If bald is beautiful, then I'm frickin' gorgeous.

Doesn't matter if it's an inch, or a mile. 

I love this quote for a lot of reasons... only one of which is Mr. Diesel's awesome haircut. But today I'm going to go on record as saying an inch can make a big difference. Well, a quarter-inch, anyway. 

You'll remember that this is me on Day 17 of Chemo #1. Freshly shaved. 

Me and Andi @ Joe's

 Now this is me on Day 8 of Chemo # 2. Even more freshly shaved.

Last night I dreamed I was tire, this morning I woke up bald!

I was looking mighty patchy after last week's second round of chemo. So, tired of cleaning up my little clippings of hair that seemed to be shedding on everything, Rob brought out the clippers and the disposable razor. They say the couple who plays together, stays together. Well I'm not sure what they say about the couple who shaves each other, but I'm pretty sure he's stuck with me. 

And bonus! Shortly after the great bic off of 2012, I received this beautiful scarf from cousin Kim in New York. 

It goes perfectly with the Breast Cancer Crusade Pin I ordered from her Avon store.

Happy Friday everyone!

How cool is this?

Seriously, y'all, how cool is this picture?

This weekend we celebrated cousin Sarah's 18th birthday and her graduation from Chantilly High School. Congrats Sarah!

In true Suraci-Warrick-Sperry-Kuzniar-Hummer-<insert your surname here>-fashion... there was a ton of food, lots of guitars, and even more... shoes?

I did a little Spring cleaning of my shoe closet before coming out to Chris and Cecilia's for the festivities.

The shoe fairy arrived.... and chaos ensued.

And, of course, Rob got in on the act. They look good, no?

So after the shoe frenzy, out came the guitars.

Brother Dave

Common-law Uncle Clint

A mighty fine lookin' guitar circle

Then Monica and Clint stopped by for a visit on their way back down to Myrtle. And our driveway won the A-hole Award for the weekend.

Two bimmers, two benz, and a caddy... there goes the neighborhood.

Chemo side-effects were low and spirits were high. All-in-all, I'd call this weekend a success!

That's right... I said "Jersey Shore-esque"

This has been a crazy busy week and I have so much to update you on (i.e. I've been a really lazy blogger). So I'm playing major catch up this morning. 

First, I had my pre-chemo labs and check up with the medical oncologist on Wednesday. Pre-chemo labs are just a quick blood draw to make sure all of my cell counts are braced for the onslaught they (and I) will be receiving the next day. Hemoglobin was a little low, but overall I was good to go. And the check up with Dr. Favret was to talk about symptoms, side effects, and generally how well I'm tolerating treatment. Tolerating being a very fair word. My chief complaints were...

1. Massive amounts of adult acne 
• Likely a side effect of the steroids, which are used to amp up the effects of the anti-nausea drugs... which seem to be working pretty well because, so far, I've had zero vomiting, almost no nausea, and only the very occasional loss of appetite. 
2. Ocular, light-sensitive headaches
• This popped up on day 10 of treatment cycle 1... and reared its ugly head again on days 11, 13, 14, 17, 18, and 20. Pain relievers (both prescribed and OTC) don't really seem to do much for them. Neither does sleep, though I am able to get back to sleep / fall sleep through them. Which is really nice because when you're asleep, it's hard to notice that something hurts. 

For the acne, I was prescribed Minocycline (that's right, another drug for the side-effect, of the side-effects, of the actual drugs.) And for the headaches, I've got Imitrex... which is used to treat migraines... which I've never had before and have never been formally tested for and diagnosed with. So anyone with any experience in this arena, please feel free to chime in.

Another symptom I forgot to mention to the doc (and I'm blaming that on the actual symptom itself) is chemo brain. This can present in a lot of different ways (or not at all) in a lot of different people receiving chemo therapy. What I (and Rob, and Mom) have noticed is that my word-retrieval and pronunciation/articulation pretty much goes to crap for no obvious reason... other than the chemo. Mostly this means I'll know exactly what I'm trying to say, but will be hopelessly groping for a simple word like cortisone or full-sized mattress. Other times, I may smoosh two words together... or suddenly and quite randomly try out a new accent on a word. Like when purse becomes powrse... or something equally Jersey Shore-esque.

