Day 66 - 12/14/18
I haven’t had any major developments since last week. I’ve mainly been resting and rebuilding my strength. The only other thing that has occurred is that my hair continued to shed. The hair loss was very patchy, so my husband and I ended up cutting it all off. As I had previously suspected, this was not a major deal for me. The only adjustment that I needed for this was to get used to my head getting cold. I’ve never had an emotional attachment to my hair, so it didn’t bother me that it came out. I know once the chemo treatments are finished it will grow back.
I must admit, though, that my biggest fear was realized with the hair loss—I have a rather lumpy head. That part of it sucks. I will definitely have to wear head coverings when I go out in public. Aside from that, everything else is good.
Today I met one of my co-workers for lunch. I haven’t gotten out of the house much since the chemo started, so it felt really good to be out and about. The main purpose of us meeting up was so she could bring me a package. I was thinking it would be something simple like a Christmas card or something along those lines. It turned out to be a pair of boxing gloves that were signed by everyone in my department and a flash drive.
When I saw the gloves, I was moved to tears. For those of you who don’t know, the gloves symbolize the strength of the cancer fight—by “knocking out” cancer. On the gloves were notes of encouragement from my co-workers for me to keep up the fight. It was so beautiful and moving. And compared to where I was, emotionally, last week, this gift was perfect!
And, as if that wasn’t enough, the flash drive contained a special video message from everybody from my team. Each person recorded an individual message to me. I cried for the entire 16 minute video! With a support system like this, how can I not stay encouraged??? I am encouraged to keep my head up and continue this battle—knowing that I have so many people in my corner... I think I can actually hear Rocky music in the background!
“Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.” 2 Chronicles 20: 15b KJV
Day 69: