This Birthday feels weird.

My birthday is next Saturday...two days before my 4th and final treatment of Adriamycin/Cytoxin. It feels very odd thinking about celebrating when I'm going through all of this.

All week I haven't really felt like eating much, but I have...but nothing seems to settle my stomach. I think I need to get some nice, plain bread for times like these. Luckily, my tastes haven't really changed aside from having no craving for sweets (insane, I know) so I can still enjoy flavor. It does seem to mean, though, that planning a big Birthday outing (like I've done in the past) may not happen. I'm still debating if I'm going to feel well enough to do something the first week of Boston Restaurant Week.

Another thing is that my tooth where I had my root canal is aching. I think it's from a sinus thing, but it's pretty annoying and I really hope that it's not a dental issue because I can't do anything about that until May.

Back to the birthday thing. It feels kind of depressing, to be honest, since I feel like I look like crap and haven't felt that great. Yes, there's a reason, but it doesn't really help. I WANT to feel good for my birthday! I mean, I might, since it's a week away, but it won't be the same. I feel old. I feel like I look old (although the eye cover-up cream helps with that). I feel not-happy. I just want all of this to be done and I don't want to have to deal with it on my freaking Birthday!

Maybe Jack is sensing my current emotional state. He is now sleeping on my lap, hugging me.

Ok, honestly...

...last night was hard. I didn't really have much energy and didn't have much patience for rehearsal, but I did it...and I will continue to do it as needed. Going home and getting into bed felt SO good and I just didn't feel like singing. Granted, this cough that doesn't want to go away isn't helping either. 2 1/2 weeks on an inhaler and yes, it's gotten better, but it's still present.

I'm at work today and unsure if I'll be staying the whole time. Granted, I came in late, but I'm getting pretty tired right now...it could be the 2:30pm slump, but it might not. At least I have nothing to do tonight, but I was going to try and look over some of the Wagner so I could begin work on it. I don't even have a recording...or a clue as to what recording to even look for since it's all sort of chopped up.

I also submitted an application for a kitten! I'm not the only one to apply for her though, so who knows what will happen, but isn't she gorgeous?

Sparrow

She has a bum eye too...I certainly can't fault her for that! I may need to take Jack in to have his eye looked at as I can't tell if it's just a weird cat eye thing or if there's a cloudy spot on his right eye. So we'll see.

I'm trying to eat every 2 hours but it's really hard since I'm not at all hungry. I have some veggies that I may try and eat.

Thought of some more to add:

Went back to Costco on Tuesday to look at some glasses frames. I saw some when I was there with my dad but wanted to try them on. The price was great...they looked good...I may consider that since it might be nice to have more than one pair of glasses especially since the ones I have now don't quite fit over the wig.

I got a lovely surprise in the mail today. In addition to purchasing some luscious Wollmeise sock yarn, the one I bought it for (a previous swap partner and lovely woman) sent me a shawl she made and wanted me to know that I was in her thoughts and prayers. Also, from someone else, I got an Amazon.com gift certificate...and I have no clue what to buy!!

New stuff...

So, it's been a weekend/week of new stuff, mostly for the apartment!

Yesterday (Tuesday), after sleeping in, Tracie and I went to Costco and a bunch of other places including the North Shore Mall where I bought some tea at Teavana, some make-up to cover up the dark circles around my eyes (thanks a lot, chemo!), and curtains.

Ok, so choosing curtains shouldn't have been so agonizing, but I finally got some pretty grey-purple thermal curtains for the windows behind the sofa...that should hopefully help the draft and the heat and such!

We then watched 'The Duchess' which, while lovely, was kind of depressing. Everyone acted quite well in it.

Today Tracie helped (she mostly did the work) hang said curtains and I need to at some point today or tomorrow get the fixings for some split pea soup since I have a ham bone and such to use.