So now I've got auto-fill / auto-correct on which to blame any unfortunate (and often hilarious) electronic turn of phrase... and chemo brain to which I can attribute everything else!

Having fun yet? Good, 'cause now we're moving on to Chemo Day 2 and Free Stuff!

Chemo Day two: I am Titanium!

Shoot me down, but I won't fall!

Thursday began treatment cycle #2, and you know what that means... I'm 1/3 the way there! Can I get a HELL YEAH?!?

It was a good day. All of my bags went faster (six bags in five hours). In large part to Mom's prayer shawls (more on that in a bit), I met and chatted with some other really lovely ladies also receiving treatment. And Harlene was my nurse.

I wear sparkly clothes for her, she wears pink leopard-print socks for me. It's a fair trade.

Then Mom came for the changing of the guards (i.e. to bring lunch and give Rob a break.)

Prayer shawls, you say?

Mom has been contributing her time and her talents with a group of women at her church who hand-knit prayer shawls for distribution throughout the community.

Each shawl comes with this really nice note.

So I got to feel like the Summer Time Santa (and not the creepy one who ran an ice cream truck in our neighborhood back in Fredericksburg... but more on that later... actually, probably not) walking in with a huge bag of shawls yesterday. Which also double quite nicely as lap blankies.

It's important to note here that the green one pictured above is not Mom's handi-work. When she handed me the bag o' shawls, she said she wasn't going to tell me which ones were hers because she didn't want me to be biased. So I immediately picked out the three (out of a dozen or so) that were unmistakeably (to my trained eye) her work, and made sure they went home with my three new chemo buddies. There's no fooling me, Mom, I've seen/worn/used your work for over 30 years now!

And now... Free Stuff!

UPDATE! If you care to join me on Chemo Days 4 (Aug 2) or 5 (Aug 23) leave a comment HERE or HERE.

Free Stuff: Part One

In her Perks of Cancer blog, blogger Flo identifies Perk #79 as Free Stuff! And she's right. So here are a few cool things I've come across so far.

#1 - Treasured Chest

The Young Survival Coalition and the Keep A Breast Foundation have partnered to form the Treasured Chest Program. It's a awareness-consciousness raising / art therapy initiative for young women in the process of breast surgery. By going to the site and filling out a very simple application, they'll send you a casting kit so that you can make a cast of your changing / changed bust line. Then paint / decorate as you like. Here's the kit I just received from them...

More updates on that when I actually get around to doing the casting!

#2 - Cleaning for a Reason

This is a nation-wide program based out of Texas that partners with local residential cleaning services throughout the country to offer free cleaning services to women receiving chemo therapy. They'll provide one free house cleaning each month for four consecutive months. And my Woodbridge Merry Maids will be here is about 20 minutes, so I guess I'd better wrap this up fast!

#3 - Look Good Feel Better

The American Cancer Society has partnered with the Personal Care Products Council Foundation to offer women receiving chemo therapy a two hour workshop on how to address your changing beauty needs. Everything thing from skin care, to make up application, to wig fitting and maintenance, to how to wear scarves / turbans / head-wraps. And! There's a goodie bag!

Chanel, Mary Kay, Clinique... you name, it's all in your free goodie bag! (Everything except the votive holder, that was a gift from Aunt Monica.)

More fun with wigs!

This is Sonia Agosta, one of the beauty professionals who volunteers her time with the LGFB program, and our instructor for the evening.

Well, that's all I've got for you for now. Have a great weekend!

Snooze button

Fledgling blogger that I am, I've spent a little time checking out my peers in the blogosphere. One of my absolute favs - long before this pesky little cancer thing cropped up - is The Bloggess. She's completely inappopriate and totally hilarious. And she drinks wine slushies. My kind of girl.

Another is Flo from Newfoundland who is a year (almost to the day) ahead of me in her breast cancer adventure. That's pretty much where our likenesses end. But! She's issued herself a challenge (you know, cause beating cancer wasn't enough on her plate) To Find 100 Perks Of Having Cancer. Flo started her blog eight months ago and is already up to perk #96. Not bad for someone with chemo brain.

