I met with my oncologist last week. I will have 6 cycles of chemo every 3 weeks, 30 days of radiation, and 5 years of hormone therapy. When the nurse went over all of the side effects with my mom and me, she started to sound like Charlie Brown's teacher. Blah! Blah! Blah! She should have just said that I may get any side effect imaginable. Lord, help me!
I had surgery to place my chemo port in on Thursday. I really hated to go to the hospital that day. If my Uncle Clarence hadn't been with me, I probably would have been hysterical. The surgery made things seems so final, knowing that chemotherapy is approaching. When we got to the hospital, the staff wanted to know if 50 people were with me this time as they have been before. :) It's nice to see that other people noticed my family's support.
On my way to work, I got hit on by a 29 yr old law student. Even with the mastectomy, I still got it! That was great for my ego. :) I am a Cougar, but that's pushing it a bit.
This was my first day back since having the mastectomy four weeks ago. Everyone was surprised and amazed to see me back to work so soon, especially since I just had another surgery on Thursday. People wanted to hug me, but I had to let them know that they couldn't because it would be too painful with the tissue expander on one side and the chemo port on the other. I could tell that people were checking out my breast and were bewildered. With the bra that I found, nobody can tell the difference with my breast. I made it through the night with little pain. Most of my pain comes from the chemo port. Everyone made sure that I didn't do any heavy lifting. I really work with a sweet group of people.
I am finally by myself and taking time to digest all of this... Maybe I am just vain, but the worst part of this for me is that I am going to lose my hair again. If I could keep my hair, I wouldn't look so sickly. They don't even have wigs with my hair texture. When I asked about it, I was told that "most African-American women want something that they can't ever have when it comes to wigs, straight hair." I was kind of offended when I heard that statement. However, it is true that plenty of African-American women buy Asian hair. Chris Rock made a documentary about that reality. Well, anyway, that's not me. I want my hair texture! I love my hair!
I am a little bummed out because Mr. Wonderful is out of the country for a few weeks on business for his company. Skype contact is cool, but seeing someone in person is better. I really wanted to travel with him, but I knew that I couldn't risk getting a blood clot on a 14 hour flight after having so many surgeries not long ago. My timing is all off. Next year will be my year!