I also have rehearsal tonight, which will be interesting...I kind of feel blech, but I know I can summon up the energy for rehearsal. I'm actually looking forward to it! I love this music and I can't wait to start working on it. I will be very glad once this 'nausea' chemo part is done. One more treatment!

I'm hoping to go into work tomorrow, at least for part of the day.

3 Down...5 to go...

...but if you look at it by rounds, then I only have one more to go of this Adriamycin and Cytoxin round! One more round of potential nausea! Yay! So, Millie is apparently no longer my nurse (sad) but Karin (I think she spelled her name that way) is very bubbly and really very nice. I asked about the Decadron and she said that if I didn't want to take it I didn't have to as it was really only being used for anti-nausea and the Compazine should be good if I feel I need that too. Hooray! So I'm going to try doing that this time and see how it goes. It was faster than the last time since apparently my blood work is coming back ok because of the Nulasta.

But to go back some:

My sister Deborah, her boyfriend Bill, and my dad were up this weekend for the show. I met them all at Davis and we went to 'Out of the Blue' for dinner as Deborah and Bill requested seafood. Fine by me! I had the monkfish and it was nummy! We then went back to my house for a short time so they could see it and Dad could drop off his luggage before he (Dad) drove them home so I could rest.

Saturday, dad met Bill and Deborah at Harvard Square so I could sleep in and then they picked me up and we went around Davis (Deborah wanted tea -- took her to Teazone and then Diesel - and then she wanted cupcakes so we got half a dozen from Kickass) before going into Boston so my sister could get stuff with a Northface gift card. My dad wanted to go into Best Buy so I went with him and he announced that since I had a birthday coming up, he wanted to buy me a new TV! A Flatscreen TV!!! We looked to see what they had but he decided he wanted to look at Costco too.
We went back to Davis so my dad could get the credit card he left at the restaurant and got a quick dinner at Whole Foods before we drove down to Hyde Park...which was detailed in the previous post, if I recall.

Sunday, dad and I met Bill and Deborah for breakfast at their hotel and then went to Burdick's so they could get some cocoa. After that, we dropped Deborah and Bill off at the airport and Dad and I went to Costco. We were all set to go when he realized that he didn't have the right kind of card! Oops! So I was able to buy the other stuff we got, but couldn't really handle the TV. So we went across the street to Best Buy and found a better deal on an open box...ended up with a 40" Sony Flat Screen! Wow!!!

Tracie came up for this treatment and she came in that afternoon. We took Dad to the T as he didn't want me to drive him in and walked around some and got dinner at Mr. Crepe. When we came back, we packed up and I stayed up rather late because, well, I didn't want to do another round of chemo. We were even a little late getting to the hospital. But it's over and done...and we went grocery shopping, Tracie cleaned some and made me a ham and we watched 'Enchanted' and 'Labyrinth'.

So far, so good...I've been trying to keep food in my stomach at pretty much all times, and am currently eating Saltines so I can have something in my stomach when I take the compazine and go to bed. I'm hoping that tomorrow will be just fine and I need to remember not to take the decadron, but just take the Emend...maybe the compazine if I feel I need it, but I think it makes me sleepy.

It was REALLY weird not packing any music to learn! I don't get 'Pimpernel' stuff until Wednesday and I haven't played through the Wagner, so...I was sort of at a loss. It's weird! Need to get on that.

Well, yay!

So tonight's show went really well! I felt I sang well...everyone sang well...hooray! It probably didn't hurt that I slept in until 11:30am and sort of took it easy today even though I went around town with Deborah, Bill, and my dad. I did nap on Friday which helped...it was interesting though when I was talking to Deborah and said that I was tired and I didn't like it. She said 'I bet you don't like it. You're never tired!' I guess that's it. I'm never really tired...not like I have been. So yeah. My sister sort of hit the nail on the head.

