Last Round!

Tomorrow (Friday, March 28th) is my 6^th and final round of chemo. I am still on the Docetaxel which gave me a nasty rash during its first round, which was chemo round 4, but this time Dr. Bob gave me 10 days of steroids to take the day after chemo. The rash stayed away, but my hands were attacked once more to a lesser extent. Again, I had the dark red colour on the flesh between my thumb and finger and it looked and felt burnt. There was also a little bit of it on the sides of my hand, at the base of my thumbs and baby fingers. The symptoms did not last as long and only on those parts of my hands did the skin peel off, unlike the last time where my entire hands peeled.

My hands were attacked in the first week following chemo and during the second week, right after I finished the steroids, my feet began to turn dark red in the instep and all around my feet just above the soles. This happened a little to my feet last round, but this time they got much worse and by Friday I was unable to walk on them, nor could I keep the below the rest of my body or they just throbbed. So I was in bed for about 3 days to give my feet some relief. Like my hands the week before my feet looked and felt like they had been burnt. On Sunday, I was able to sit and walk without too much pain. On Monday, the skin started coming off of one of my heels and it looks like the other may go as well. The peeling itself doesn’t hurt and the skin is super soft underneath, so I actually may end up with decent feet after this. Please note, I do not recommend this method in place of a pedicure!

I saw Dr. Bob yesterday (Wednesday) and he prescribed me 14 days of steroids to follow tomorrow’s round, so hopefully it will prevent my feet from getting as bad. Dr. Bob also remarked that my nails looked good and that it did not look like they were lifting. Oh yeah, did I mention that is another side effect of this chemo drug? There is a chance your fingernails and toenails can fall off. This did happen to a friend of mine, so I have been hoping like crazy that they stay put.

Another interesting side effect of this chemo is that my eyes water constantly, prompting me to explain to people when I see them that I am not crying, my eyes just water that much. It is a real pain in the butt trying to read as your vision gets blurred by all of the tears. The really fun thing that accompanies the teary eyes is the runny nose.  You see when you produce that many tears they all can’t find their way out of your eye so they just run into your sinuses and right out your nose. And I mean without warning! During these days I really do not leave the house. I mean nobody needs to see this. I really do feel sorry for my boyfriend Dave. Prior to this, our relationship was pretty much a regular one, where you shield the other person from all the gross stuff a body produces. Now, poor Dave gets to see it all as I have no way of hiding much these days.

Last week, I experienced 3 or 4 days of bleeding noses that show up with no warning. My first outing after chemo was for lunch and then a trip to Safeway. We are walking in Safeway and I put the Kleenex I carry in my hand to my nose because I thought it was starting to run, but no, I have a nose bleed. It was bad enough that I had to run out of the store, leaving Dave to finish shopping. Out in the car, it finally stopped, but that was the start of days of nose bleeds. It seemed like every time I sat at the table and began eating, my nose would bleed. I had one that really scared me, the blood seemed to just spill out of my nose and I could not stop it for about 5 minutes. When you are bleeding like that, 5 minutes is a really long time. What I read regarding chemo, low platelets, and bleeding noses all said to go to the hospital if your nose continues to bleed for 30 minutes. I can’t imagine having a nose bleed like I had for 30 minutes and still being conscious. Out of all the chemo effects, the nose bleeds have been the scariest for me. They started after the steroids were finished, so I am hoping 4 more days of steroids keeps them away.  Not sure if the 2 are at all related, but I am hoping that somehow they are.

I have found that with this chemo I do not sleep as much or as well as the first 3 rounds of the other chemo. It could be because of the steroids, but even being off of them for a week, I find that I rarely sleep for a long stretch and I wake up several times during the night.  I cannot wait to be able to sleep for a solid stretch again. I figure maybe the end of April the sleeplessness will go away once I am further away from the last treatment.