So I was thinking of Flo and her 100 perks this morning when my alarm when off at it's usual time... and realized I had at least another 30 minutes of zzz's to be catching.

You see, that alarm was set for someone with a rigorous morning of hair care ahead of her. Not for someone sporting my sassy new 'do. So, 30 minutes later, I laughed at myself just a little as I applied volumizing shampoo and conditioner to my fuzzy head. Then towel dried and went on my way. This is truly wash'n'wear hair!

And for anyone who's curious...

My hair had started coming out on its own last Thursday (day 15 of chemo cycle #1). Nothing dramatic, just shedding a bit more than usual. So up it a ponytail (to keep the shedding contained) it went, and off to work I went.

Same for day 16, though I took extra precautions and opted for a bun.

But by Saturday (day 17), the drain in my shower was filling up much more quickly and the typical collection of hair was starting to resemble a small, drowned rodent. My hair was making a break for it. So for fear of not having anything left to shave by the time we reached my salon, I skipped even the towel-drying and wrapped everything up in a scarf around my head. Off we went, and then off it went.

I'd read that by getting rid of the weight of your hair, it can help slow down the releasing process. You know, what with gravity and all. And, so far, that seems to be true. But Rob has promised to bic it for me if I start to resemble the dog from Steel Magnolias.

He's a good man. 'Spose I'll keep 'em.



A hair affair

I can't possibly THANK YOU enough, everyone who joined us (in person and in spirit) for the big reveal today. For those in the later category, here's what you missed...

The "before"...

... and "after"!

Post-shave celebration at Joe's

Watcha think? Click HERE for more photos of today's celebration.

I hope you all had as much fun today as I did!

Love,

Kiki

The mane event!

You know when you're sure you've chosen the right partner in life? When that person spends two hours with you shopping for hair.

You've read that right. Shopping. For. Hair.

See, I was initially very opposed to the idea of a cranial prosthesis. Thinking they all look fake, you can spot them from a mile away, and you're really not fooling anyone. But in the interest of being well informed I decided to check them out... and was pleasantly surprised.

First I tried a natural piece. Not bad, right? There's a reason it looks so natural. Feels natural, too... because it's real, human hair. That's right, this hair used to be on someone else's head. Kinda creeped me out.

Then I channeled my inner Kardashian.

And even Rob got in on the act.

Eventually, we went with this cute little number.

And this one (but in the same shade as the one in the photo above.)

So waddya think? May not wear them everyday, but they're a fun addition to my accessory collection. And you have can never have too many accessories!

Mmm Mmm Good!

You may remember that recently I received a copy of the Betty Crocker Living With Cancer Cookbook from Alyssa and Chris. And if you don't remember, seriously, you should look in to that 'cause it was just last week. Anyway, I dove right into it this weekend. Here are the results...

First I made the Blueberry Bake. You're probably thinking "Those are some mighty strange looking blueberries." That's 'cause they're strawberries. And they're delicious!

Then I made Macaroni Pasta "Soup". I'm not exactly sure which part is the "soup", 'cause this is basically mac'n'cheese that's light on the cheese and heavy on the milk. I haven't tried it yet, but I have several portions in the fridge, so hopefully it's tasty.

Next I tried my hand at the Zesty Autumn Stew. Despite my defying the seasonality of this dish, it was quite good. I swapped out the cajun seasoning the recipe called for and used a mesquite bourbon packet I had on hand. Zesty for sure!

And the Broccoli Bacon Salad was a cool compliment to the zesty stew. Plus, it's made with bacon, and in my book bacon = awesome.

No complaints from Mom or Rob (my trusting culinary guinea pigs), so I'd say the menu was a success.

What did YOU do this weekend? Have a great week!

You're invited!

Join us for lunch!

Bring a hat, scarf, bandana, or do-rag

Saturday June 16th 2012

2:00pm

Joe's Crab Shack Fredericksburg

I've decided I'm not one much for sitting around and letting this diagnosis drive its own bus. Sure, I could wait and let the chemo take it course. Go bald gracefully. 