But anyways, I am SO glad that the show went well tonight (we were videotaping it!) and I am SO relieved that my voice behaved (I have no clue what happened last weekend and Thursday!) and I'm kind of relieved that it's done. I loved the experience, I loved doing the show, I loved working with everyone, but I'm glad that I don't have that pressure now. Sure, I have other shows and other music to learn, but this was a HUGE role and a HUGE responsibility and I loved it...but I'm glad I get a little bit of a break now.

That said, I am not looking forward to Monday's treatment. I'm tired of them already...I'm tired of the side effects, I'm tired of having to eat all the time or I'll get sick; I'm not a huge eater in general and it's really frustrating to have to have snacks all around me or I feel like crap. I need to go grocery shopping tomorrow or Monday to get some more stuff as I don't have too many 'snack-like' things and I'm running out of Saltines. I don't know if my tastes have changed other than the fact that I'm not really craving sweets right now. I have a ton of candy and I really just don't want to eat it. Chicken has also been tasting really good of late, as have veggies. But other than that, I sort of don't want to eat too much, but I'm trying to remember to do so no matter what. I need to be better about it day 4 and 5 after each treatment because I think I lapse on those days and it does make a difference. I also need to ask the doctor on Monday about not taking some of the anti-nausea pills because, well, ick. I don't like the 'crash' from the steroids, especially when I am going to have rehearsal or work.

I guess I need to start my Wagner stuff...listen to it or play through it, hopefully next Thursday or Friday. Yeah, I think I'm going to miss 'Cosi'.

So tired...

...and I don't like it!

I don't know if it's part of everything or what...yesterday I went home and took a 2 hour nap on the couch (Jack napped with me) and then apparently couldn't get back to sleep when it was bedtime! So of course, now I'm tired...and I have a show tonight!

Gaah!

I've been drinking tons of water and tea over the last 3 1/2 days and steaming every night...I'm hoping that now that I'm back on the inhaler that it'll help this cough go away.

I honestly don't know what happened last Sunday...I don't know if it was just stress (Saturday was an emotional day), allergies, overuse...what?!? I sincerely hope that this weekend will not be a repeat of last and that I can sing both shows the way I feel I can and should sing them. I hopefully won't have to talk too much tomorrow even though my dad and sister (and sister's boyfriend) will be here in the evening and I'll have my steamer tonight and tomorrow. I can't really tell at this point what is causing the cough, but I know I'm coughing more after taking the mucinex, so maybe there's gunk that needs to come out? Maybe I need to drink MORE water?

Gah.

So now I have the added stress of 'Am I going to get through this weekend?' which I really don't need.

I also need to go grocery shopping before chemo on Monday so that I have enough food to snack on. Last time, I didn't...and sort of felt it. This time, if I have to set a timer every 2 hours, I will!

I've decided that it's more like G.I Jane.

Not that I saw the movie, but Demi Moore could also rock the shaved head (someone also mentioned Sigourney Weaver). I did finally look at it and it's not completely bald...there's still 'stubble'. I do have the splotches of the psoriasis which looks weird, but I'm trying to put some medication on it to hopefully clear it up.

The show yesterday went ok. I wasn't as happy with it because something was going on with my voice -- I had no low and everything felt forced! I hope that it can clear up by Thursday and not ever come back! I'll just need to be more careful this week and not really talk too much if I can help it. But it doesn't feel -too- bad today, just pretty swollen.

I learned how to adjust the wigs so I fixed the theatrical wig yesterday before the show and just fixed the red one today. It's still a little loose, but it feels MUCH better without knots digging into my skull.

Well, I did it.

I got my head shaved today. The falling out was upsetting me so much that I knew I had to do it. So, I called the salon and after meeting Liddy (my sister) and Holly at Davis, my mom and I got some breakfast and we all went down to Newbury Street and shopped. I ended up getting some nice things at Second Time Around (consignment shop) which included a fawn-colored corduroy skirt and a chocolate brown velvet jacket. I also got a new MAC lipstick that I lost. My sister bought me a Jake Scully figurine to take to work and at 5:15 we went to the salon. Holly ended up getting her hair cut as well so she met us afterwards.