Even though I don’t really feel I need to sleep, I find that I get tired and winded easily. I was laughing too hard at my dogs being silly the other day and had to sit back and catch my breath. I also find that my leg muscles feel tired if I go up and down the stairs without a sit down in between. I really wonder how long it is going to take me to get back into shape after this.

My sister Mary recently received more bad news. She had noticed that her vision was not quite right; that she was unable to see the left side of people’s faces and the beginnings of words seemed obscured. She went to the hospital where they did a CT scan and found a cluster of small tumours behind her right eye and several others throughout her brain. They gave her steroids which helped right away to shrink the tumours and her sight returned to normal. Mary just finished 10 days of radiation which was taxing for her. Next week they will see if the radiation helped to shrink the tumour by her lung.  We continue to pray and send positive energy to Mary to help her in her battle and I would appreciate if you all could stop and take a moment to send some her way.

Mary has been looking at some alternative medicinal help as we have heard of people getting better using means other than ones prescribed by doctors. My cousin’s wife was suffering from a secondary cancer in her hip and the doctors were not even sure where the primary cancer was. Two years ago she was walking with a cane and two weeks ago she was dancing at a social. She has been using eastern medicine to help her and it certainly has been working.

A few weeks ago, while at CancerCare, I met a lady who started telling me all about hemp oil and how the cannabinoids in marijuana kill cancer cells. Apparently, in Spain they use it right in the chemo treatments. I have been reading all kinds of things on this and have watched the CNN specials on it. It seems like it certainly does help with all kinds of medical ailments, along with cancer, so it is a real shame that the Canadian and US governments continue to criminalize any use of marijuana.

A friend of mine whose father is suffering from lung cancer pointed me in the direction of Donna Roth and the Paw Paw program. I have read her website and ordered and read her book. I have emailed with her and spoke to her to the phone. The program consists of natural supplements and a diet where you eliminate all sugar, dairy, grains, and beans. The diet seems pretty drastic, but I know I have been reading for months, from many different sources that sugar feeds cancer cells. I have been thinking that even though many women survive breast cancer, there have been too many other cancers in my family for me to think that it can’t show up gain somewhere else. Having a better diet can’t possible hurt me and it could very possibly help me. I have read some pretty great testimonials from people who were pretty far gone in their cancer diagnosis that have made a recovery, so I decided to order the program for me and my sister to try out. The program arrived 2 days ago and I am still trying to get into the routine and get away from certain dietary habits I have. Eliminating sugar has not been too bad but giving up dairy is a little more difficult.  I like too many things with dairy in them.  I will just keep working at it.

I should mention for those of you that don’t know, my Hat of the Day project gathered some attention from Breakfast Television and I was interviewed a few weeks ago. Here is the segment of the interview.

Here are another twenty hats from my Hat of the Day project for you non-Facebookers and non-Tweeters.

 I love this neat video by Julie Doiron

Changes

I changed the description of my blog from “A diary of my experience with breast cancer.” to “A diary of my experience with cancer.” It was difficult for me to write my last blog as I had just found out that day that my youngest sister, Mary has an 8 cm tumour on her lung. Since that day, she was given a diagnosis of stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer. This blog in no longer just about my breast cancer experience, but it now encompasses my experience with my family’s cancer diagnoses.

In 2011, my Mother battled breast cancer at the same time her sister was battling stomach cancer and then in 2012, my Mom’s brother passed away a very short time after he was diagnosed with cancer. A few months after that, my Aunt passed.  2012 was a very rough year form my Mom’s family, besides losing 2 members of the immediate family, there were other cancers found as well in the extended family. Those battles still continue.

In September of 2013, I received my cancer diagnosis 2 days after my Mother suffered a stroke. Now, here it is February of 2014 and my baby sister is facing her battle.  They plan on giving her chemotherapy and they want to put in a catheter so she can drain off the fluid build-up in her lung which allows her to breathe easier.

