Head Nudism Is Liberating!

It's been awhile since I've posted about my treatment, so here's a brief update. I'm 21 radiation treatments into a total of 33, so I'm about 2/3 done! So far I'm very red in a large rectangle of the upper right quadrant of my torso, but the only discomfort is some itching from a radiation rash, and I've just been using OTC 1% cortisone cream for that, as well as aloe gel and Aquaphor for the rest of the area. There's a good chance my symptoms won't get any worse.

I've learned that the last 8 treatments ("boosters") will narrow the focus of the radiation to the site of my surgery, probably resulting in less overall discomfort during that time.

My energy is good, I'm walking about 3 days a week at the gym (still working toward my fitness level from a year ago). In the last 3 weeks I've had trouble with joint pain in all my fingers, something I had not experienced previously. In a month I'll ask my oncologist about it, but it sounds like a reaction to the Taxol I had in chemo - a delayed one. I'm sure it will be quite a while before all the chemo leaves my body. Anyway, folding origami is good for my fingers, so I'm my own therapist once again. Also, interpreting more difficult origami diagrams can feel like an advanced course in visual-spatial extrapolation, so that should do me some good cognitively too.

About a week ago I tossed aside the scarves and began baring my naked head in public! Yes, I have fuzz now, and the real hair is making its entrance too. It sticks up funny where I have cowlicks and lies flat in other places, but it's too fine and sparse to style yet, so I just let it do its thing. Between summer heat, working out, and lots of hot flashes, it was just too hot to wear a friggin' headcover! It gets hot under those things. Yesterday I had a bit of semi-permanent color put on to cover up my newly-white temples, so that makes me feel better, too. Head nudism feels so liberating.

I found some beautiful but inexpensive hand fans made from fragrant sandalwood, which I keep with me at all times. Durable fans are hard to find, so I bought a hundred of them and I'm going to donate them to the local Breast Cancer Resource Center, where I'm sure they'll be appreciated by other women struggling with summertime hot flashes caused by sudden chemopause and hormone-reduction therapy.

Geoffrey's been staying with me on weekdays during summer vacation, which is really nice, and I've been keeping busy with treatment, reading, origami, net-surfing, visits with Chelsea, and lollygagging. I highly recommend the lollygagging.