My body hair has been gradually starting to thin and fall out for the last week or so, but last night it really started to come out, although interestingly enough, only on my head. I could literally pull my whiskers out with my fingernails. When I woke up this morning, most of it was on my pillow. I shaved the rest, but it wasn't really even a "shave" because the razor basically just pulled the rest of the hair out. I guess I officially look like a cancer patient now!
As I've probably mentioned at some point in my blog, chemotherapy destroys all fast-growing cells in the body, even the good ones. The whole hair-loss thing is kind of interesting because some hair cells on the body are not as "fast growing" as others I suppose. My legs and arms have yet to lose any, although they're definitely not really growing anymore, but my chest and back are getting pretty thin. I trimmed all that (and basically just shaved my back smooth) so it wouldn't make a huge mess when that hair falls out for good. I imagine it won't be very long before it follows suit with my head.
A little update for yesterday: I had a really bad sleep on Friday night and lost my stomach twice when I woke up in the morning on Saturday. I thought it was because I am no longer able to take Stemetil but it turns out that I was supposed to take one more Ondansetron before bed on Friday. I took it on Saturday morning as soon as I realized my mistake, and the nausea subsided for the rest of the day, most of which I spent sleeping, because I also took an extra-strength Gravol.
Lastly, I have grown to hate one of my chemo drugs, Prednisone. I probably mentioned all the side effects in a previous post, but they include extreme restlessness, insomnia, swollen or "puffy" cheeks & joints, and believe it or not, grumpiness. Also, I only take it for five days during each round of chemo, and coming off of it after Round #1 was a horrible experience. I hate what it does to me.
Kaitlin came over last night and for some reason we were arguing or disagreeing about something little and it just escalated and basically ruined our whole evening. I am generally the cool-headed one during arguments, but because of the Prednisone (and probably my lack of sleep and crappy day) my emotions seemed to be blown way out of proportion. I could tell what was happening in my head, but I just couldn't control it, and it was so frustrating and made me pretty upset. I could tell it was really frustrating for Kaitlin too.
Eventually Kaitlin asked what I wanted 'right now' and all I came up with was "I need to cuddle." The rest of the evening ended up okay, with my eyes closed, head in her lap, while she played with my hair... or what was left of it. I could tell she was still frustrated with me, but at least we were relaxed. Thanks for sticking it out, Kaitlin. I love you.
That is my update for Sunday morning. Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there.
Christopher
Chris, if you have any remaining hair, grab some masking tape and use it to grab those last little hairs! Sounds funny but trust me, it works! :)
ReplyDeleteKeep your bald head up, you can do this.
big hug!!!!
ReplyDeleteYou don't look like a guy with cancer, you look like a guy with really great skin! There is an upside to everything, and yours is great skin. Hug again, kb
ReplyDeleteHang in there Chris! You look just as handsome without hair as you do with a more 'shaved' head. Take it easy and REST. Maybe even stop those marathon days when you do weights, run, ride! :) But then that wouldn't be YOU. You will get through this and be one strong, athletic, fabulous cancer survivor.
ReplyDeleteYOM
Blasted, occasionally prednisone makes people feel superhuman and elated ! (even provokes people who have manic episodes to have a manic episode even while on their lithium meds!) I'd hoped you'd be one of those people to feel superhuman on Pred instead of what you've been experiencing (which at least from my few years of experience is far more common side effects).
ReplyDeleteIf you need to shout and argue it out, get someone to buy you a stuffed bear, and take it out on him instead :) I swear, nothing beats blasting your mood off at a bear. Or Jean for that matter.. (just kidding Jean.. umm... wait.. am I I do tend to blow off steam with you from time to time.. ie Toronto)
Brian
Thank you
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