My diagnosis followed by my sister’s has left people in shock. People cannot believe that 2 sisters in their forties can be diagnosed with cancer at the same time.  Prior to 2011, there was really not much cancer to speak of in our family, my aunt who passed from stomach cancer had breast cancer years earlier, but she was treated and cured. My uncle’s wife also had breast cancer. She has since been cured of the cancer, but continues to struggle with lymphedema and other issues as a result of her breast cancer treatment.

This has been a rough week for us, but I found out we are not the only family who has been hit hard. I read in the Brandon newspaper that a mother, who took time off of work to deal with her young son’s leukemia, has now been diagnosed with breast cancer herself.  I cannot believe how evil cancer is; I pray a cure is found very soon.

Both my sister and I have received an outpouring of well wishes, encouragement, and prayers for us. It has been extremely helpful in boosting our hopefulness, especially for my sister who has heard people’s personal stories of people living productive lives with stage 4 lung cancer diagnoses. She is ready to fight and everyone is behind her all the way.

I just completed my 4^th round of chemotherapy the Friday before last and should only have 2 more to go. My treatment regime had me on 3 chemo drugs (Fluorouracil, Epirubicin, and Cyclophosphamide) for the first 3 rounds and 1 chemo drug (Docetaxel) for the last 3 rounds.  The first couple of days after this last treatment were pretty good. I wasn’t wiped out and needing sleep like I had been after the other treatments. Then on Sunday, I started developing an itchy rash on my back which spread up my back and popped up on my sides and stomach the next day. Also on Monday, my fingers and thumbs started to really hurt and the skin on my face began to get dry. I took Benadryl for the rash, which did not help and on Tuesday when I woke up, I had a swollen upper lip and a slightly swollen tongue, so I went into urgent care at CancerCare Manitoba. The oncologist on call said it looked like I had been scratched by a cat, but it was me scratching myself in my sleep. She prescribed me 3 steroid pills to be taken once a day and a steroid lotion to apply to my rash. She also advised me to keep taking the Benadryl.

On Wednesday the rash was still spreading and by Thursday morning it had moved up onto the back of my head, so I called again and they told me to come back. The same oncologist saw me once more and prescribed another 2 more days of steroid pills and then consulted with another oncologist about my case. Both oncologists agreed that I am likely done with the Docetaxel, but my own oncologist would make that call. Later that day, Dr. Bob’s nurse called and confirmed when I would be in for my exam prior to the next chemo cycle and said that it is likely Dr. Bob will switch my chemo med.

Throughout this week, my fingertips and nail beds increasingly become more painful leaving me unable to manipulate small objects; I could no longer open up packages without help and I wake up with stiff hands that resemble claws. It is now Saturday and the pain in my fingers has lessened, which has made typing up this blog much easier. I had started this on the weekend, but had to abandon it until my hands felt better. Even though the pain has lessened in my fingertips, I have noticed my hands have darkened and the piece of skin between my thumb and finger is very dark and the skin is quite sore today.

Yesterday when I woke up, I rubbed my eyes and could not believe how my lids stung. I looked in the mirror and surprised at how dark the skin around my eyes is and how sensitive it is to the touch.  My bald head with the darkness around my eyes really makes me look like a cancer patient now. I have replaced my face lotion with Glaxal Base, which is the best for sensitive skin and I am hoping the skin around my eyes recovers quickly.

Eating has been difficult as well after this treatment. I have lost my sense of taste but I am having a lot of trouble swallowing. Even taking tiny bites and small sips, it is still painful. My mouth is also very sensitive to temperatures; food can be icy cold or too hot too eat. I take so long to eat now that I find that my food ends up being room temperature before I can even get half finished, so the problem kind of solves itself.