I have to say, Salon 10 on Newbury and Patricia Wrixon, the owner, is pretty amazing. I gave her a pair of beaded, fingerless mitts that I made and I think she was rather touched. She was great...she shaved my head then washed my head, and refitted and reset my wig. We then got cupcakes and went home to order dinner in.

I'm hoping that I can get my wig to fit tomorrow for the show...I asked Patricia and she suggested making the straps on the inside smaller which I'll do. I found a needle and thread and will get there a little early to do that. I need to do that as well for the auburn (Titian?) wig.

I'm not going to say that this was easy. It was and still is really hard and I refused to look at myself in the mirror with a shaved head even though my sister and mom assured me that I still looked good. I can't do it yet. I cried...my mom cried...my sister cried...and later my mom said that she was really proud of me because not a lot of people would have the courage to do what I did. I don't know about that, but...maybe. I guess I feel better now that it's done...I was getting kind of tired and grumpy the closer we got to the appointment.

So, I guess that's the big news for today.

So, keep your fingers crossed

...that I can get this gunk off of my cords just fine this evening!!! Gaah! I'm sucking down tea as I write!

So, anyways, I heard back from the shelter and Mama Soleil may not work out as she's also a very dominant personality and may not be too keen on a kitty like Jack. There are a couple other options and I can always wait a little longer too. There's a Petsmart Adoption weekend this weekend and I'm wondering if I dare to go look tomorrow with my family.

My head hurts less today...maybe that's a good thing? I dunno, but hair is still falling out :(. I'm wearing another hat since I need to shower when I go home anyhow.

I don't know if I said this before or not, but I don't really think that it's correct for me to say, when/if people ask, that 'I have cancer'. Technically, it's gone. It was cut out with the lumpectomy and there is nothing left. This is really preventative. I've been saying 'I started chemo' which sort of seems to have the same effect and is more accurate.

I'm also getting kind of pissed off at some of the ladies on the 'Knitters with Breast Cancer' board over on Ravelry. They're very wrapped up in themselves and most are at least 15-20 years older than I am and obviously have different views on things. I actually got chastized when I told one of the women who was starting how I felt after the 'steroid crash' from the Decadron and how this go-round, I decided not to take the Decadron for as long. Heck, the prescriptions were given to me on an 'as needed' basis and while there is a schedule, I don't think that I absolutely have to follow it...I mean, even the nurses said I could end some of the pills early if I wanted to! But these ladies are all 'Check with your doctor! Don't do that! Blah blah blah!' which, I'm sorry, I don't have the time or desire to languish in feeling crappy...which is what happened with that crash! I hated it! At least this time, it wasn't so intense. These ladies are also very reliant on their anti-anxiety medications which, thus far, I have refused to take. I have a prescription but I haven't filled it and I don't intend to. I'm really tempted to just leave the group because I'm finding that they're really not terribly helpful to me.

Lots and lots of water...

I had a massage yesterday which felt GREAT! I asked the social worker at the hospital for a recommendation and she gave me the name of a lady in Belmont. What a fantastic massage! She worked out the knots in my neck and shoulders and we chatted and it was all together a lovely experience! I made sure to drink tons of water (almost 2 liters!) and I left feeling much more MYSELF than I had in a while.

Rehearsal went pretty well...still a few slip-ups which I hope I can look at tonight and tomorrow...and the predicted Snowpocalypse ended up being maybe about 2" in Hyde Park and about 1" in Somerville. Hooray?

Of course, today I woke up and my voice wanted me to go back to bed for the rest of the day. I've since had 3 cups of tea and am almost down with yet another liter of water. I'll go home and steam for a bit as well, I think, just to make sure that it can get back to where it needs to be for tomorrow. I've already planned to take half of the day off so if I need to, I can nap after picking up my mom from the airport.

