Wig Shopping

My daughter and her kids moved up to Hanford to help take care of me and the house.  The first Monday that they were here we went wig shopping.  We started at a little place in a strip mall.  There were creepy mannequin heads everywhere and lots of ugly hair.  The owner of the shop ended up helping me try on quite a few wigs.  We found one we liked okay, but decided to keep an appointment we had at another shop.  Thank goodness we did.  It turned out to be a really classy private studio with the most wonderfully kind lady.  It was such a better experience!  She was so caring and welcoming.  She gave us so much helpful information.  My grandkids were welcomed and the mannequins weren’t creepy.  So many of the wigs looked really great on me.  It was hard to narrow it down.  But we did and we purchased a really cute medium length wig & a long one too.  It was a really fun day, tiring (we were at it for 4 ½ hours), but fun.  It was nice to do it before my first chemo appointment.  Ben (my 4 year old grandson), about halfway through our visit, spotted a hot pink short wig on top of a really tall cabinet, and he kept quietly and insistently pulling on my daughter's arm.  Finally she asked him what he wanted.  He really wanted Grandma to try on the hot pink wig and he wouldn’t let up until we agreed.  Before we left, I tried it on and the grin and joy on Ben’s face was precious.  We all cracked up and especially enjoyed those moments.  We couldn’t convince the boys to try it on, which is just fine.  My daughter tried on a fun pink tinsel wig.  It was great!  We'll see how I feel after the chemotherapy.  These next two weeks will let us know how I react to the treatment.  Keep the prayers coming!  Pray for peaceful hearts here. Pray that the Lord sustains, comforts, and holds me up through the chemotherapy.  Pray that my cancer shrinks & shrinks, & shrinks.  The Lord told my daughter that the cancer will shrink each time we pray together, so I'm standing on that.  Pray that the Lord sustains my daughter, her husband (who is only able to visit on weekends), and their two boys through this time of being apart and outside of their normal day to day living & friendships. Blessings on you all.

My Adventure Begins

MY ADVENURE BEGAN IN DECEMBER 2010 WHEN I FOUND A LUMP IN MY LEFT BREAST. I HAD BEEN FIGHTING A LOT OF DEPRESSION & HAD BEEN FEELING LIKE SOMETHING WAS WRONG, BUT COULDN'T QUITE PUT A FINGER ON WHAT IT WAS.   I WAS DUE FOR MY YEARLY MAMMOGRAM, BUT EXPECTED IT TO BE NEGATIVE, AS THERE IS NO HISTORY OF BREAST CANCER IN MY FAMILY AT ALL. I EVEN HAD A BIOPSY 2 YEARS AGO IN THE SAME BREAST THAT WAS NEGATIVE. I ALSO HAD A LIVER TRANSPLANT IN MAY OF 1999. I DIDN’T SMOKE, DIDN’T DRINK, NEVER USED DRUGS, NEVER HAD HEPATITIS AND THE ONLY CONCLUSION THEY CAME TO WAS THAT I HAD A GENETIC PREDISPOSISION FOR LIVER PROBLEMS (there’s that genetic thing again) ALL IT NEEDED WAS A TRIGGERING MECHANISM IN THE ENVIRONMENT TO GET IT GOING & THEY NEVER FIGURED OUT WHAT THAT TRIGGER HAD BEEN. MY ROOMATE & I WERE KNOWN AS THE “HAPPY TRANSPLANTS” TO STAFF AT CALIFORNIA PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTER IN SAN FRANCISCO WHERE OUR TRANSPLANTS HAD BEEN DONE. WE WERE SO GRATEFUL FOR THE SECOND CHANCE GOD HAD GIVEN US AT LIFE AND FOR THE TOUGH DECISION MADE BY THE FAMILY OF MY LIVER DONOR TO LET HIM GO AT 23 YEARS OLD BECAUSE OF A MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT SO I COULD LIVE. I CAN’T IMAGINE HOW HARD THAT HAD TO BE FOR THEM. I RECOVERED WELL AND WAS EVENTUALLY ABLE TO RETURN TO “NORMAL LIFE” AND WORKING AS A PEDIATRIC NURSE. ANYWAY, I HAD ALREADY HAD MY BOUT WITH MAJOR LIFE THREATENING ILLNESS EARLY, WHILE IN MY FORTIES, SO I COULDN’T HAVE BREAST CANCER. I’D ALREADY PASSED MY MAJOR LIFE EVENT QUOTA.

ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS, JANIE OWER, DIED OF BREAST CANCER SEVERAL YEARS AGO, BUT SHE, LIKE ME, HAD MARRIED INTO THE FAMILY, & WE WERE NOT DIRECT BLOOD RELATIVES. HER MOM HAD SURVIVED BREAST CANCER MANY YEARS AGO, BUT I HAVE SINCE LEARNED THAT:

80% OF NEWLY DIAGNOSED BREAST CANCERS HAVE NO FAMILY LINK.

TO MAKE A LONG STORY ONLY SLIGHTLY SHORTER (I’ve been teased about being very wordy in writing, just ask my boss). I'VE BEEN POKED, PRODDED, RADIATED, CONSTIPATED (did I say that?), HAD RADIOACTIVE DYE INJECTED (I may even glow in the dark now), BEEN PUT THROUGH MACHINES & TUNNELS & FOUND THAT YES, THERE IS LIGHT AT THE END OF THAT "PET SCAN TUNNEL" (also, it was never made clear to me whether you are supposed to bring your pet to a pet scan or not?). THE WORST TEST TO ME WAS ACTUALLY THE MRI BECAUSE OF THE BONE JARRING NOISE WHEN YOU’RE INSIDE. I SWEAR THERE MUST HAVE BEEN 5 ANGRY GUYS WITH JACK HAMMERS GOING NONSTOP IN THERE AND I THINK THEY EACH HAD AN ANGRY WOODPECKER WITH THEM. I CAN’T PROVE IT, THOUGH, BECAUSE BY THE TIME THE TEST WAS OVER, THEY WERE GONE.

I HAVE ALSO BEEN BIOPSIED AND OFFICIALLY DIAGNOSED WITH BREAST CANCER (AGGRESSIVE STAGE THREE DUCTILE CARCINOMA).  I KNOW THAT SOUNDS REALLY BAD, BUT I ALSO KNOW I’M GOING TO BE OK, WHATEVER THE OUTCOME. GOD IS WITH ME! HE WON’T EVER LEAVE ME. HE LOVES ME. HE GAVE HIS LIFE FOR ME. HOW COULD I DO ANY LESS FOR HIM?