I will be really relived if they take me off of Docetaxal and put me on something else. I am scared that the next allergic reaction will be worse than this one and cause my airways to swell up and stop me from breathing. On the other hand, I am also apprehensive about switching the med, because I am worried about a higher recurrence of cancer. This was the recommended treatment for me with all of my factors. I suppose I will find all of this out when I go in to see Dr. Bob next week. I am not sure if a change in my med will require more cycles of chemotherapy or not. I was supposed to have my last cycle on March 28^th and then 6 weeks after that I start radiation treatments.  I met with the radiation oncologist two weeks ago and I hope to write about it in my next blog.

After trying my new wig on a few times I have decided to take it back. I find it to be kind of irritating and hot to wear. I find that I am more comfortable with my hats or with my head not covered. I find that I carry a couple of different weights of hats with me when I go places, so that my head is neither too warm nor too cold. 

And here again for all you non-facebookers are another ten hats from my Hat of the Day project:

1/21/14

Today's Hat of the Day arrived in the mail this afternoon from Jona along with 2 other hats that will appear later. This hat was a little small on me, so I altered it by pulling the brim down. My apologies to the designer, but the Jacqueline Original from Toronto looks smart with the brim up or down. Thank you Jona for the beautiful hat!!!!

1/22/14

Today's Hat of the Day is a scarf I picked up from Target on Monday. I thought it was a little on the gaudy side, but something about the colours and the pattern struck a chord with me. I wore it around the house all day and I liked it so much I didn't want to take it off, so I figured I would dress myself up to match.

1/23/14

Today's Hat of the Day was my favourite hat to wear golfing. These days it means a little more to me. It has been at least 8 years since I spotted this breast cancer awareness hat in an expired Avon book and called up my Avon Lady, Keri to try and find me one. She told me they were tough to come by, but she managed to locate one for me. Thanks Keri!

1/24/14

How to put a flower in your hair when you don't have any.

Today's Hat of the Day is one I received from CancerCare Manitoba's Guardian Angel Caring Room. They had dozens of these hats in many colour combinations. I receive compliments from strangers whenever I wear it.

1/25/14

Today's Hat of the Day arrived on Friday from Quebec. It was accompanied by a note that said it was made with love & healing in every stitch. Thank you Margaret for the beautiful toque. It is keeping me company along with my little old man Finnegan while I recover in bed after yesterday's chemo.

1/26/14

Today's Hat of the Day is another purchased from an estate sale years ago. the hat's label says it is an A. Jolann Creation. I am also wearing a red velvet coat that I bought at a thrift store a couple of years ago.

1/27/14

Today's hat of the day is a CHICKEN! 2 of these arrived in the mail last Friday and I knew they were sent by my good friend and partner in crime, April. We will be wearing these the next time we go geocaching together. I cannot wait!!!

1/28/14

Today's Hat of the Day is too small for my head, but too wonderful not to show you. This complete feather hat was made by the Hubbard Felt Co. I did a little research into the company and according to a copy of the July 10, 1946 Montreal Gazette, Hubbard Felt Company Limited are "...manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors since 1926 of hats wool hoods and findings." I also found in an archive that Hubbard Felt changed their name to Hubbard Dyers in April 1965 and then Hubbard dyers was acquired by Dominion Textiles in 1972.

1/29/14

Today's Hat of the Day is another one sent to me by Jona. There are a couple of stamps in the hat, but they are too faded to read. I absolutely love the colour and the and style of this hat! Thanks again Jona!

1/30/14

Today's Hat of the Day is my Betty Boop bandana. I actually bought this bandana in 2004 to tie on my suitcase handle so I would be able to spot it when it came down the luggage carousel. I started wearing it on my head a couple of weeks ago. Pretty comfy. I think Lori might be right about her bandana collection!

Mrs. Big Wig

Tomorrow is round 3 of chemo and I am hoping it does not go as badly as round 2. The treatment itself was fine, though the nurses were very busy. I am not sure if they were overbooked, but they were scurrying about trying to get everyone looked after. It was not the more relaxed atmosphere that I had the first time. One of my chemmates from the first round was there, but not anyone else I recognized, including that teenage boy I was telling you about. I often wonder how he is doing.