But where's the fun in that? 

So like a bad bridesmaid dress, it's all coming off! Next Saturday, to be precise. And since, 1) any excuse for a party is a good one in my book, and 2) I'm going to need lots of help laughing at myself and my bald head, you're all invited to join Rob and I for a little post-head shaving lunch. 

Honestly, how many opportunities do you get like this in your lifetime? You're welcome!

Playing catch up

This isn't a real post. It's more of a house-keeping-kind-of-post and is mostly about things I've been meaning to share and thank you's I've been meaning to give, but haven't.

First on my list of thank you's is to Rob for these beautiful flowers he brought home last weekend...

Yup...he's a keeper

And to Alyssa and Chris for my latest Betty Crocker edition in honor of Chemo Round 2 coming up on the 21st...

You may remember the Saint Agatha they sent me for Round 1. It's kinda like Hanukkah or the Twelve Days of Christmas...but different. 

And to Dave for this lovely orchid plant...

Its instructions say it survives on just 3 ice cubes a week. Kinda like those girls on America's Next Top Model.

So THANK YOU everyone. This doesn't even come close to the appropriate gratitude your thoughtfulness deserves, but it is on my to-do list. And thank you for all the continued comments, texts, emails, and Facebook messages. They are all so, so greatly appreciated... and I will reply to them all... eventually. 

And speaking of Facebook, in an effort to make this blog easier to follow I've added a couple features.

• If you're a Google+ user, you can click the Join This Site button
• Or you can provide your email address in the box that says FOLLOW BY EMAIL
• Or you can follow The big "C" can suck it on Facebook

I'm still pretty new to these features, so check 'em out and let me know what you think.

Oh! And last but not least for this wrap-up, I was very productive last weekend in getting both of the dogs groomed. And by "getting them groomed" I mean, wrangling them in to the car long enough to drive them to the groomers. And home.

That's our old man, Charlie. He's a pound puppy of undetermined age who gains two years for every one that we take him to the vet. This year we think he's about 10... or 70. It's really hard to tell.

I dare you to have a bad day with Moxie around. It's scientifically impossible.

Have a great weekend!

It's not the heat, it's the humidity!

I didn't write a post yesterday, but if I had it would have gone a little something like this.

Did anybody get the license plate of that bus? 'Cause I'm pretty sure it just ran me over. Also, chemo...sucks.

Not so great, right? And that's why I didn't write anything yesterday. But I'm feeling much better (and much funnier) today. So here you go...

Before round one of chemo last week, I went on to the ACS website and downloaded their handy-dandy symptom tracker. It helps you keep track of all kinds of things like your daily temperature, how tired you are, hungry, nauseous, etc. All the things your doc is going to want to know in between treatments. So far it's been pretty useful, and I only have two complaints with it:

1. The front page includes a disclaimer that basically says you may have some of these, all of these, none of these, or things that aren't even on this sheet because we've never heard of them.
2. There's no column for feel like I've been hit by a frickin' bus. So I had to make my own. 

Remember on Friday when I was all "Haha, look at me! I can still eat solid foods and I haven't puked yet?" Yea...about that.

The good news is, solid foods are still going down and staying down. (Yay!) They just taste a little funny. You know that taste (feeling?) you get when you've burned the inside of your mouth on a too-hot beverage? And for days everything else you eat tastes just a little off?  It's just like that.

Also, perhaps my overconfidence in a full days work on Monday was a bit foolish. 'Cause I pretty much fell asleep at 7 that evening and spent the following 24 hours on the couch/in bed. I asked Rob what was the best way to call into work feeling like a bag of ass, and he suggested I just tell them I was not feeling well. Ever the tactful one.

The funny thing is, most side effects come from the antimedics (the drugs they give you to protect you from the chemo)... and not the actual chemo itself.

For example, on Friday we had to make a quick trip back to the infusion center for an injection of Lupron and Neulasta. Lupron medically puts you into temporary menopause in order to protect your ovaries from chemo. So in addition to breast cancer, I get to look forward to menopause at 31. And Neulasta helps your bone marrow produce more white blood cells, as those become quite the commodity during chemo. Unfortunately, your bone marrow is all like but I don't wanna make more blood cells and just raises hell, so now your bones hurt. And then you take Vicodin. And a nap.