At least, I REALLY hope that my voice is just tired from singing through the opera two nights in a row! Please, pretty please?!?

My hair is still hurting...and I know more is going to fall out and make me upset when I take my shower this evening. I don't know if I should just go to the salon and shave it or just let it go...I still like having what's left of it even though it's not being seen anymore, but will the shaving make it stop hurting?

I also though about getting some press-on nails (albeit some shorter ones) because my nails aren't very happy right now :(. I've been putting nail strengthener on them, but I don't think it's helped all that much.

At least one of the guys at work told me today that I can 'Really pull off the Gypsy Look' (I gave my head a rest and am wearing a fringed scarf). Yay?

Didn't write last night...

...because I came home and went to bed!

I'm still pretty tired, but we have our final dress rehearsal tonight so hopefully I can muster up the energy! I may be marking some as I have a headache from this stupid snowstorm coming in. I am getting a massage today, so I hope that will help (and I will also need to be drinking lots of water to flush all the toxins out!)

Some fun news -- I can curl my wig! With a curling iron! I was really tickled about that last night -- it really looked like my hair when I did that!

I emailed someone about the cat but haven't heard back yet. I know that there are a few at the MSPCA who also looked promising, but I don't know that I can just go into a cat room and sit there with all these cats coming up to me. I'd want to take them all home! Jack was my shadow when I got home -- I really hope that his new presents show up in the mail soon. I'll probably buy him a new catnip toy at the school's Valentine's Day flower sale on Friday before I go pick up my mom.

I'm also thinking about having some caffeinated tea...I don't usually do that, but I do want to have energy for tonight. Maybe I'll have some later in the day.

I'm also hoping that the roads stay clear for this evening -- I may leave work a little early so I can get down to the theatre and hopefully by the time we get out, the snow will have stopped and the roads will be fine. One can hope, right?

Didn'

Real hair vs. Synthetic...

Ok, it's made a HUGE difference in how it actually feels on my head! The synthetic one kind of hurt (I think because of the knots) but the real one feels so much better! I'm still aware of it, of course, but I don't feel like my head is in a vice.

Today wasn't so good -- I felt queasy for much of the day. I tried to eat, but I wasn't terribly successful -- I'm going to try some broth or something tonight.

I may have found a cat I'm interested in:

Mama Soleil

There's just something about her, but I will need to contact the shelter and ask more questions about her age, health, and personality. There are a few cats that seem like they might be a good match with Jack, but a lot of the female cats either wanted to be solo cats or were Alphas on their own.

I don't quite know if I'm ready, but poor Jack was all whining and chatting with me last night and crawling in and out of my lap. I'm really touched at his protectiveness -- when I go to sleep, he curls up in that space behind my knees and 'spoons'.

I guess it was time...

...My hair started coming out in the shower.

I'm not happy about that even though I knew that it was inevitable. I'm feeling very down about myself right now -- my breasts are now a different size (one is a cup bigger than the other), I'm scarred, and I will soon be hairless. It's not a good recipe to make me feel in the least little bit attractive.

But I still had rehearsal today where we ran recits...which was a big help. I am VERY frustrated that my usual strong memorization skills are failing me. I should have this show fully memorized by now but I find I have to review every single night or it won't really stick. I HATE that! I hate that my memory isn't what it should be. I know that there is an actual physiological reason but I still don't want to accept it nor do I have to like it.

I wore the red wig today and got compliments on it, but because my head is so little I had to adjust the size and tie knots...which then dug into my head. I'll just have to stitch it together to keep it smaller, I guess. I may wear the pretty wig tomorrow -- when I came home, I put on a scarf. I don't even want to see my hair falling out. I don't know when or if I'll shave it -- I will probably wait until after the show unless it looks truly horrible. I guess, if worse comes to worse, I can style my good wig, but I'm hoping that somehow I can figure out the other wig. I should go look at it and see about making it smaller.