Even though the nurses were very busy, they were still super nice. I had two other nurses looking after me this time. I told one of them about how my sister had surprised me by shaving her head and donating her hair and she told me that she was going to do that very soon and that she has donated a couple of times before.  It made me think about how hard it must be too work in oncology, watching people they have gotten to know through so many treatments wither and pass away.  I know many people get through treatment and survive cancer, but even seeing one patient not make it through has to be really tough. I really don’t know how they do it.

When I ask to take pictures, I tell the nurses they are for a blog I am writing about my breast cancer experience. They always say go right ahead, but ask that I don’t take their picture. It is not because they want their privacy; it is because they think they are not photogenic. I used to not like having my picture taken either, but I have found if you smile big and mean it, the picture can’t help but to turn out. That being said, I didn’t get any pictures of the nurses, but one of them let me take a picture of her buttons.

Yeah! F U cancer!

I also took a picture of the syringes of epirubicin as it was being injected into my IV.

I was told that patients call it the red devil and I have changed that to red devil juice, because it reminds me of a scene in the movie Little Nicky, where Nicky tricks his brother Cassius into getting trapped in a bottle:

Nicky: Sorry, Cassius... it must be the super devil juice Dad gave me!

Cassius: SUPER DEVIL JUICE?! Gimmie that, little girl!

Nicky: Don't drink out of it, please!

(Cassius drinks out of of the flask and gets sucked inside)

Cassius: (from inside the flask) Damn you, Nicky! There ain't no super devil juice in here!

I love that movie! It is hilarious. If you have never saw Little Nicky, it is about a devil that comes to Earth to convince his brothers to return to Hell. Here is a scene, where Nicky has to learn how to eat (apparently something they don’t do in Hell):

I also took a picture of one of my other meds and asked why it had a brown bag on it. The nurse told me that it is affected by the light and that the bag is sunglasses for the drug.

After I was all finished my treatment, I got up to put my coat on and felt light-headed like I did before. Last time I thought it was because I was getting a head cold, now I know it was from the chemo. After this treatment I did not feel as well as the first time and went home and gathered my stuff together for my stay in my bedroom. I relaxed on Friday evening still feeling light-headed and felt the same the next day. Late Saturday afternoon I got a really bad headache, The only time it didn’t bother me was when I was sleeping. The Extra Strength Tylenol I took had no effect on the pain. On Sunday, I called the oncologist on call to find out what I could do to stop the pain. She told me that the headache was likely caused by the combination of the steroid and Kytril, the anti-nausea medication. She told me that I could take Advil since the Tylenol was of no help. Advil was on the list of things I shouldn’t take because of the risk of bleeding. I am guessing it was ok at that point as my pIatelets were back up and shouldn’t decrease until week after chemo. She also told me to call Dr. Bob if I still had a headache the next day.

Monday arrived and the headache was still with me. The Advil helped for maybe about an hour and then wore off. I could only take one every four hours and then not exceed three Advil in a 24 hour period. I called Dr. Bob’s office and spoke to Birdie, the nurse that works with Dr. Bob. She told me the same thing as the oncologist; the headache was likely from the steroid and Kytril and that she would talk to Dr. Bob and see if he would write me a prescription for Tylenol 3. She also said that I only have to take the steroid for one more round, because they won't be using it in my last 3 chemo cycles. Dr. Bob’s receptionist called me back later to say that Dr. Bob did not want to prescribe the Tylenol 3, to continue taking the Advil, and to call back tomorrow if I still had a headache. Tuesday arrived and the headache finally subsided. For the next couple of days I felt like the headache was right there; like it could come back at any moment.

