimal side effects again this week, hoping it goes as well as cycle 1
And lastly, my mom flies home to Georgia for a few days this Thursday, so prayers for safe travel for her is appreciated!


Have a wonderful week everyone!

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