Jack is still kind of whiny and clingy...I think he's pretty lonely. I looked on Petfinder and found some potentials, but I will probably contact the ladies who run the Karma shelter and mention the kind of cat I'm looking for. I don't know that I'm ready for another just yet, but I think Jack may be ready before I am and that's ok.

So, yeah. So far, I was doing ok...I guess now that things are really starting to show, it's hitting more and more what I'm going through -- and what I will be going through for the next three months. I've gotten many compliments though and I'm trying to hold onto those -- I guess I feel like I'm failing myself but it's not showing on the outside and that's important to me. I refuse to get fatigued and I refuse to succumb to the fatigue. If it means that I go to sleep before midnight, so be it.

I dunno...blech.

I don't know if this mood is just because I'm tired...or that I think my hair is starting to fall out...or that I'm kind of stressed about knowing everything I need to know for the opera this week. I was blanking a bit on recit that I know today and that frustrated me to no end!

I tried styling my wig and I think it may look like crap. I did try searching out a wig head to try to help, but they were sold out at the place I went to and I didn't have time to go anywhere else. I tried at home and put some flowers in it, but I don't know that I'm convinced. The wig is still kind of big, so I may need to see about wearing something underneath or adjusting it a bit more.

But yeah. Kind of in a bad mood. I'm tired of coughing, I want to feel confident about my music, and I want to look nice! I don't really feel any of these so far...although I'm still working on the music as I type this.

I don't really know what to do about the wig.

Much better than last time!

So, today was MUCH better than the Friday after the first treatment! I did not wake up nauseous and I decided not to take any of the other anti-nausea pills besides the Emend -- so far, so good. I'm trying to keep food in my stomach but it's not an easy task. So far, I feel like I've eaten a lot...but maybe I haven't? I dunno. But I didn't want the steroid crash again.

I worked mostly on memorizing Italian recitative and I did all of the mailing that I needed to do for work. I didn't get out of the house yet today, but I'll be going out this evening. Tomorrow I have rehearsal in the afternoon and may try to run some of the errands I wanted to run today (Post Office, etc.). I don't know if I'll go to the yarn store since it's a bit of a schlepp to get to when one has a time limit. I don't need anything, but I did want to get another skein of yarn to make a gift for someone.

I just hope that the feeling pretty good holds and that the Italian stays in my head!

Ok...so far so good...

Having a graham cracker when I woke up at about 7am seemed to help because I wasn't too bad today. I made sure to eat every couple of hours and I did go to the hospital to get supervision for my first Nulasta shot on my own. The nurses were great and really supportive so I feel much better about it for next time.

I then hit Trader Joe's for more snacks and Staples for a notebook and then came home and napped before Beth and Anya came over. Anya was great and I even held her for a little bit so Beth could finish her dinner (fyi, Wok n' Roll delivery is very fast!).

Tomorrow is going to be playing it by ear. I'm hoping that it'll be easier than last time, but I can only wait and see. I have memorization and work to do...as well as some knitting and such. I'm kinda tired, but I think I'll blame some of that on the compazine pill. Jack napped with me earlier.

My sister wants me to get a PET scan to make sure that there's nothing left...I don't know that they'll do that until after all the chemo, but I told her that when she came up in March, she can talk to the oncologist about it.

I guess that's all for now...Jack now has a paw across my hand so I think he wants to get on my lap to snuggle. I bought him a couple of toys today; one that dispenses treats as it gets rolled around on the ground, and another is a big, thick mitt so we can wrestle.

2 down, 6 to go!

I didn't write on Tuesday -- not too much happened. I went to work, my mittens are still lost, and rehearsal went well but I really need to memorize recits. Angeliki came over and spent the night to be my Chemo buddy today.

Today -- We were there by 9am, they took some blood to test, and then we got started. It was kind of slow since I think the nurses were a little understaffed there. I tried studying music for a while and Angeliki talked and decided that we would get lunch and then nap. It took a little longer than it probably should have, but so far so good *knock wood*.