If you recall, after the first round of chemo, I was feeling good and simply forgot to take the Kytril every 12 hours like I was supposed to, so this may be why I did not have a massive headache the first time. I had a blood test earlier this week and spoke to a nurse about possibly delaying the Kytril like I did the first time and she told me that I needed to take it every 12 hours as prescribed. I didn’t really feel nausea the after the first round when I missed taking the Kytril on time, it was more like hunger times ten with a bunch of anxiety mixed in. At this point, I am not sure what would be worse, the nausea or a splitting headache for 3 days. I think I will ask again tomorrow about delaying the Kytril. I do not want that headache again. I really empathize with you migraine sufferers. That headache was brutal.

On Monday, after my blood test, I popped into the Guardian Angel Caring Room to see what they had for head coverings.

They have lots!

I met this really nice lady who convinced me to try on a few wigs. There were a couple of reddish coloured wigs that looked okay, but then she pulled a brand new brunette wig out of a box and tried it on me. That one looked about the best, so she insisted I take it with me. She also gave me a toque, two beanies, a scarf, and a hat. When I am finished using them, I bring them back to be loaned out again.

I have tried the wig on a few times this week, but the bangs are out of control, so I sent a picture to Kendall to see if she can fix it up for me. She said she could. Here is me with the wig (unstyled, right out of the box)

I am still not sure how I feel about this wig as it is not anywhere near as comfortable as wearing a scarf or hat. I just may end up taking it back and not wearing it at all.

Here again for all of you non-facebookers are another ten hats from my Hat of the Day series:

01/11/14

Today's hat of the day is the one that started my love of hats. I bought this in the mid 80s and wore this hat out quite a bit. Royal blue is my most favourite colour to wear. 

01/12/14

Life's tough. Get a helmet.

Today's hat of the day is my derby helmet. I tried out for the league, but didn't quite make it. After badly spraining my ankle and then spraining it again 6 months later, I had to wonder if this old body could take any more abuse. Well apparently it can. I will be back better than ever and I just may put those skates on again!

01/13/14

Today's hat of the day is my most worn hat (even before I lost my hair). It is a simple lightweight pink linen cap I purchased from Zellers a couple of years ago. 

01/14/14

Today's hat of the day is courtesy of Patty Leonard. Not only did she send me a lovely red hat, but she also sent along a red feather boa to complete the picture! Thanks Patty!

01/15/14

Today's hat of the day is another oldie from the 40s or 50s that was kicking around my mom's house. I believe this one used to have a matching cape at one point.

Now who doesn't love a big pink bow?

01/16/14

Today's hat of the day is for Carreen who requested I wear I newspaper hat. This hat was created today and is made of newspaper, tape, tissue paper, and streamers. I had fun making it, well except for the part where I had to try to shape the newspaper to my head with tape while it was on my head. Do you know what it was like trying to clean the newsprint off my head after?

01/17/14

Today's hat of the day is one of origins unknown, I have hat it in a hat box for years with some others hats. I cannot recall where I got it from. It is made in the USA by Lancaster and it is 100% wool. I have paired this hat off with a vintage polka dot rain coat made in England by Horrockses Fashions.

01/18/14

Today's Hat of the Day is a black lambswool cap that I am pretty sure I picked up at a second hand shop. This hat was made by Maria's Hat Design in Winnipeg. The coat I am wearing is also from a second hand shop and made in Winnipeg by Kolchin & Boxer.

01/19/14

Aaarr Matey!!! 

Me buckos have be askin' fer me to wear a scurvy pirate hat fer Hat 'o th' Day. Here she be!

01/20/14

Today's Hat of the Day is one of my new acquisitions from CancerCare Manitoba’s Guardian Angel Caring Room. They loan wigs and head coverings free of charge. I am wearing a simple pink beanie dressed up with a sheer pastel scarf.

Last week my cousin Brenda made this wonderful video for me. I bawled my head off when I watched it the first 17 times.

Taking It All Off

Sorry for the long delay in posting. I started writing this blog while I was in round 2 of chemo and when I got home I went to bed for a few days, so it has taken me a bit to get back to this.