Seriously, though, that's not the worst of it. You wanna hear what's worse? Are you sure? Here you go...

Adult Acne

I'm so not kidding, y'all. The steroids cause such ridiculous acne, I'm thinking of moonlighting in a Proactive commercial. Achey-bone, pimple-faced, menopause is so not frickin' cute. It's like being some kind of effed up Benjamin Button over here.

But speaking of Benjamin Button! Hat Party next weekend (Saturday the 16th). Mark you calendar. Invite to follow!

Chemo Day One: Hit me with your best shot!

Well Chemo Day One is done, and I'm happy to report that it was incredibly uneventful. There are many things I can attribute its uneventfulness to, but here are just a few:

First, my Patron Saint of Breast Cancer sent by Alyssa and Chris. I'm very glad to find it wasn't anything bitey, pokey, or barrettes. Thanks you two!

Second, my faithful sidekick. Though the accommodations for supporters are less than ... accommodating ... he toughed it out the entire time. But more on that later.

And third, my sparkly chemo shoes!

 So here's the low down on this and my five remaining treatments. I pre-dose at home the one day prior, day during, and one day after chemo with an oral steroid called Dexamethasone. Then Chemo Day consists of six bags. The first two bags are anti-nausea meds; one called Aloxi and the other is Emend. Bag number three is another dose of Dexamethasone. Then we move on to the actual chemo drugs; Herceptin, followed by Taxotere and Carboplatin. All the while, these six bags are supplemented with a couple of bags of saline, so actually eight in total. And equally as many trips to the potty.

But potty trips are easy-peasy, because my new little friend over there to my right (your left) is very mobile. The only down side is that there's really not very far to go in the infusion center as my little buddy over there isn't allowed off the tile floor.

So, unfortunately, there's very little of this happening up there.

Now where was I? Oh yea, six bags plus two. So all of this took about seven and a 1/2 hours yesterday. They give everything to you nice a slow on the first day, so it takes a lot longer than subsequent treatment days will. Fortunately, I packed a lot of snacks - which I ate all of, and then some. 

So after we got home last night, and after a really yummy pot roast dinner followed up by chocolate banana pie with Mom and Rob, I had a couple more cocktails at my disposal. Compazine - an oral anti-nausea; Ativan - classically an anti-anxiety, but is supposed to be really good for combating nausea, and is a benzodiazepine, so it'll just make you too sleepy to care that you feel like you have to barf; and Vicodin - which is mostly for any pain I might experience resulting from my Neulasta shot today. (Or "Nutella", as Mom calls it, which sounds much more delicious! Again with the white people peanut butter!)

Luckily, side effects have been practically non-existent so far. Feeling just a tad queasy, I took some Compazine just before bed last night and again this morning. But who knows if the queasiness is from the chemo, or from treating everything I ate yesterday as my last meal?

But mostly I'm attributing my so far lack of side effects to Ms. Pat Benatar:

Perfect, no? Dave suggested this as one of my theme songs the other week, and I don't think Ms. Benatar will mind being the mascot for Team Cancer Sucks. Put your thinking caps on and leave a comment with my theme song for Chemo Day Two. 

And speaking of Chemo Day Two, for those interested in a visit, that's scheduled for June 21st. And Day Three will be on July 12th. If you come by the infusion center, you'll get to meet Lynn, one my of bartenders infusion nurses.

But as I mentioned, supporters are not exactly sitting in the lap of luxury while visiting for treatment. In fact, you get a small, hard chair that is not at all kind to those with back issues (I know, I briefly traded seats with Rob before making him give me my recliner back.) Also, it's really quiet and really boring in there. So when planning a visit, bring games (Pass the Pigs, Andi?)... and snacks! (No cafe in this building, no sir. Just a vending machine in the basement.) And if none of that sounds like your cup o' tea, home visits are always welcome. Same rules apply - sans the small, hard chairs.

And with that, I'm going back to bed! Have a great weekend everyone!