We went to Whole Foods for lunch and I ate a lot! Guess I was hungry even though I had oatmeal and bread before heading out. Note to self: Bring more snacks!

Then we came home and I napped on the sofa (comfy!!) under my snuggie and Jack, and then we went off to rehearsal. It was much better than last time, but I still have to get the last 30 pages down. I'm fairly confident about most of the opera up to that point and we open in a little over a week! Eep! I also found out that the costume company we are renting from is NOT lending us the petticoats. Uhh, say what? You can't use bridal petticoats for this! So I emailed the costumer at Concord Players to see if she had anything we could rent. If not, I'll try Turtle Lane. I checked online, and buying panniers and an 18th Century Petticoat would be more than $300. No thanks. I'm hoping that one of these companies will be able to help out.

No real plans tomorrow or Friday besides sleeping, memorizing, having dinner with Beth and Anya, and eventually doing some envelope stuffing for work.

So, I did find out that the Sunday where I felt all odd and light-headed might not have just been about doing too much on Saturday. It seems that the timeline fits with the steroids from the anti-nausea medications wearing off, so there's a bit of a crash. I will not be driving to rehearsal on Sunday...one of the other cast members will be picking me up, just in case.

So, keep your fingers crossed for tomorrow and Friday and such!!!

A busy day...

So, first up was the 'Look Good, Feel Better' session at the hospital where I got to see Sarah again and meet her mom...and three other pretty incredible ladies. The stylist leading the session was a 2 time breast cancer survivor and was really energetic and fun.

First, we got these makeup bags with all these amazing goodies donated from the various cosmetics companies. In my bag, I got:

-A booklet with some cosmetic tips
-A make-up palette of eyeshadow, lip gloss, and blush from Chanel
-An Estee Lauder pressed powder (from Sarah...she didn't want it)
-MAC Glitzy gloss (traded for some blush)
-Mary Kay Cleansing cream
-A Full Size Eucerin lotion
-Avon Botanisource comforting Cream
-Cover Girl Lash Blast mascara
-Clinique bronzer
-Jergens shimmer lotion
-Rimmel foundation (also from Sarah who had some at home)
-Clinique Eye color pencil
-American Beauty foundation (which is too dark for me...maybe for the stage)
-Bobbie Brown lipstick
-Aveda lipstick
-Physicians Formula concealer
-Wet n' Wild eyeliner
-Unknown eyeliner
-NYC lipliner

I mean, holy cow!!

They then brought out some wigs for us -- these were all donated and were ours to take if we chose. Most of the ladies found one and the stylist stuck a dark auburn one on me and apparently everyone loved it! Who knew? Red hair?!? So now I have a red wig! ;)

We then got to look through some scarves and crocheted hats that were donated -- I took a couple of scarves too that I thought would be cool.

I think I may have left my mittens there though :(. If not there, then they're at the hospital where the ENT is.

Then, I went to work for about an hour before going to the ENT...saw him, he said he thought that the coughing was from the dust and my Reactive Airways Syndrome kicking in. He did order a chest x-ray though and gave me some Advair. I also asked him about the sore throat and he said that I should just take the herbal stuff that I usually do -- the Honey Loquat Syrup isn't mysterious! There are 5 ingredients, all of them natural and all of them safe. He also said, surprisingly, that he saw very little reflux on my cords, which is a good thing! The Prevacid was also a good idea, but instead of taking it first thing, I was to take it an hour before dinner...which means taking it with me now.

After work, I grabbed a few groceries for later this week and then came home. It was supposed to be a gaming night, but a couple people were of dubious healthiness, so I'm Skyping in.

Tomorrow is a 'normal' day before Chemo #2...I got more popsicles, so I think I'm good.

On an unrelated note, apparently I will be doing my first Wagner role(s)!!!