I decided to shave my head on New Year’s Eve after literally pulling my hair out for 2 days. It started to come out 4 days earlier but I was trying to be careful about knocking the hair off of my head. I knew it was going to go, but I needed to really adjust to the idea of losing my hair. After 2 days, it really started to fall out so I thought I would help it along. My reasoning was that if I pulled it out and made it look bad, I would look forward to getting my head shaved. Once I started pulling it out, it became an obsession. Every time I went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror, I pulled hair out until I had a pile in the sink.

I had messaged my daughter-in-law Kendall the night my hair started to fall out to warn her that I would need her to shave my head soon and continued to let her know as I was getting closer to being ready. Once I got to the point where my hair was so thin my scalp was plainly visible, I let Kendall know I was ready. 

I made arrangements to come over in the afternoon of the 31st. When I got there Kendall let me know that my sister Georgette was on her way to lend moral support and that we should wait for her. Georgette arrived with her husband, Inderaj, and my nephew Jyoti in tow.

We had a few cameras available, so we took many pictures.

I am seated and we are about to begin. You can see how thin my hair is.

Kendall starts the clippers and begins to shave.

 Earlier I asked her to take it down to a length where we could shave a message into my hair before we took it right off.

The first letter... It's an F!

Yes, that is what you think it is.

FUCK CANCER

My hair's last statement before it leaves until summer.

There we go! Right down to the wood now.

You can very visible see the bump on my forehead.  I like to think I am really a unicorn and am in metamorphosis. Really it is called an osteoma and it is a bone growth much like getting a mole on your skin. I was supposed to have it chiseled off, but they never got back to me with a surgery date. This bump used to bother me now it seems pretty insignificant.

All done!

My head feels really strange. I can't stop touching it.

This is me with my new hair!

No wait...

It's Georgette sharing her hair with me. What a good sister!

I was still sitting in the chair when Georgette tells me to move because she wants to get her hair cut. I get up and start playing with my phone because I wanted to take a picture of my new chrome dome. I was oblivious to what was happening. This is actually really common these days; I know what "chemo brain" is now. For those of you that have never heard the term, it is what happens to you after you have chemo. I find now that things I used to do automatically I have to think about. If I don't than odd things occur, like putting sour cream in the entire container of borscht that happened to be on the same counter as the bowl you wanted to put it in or walking into rooms to see cupboard doors or drawers left open because you forgot to close them. The other thing I have noticed is that I constantly am dropping things all of the time. I recently knocked the box of my brand new Christmas gift of noodle bowls off the counter and broke one of them. I didn't even get them out of the box yet.

Back to the story, I heard Kendall say, "She is not even paying attention.” I turned to see Kendall cutting off Georgette’s ponytail. 

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!?!” Georgette responded that she was donating her ponytail. Ok, but now I am thinking, how in the heck is Kendall going to fix Georgette’s hair? It was cut so close to her head.

The next thing I know Kendall is running the shears up Georgette’s head. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!?!!!” I am absolutely beside myself. I realize that Georgette is shaving her head for me. I start bawling. I am completely overwhelmed. 

I cannot believe she did this for me. I am crying now as I write this. I am still overwhelmed by what she did. This is actually why I stopped writing this blog in chemotherapy. I didn’t want be bawling in front of my chemmates (rhymes with teammates, I just invented this word, so I have something to call my chemo roommates or anyone else who is going through chemo with me).

After Georgette’s head is shaved, I cannot get over how good she looks bald and I am not sure how many times I told her that. She is absolutely beautiful, both inside and out!

Suddenly having no hair is kind of strange, you certainly do scare yourself when you walk past a mirror; it just looks so different. A few days after, Georgette posted this status on Facebook:

Things I have learned as a bald person. 1. Place your toque carefully because it's very hard to adjust after (hair stubble is just like Velcro). 2. Of your hands are cold just place them onto your head for instant warmth. 3. If you move too fast your head will feel the breeze. 4. When buying a toque with a lining make sure the layers are sewn together, see 1. 5. Doing your hair involves checking for lint. LMAO!!

I do wear a hat around the house most of the time as my head is usually cold. I have also noticed that the stubble I have is falling out as well and I have stopped shaving my legs as nothing is really growing any more. I must say, without hair your shower time is shortened considerably and so is your getting ready time. I think I spend more time trying to figure out what hat to wear. Can I get away with just one hat or do I need an indoor hat and an outdoor hat? 

Immediately after shaving my head, I started thinking about what hats I would wear and all this thinking about hats inspired me to create “Hat of the Day”. Since January 1^st, I have been posting a picture on Facebook of myself wearing a different hat every day. I have been having a lot of fun doing this and I am surprised at the response to it. People have been posting the most wonderful things and I have had hats sent to me. For you non-facebookers, here are the first ten pictures and captions from Hat of the Day.

01/01/14

Happy New Year Everyone! 

I have discovered that I own many hats so I thought I would share them with you. Today's hat of the day is from the year 2000. It was a have to have purchase. I wore this to the 2000 Grey Cup in Calgary. No, the Bombers weren't there but my good friends were.

01/02/14

Today's hat is one I believe I picked up from a thrift store some years ago. The label says it was made by the Canadian Hat Mfg. Corp. It is dyed muskrat and wool. It was rather snug before and now that I have no hair it fits perfectly.

01/03/14

Aren't I adorable?

Today's Hat or the Day or as my friend Kelly likes to call it HOTD, (I like that! It is like "HOT Damn! That's a fine looking hat!") is my winter go-to hat. I bought this for 10 dollars at Canadian Tire a couple of months ago. I was so happy to see it in an adult size.

 01/04/14

Today's Hat of Day is a wonderful toque knitted for me by my good friend April. I wear this hat around the house and to bed to keep my bald head warm. I am accompanied by my furry companion Xena. Xena is a rescue dog and a great cuddler. It may be hard to see in this photo but we are snuggled in a blankie knitted by another good friend Bess.

01/05/14

Today's hat of the day is one I bought so many years ago I don't even remember a thing about the purchase or where I have worn it. One thing I can tell you is that every time I put it on I start singing Karma Chameleon by Culture Club. This hat does not actually have a dog on the brim, that's just Juno wondering why Boy George is in her house.

01/06/14

Today's hat of the day I bought around 1995. I used to wear big bangly silver earrings when I wore this hat out. Today I have opted for a tougher look. 

I want to thank all of the wonderful people who have participated in the Breast Cancer Pledge Ride. I have benefited directly from their support of Manitoba CancerCare projects. 

Keep ridin'!

01/07/14

Today's hat of the day is from the 1940s. It is one of a few I bought from an estate sale. I have kept it nestled in a box for many years and today is actually the first time I have worn it.

 01/08/14

heer up! The cold snap is almost over!

Today's hat of the day are two hats. One is a bomber hat that I likely picked up at Zellers and underneath that is a balaclava, a must have for any Manitoban wanting to spend time outside in the winter. My balaclava is a Dakota Dri Release Pro Multitasker balaclava. It keeps your face warm and dry while you are out searching for that elusive geocache. This balaclava was a gift from my sons, Kari and Kalyn. Thanks boys!

01/09/14

Ivy Arlene was born in the cabbage patch on January 9th.

Today's hat of the day was a gift from Pamela and was hand made by Michelle Mayo Hewitt. You ladies are so wonderful and thoughtful, the hat is beautiful and I cannot thank you enough!!!

01/10/14

Today's hat of the day was a Christmas gift I received several years ago from my dear cousin Desiree. This lovely hat comes with a matching set of gloves to keep you toasty warm. Thanks Des!