Bzzzzz

Well, it's official.  I'm officially bald.  On Saturday, June 28, 2008, surrounded by a small entourage (ok, so I invited three friends, one of which is a professional photographer), I went under the clippers.  Now one might think that a bilateral mastectomy would be much scarier than a pair of shears, but to a girl who has always flipped, curled and whirled her long locks, the head shave is, well, completely and absolutely NERVE WRACKING!!!  Ok, ok, I admit, going under the real knife is scarier, but to a person living with cancer, the loss of hair is the most visible reminder that you are sick, not only to the patient, but also to the rest of the world.  Basically, it's like getting on a megaphone and announcing, "Hello everyone, everyone, everyone (those are echoes), in case you were wondering why I occasionally walk slow, sometimes look green and am often losing my keys, I have cancer, cancer, cancer (more echoes).  Hope you enjoy the show!!!"  To that end, my friend Memphis (I am giving everyone nicknames to protect the innocent) and I decided to medicate ourselves with Mimosas, before being joined by Curly at FACE Stockholm (the makeup boutique), where Mademoiselle FACE (the makeup artist) caked on the makeup as she wondered why any self-respecting Manhattanite above 14th street would go and shave their head.  She kindly waved her makeover fee after announcing to all her customers that I was shaving my head, which is one of the many benefits of having the big C.  Yes, get the big C and you too can get free makeovers, makeunders, makeup and the occasional tears from your friendly skincare specialist (will explain in another post).  The big C has even gotten me a free facial. :)  Anyway, I digress.  So once I was officially beautified (i.e. spackled and frosted with 10 layers of makeup in order to get that natural look), my girls and I were joined by Paparazzi and we headed to the wig salon.  The moment had officially come.  After Paparazzi very professionally shot some before pictures, the clippers starting buzzing toward my head as I closed my eyes and felt the first row of hair fall off to the floor.  I was about to tear up, when Curly or Memphis (don't remember who said this) exclaimed "Dalia, you would make the best punk rocker!!!"  After that, the punk rocker that's been sleeping inside me my whole life, exploded out of me, mugging to the camera with a mohawk, and then just bangs, and finally....are you ready....TOTALLY BALD!  Yes, I'm ashamed to admit that I even did the Billy Idol lip curl (first introduced into rock by Elvis Presley) with rock and roll hands.  Then, as quickly as my inner punk-rocker emerged, the WigMaster subdued it by putting on what he calls the Rolls Royce of wigs.  Suddenly, within seconds, I looked like myself again, at which point my inner diva unveiled herself and started posing for Paparazzi like a true tabloid queen.  We even took pictures outside in front of the Time Warner Center, which made me feel like a true star.  Well, at least some people on the street thought I was someone important due to Paparazzi's fancy camera and big flash.  Unfortunately they were sorely disappointed when they walked by to get get the closer look and found out it was just me.  After that, I just turned back into me, wig and all, and escaped the rain by going to a movie.  When I got home, I took off the magic wig and hung out for the first time as just DT without hair.  The truth is, it's not so bad.  My head is cooler, don't get hair in my eyes, and my bathroom is a lot cleaner now. Up top is a glimpse of my baldy self after playing with my Wii Fit (courtesy of the A Team and D), so please excuse the outfit.  As soon as I have the pics from Paparazzi, I'll make sure you get to see those too.  Thanks again for reading.

Straight from the trenches,

DT

1st Treatment

Well, my first cycle of chemo is almost over and I'm celebrating by going to the salon tomorrow and shaving my head.  (FYI, when I say cycle, I mean the three weeks from the chemo treatment until the following chemo treatment, hope that makes sense).  Yes, the time has come.  For the first time in my life, I can actually say that I'm literally pulling my hair out.  Actually doing it right now.  Going to have a lot of vacuuming to do tomorrow.  Anyway, I've decided to make my GI Jane transformation a mini event, and have asked a friend of mine who is a photographer to come document the moment, so as soon as I have the pics, I'll take a deep breath and post them on here for everyone to see.  Of course my vanity is also compelling me to go get my makeup done and potentially follow up my new style with a pedicure, which admittedly diminishes the tough girl image my new do is supposed to convey, but what can I say, you can take the hair off the girl but not the girl with the hair, umm....or something like that.  I swear that was supposed to work.  

As promised, here is my weekly update.  Basically, I felt normal this week.  Was a extremely refreshing after months of not feeling well (promise to post updates explaining the not feeling well soon).  I have to admit, I didn't really enjoy my 1st chemo treatment.  Not sure if you want to know how it felt, but since we're going for full disclosure here, just picture your worst hangover, take it up a few notches and then have the hangover last for 8 days.  Of course a little unexpected hospital fiasco didn't help the situation (will explain this in a separate post), but overall, I highly recommend avoiding chemo at all costs.  The one good thing that I can say about this is that I finally have a fool proof reason to take a nap in the middle of the day, and I am absolutely taking advantage of it.  Warning to those who call me around 3 in the afternoon.  If I don't answer, or I answer, but don't seem to remember the conversation, probably called me during a nap.  Anyway, this glorious week, I actually was able to make it through the day without any naps.  Only wrinkle this week was that I had a test to do that was left over from the unfortunate hospital fiasco.  Now I won't describe it in detail, but if any doctor runs up to you and tries to tell you that you need sigmoidoscopy, run the other way as fast as you can.  Just trust me on this one.  It's very unpleasant. Anyway, I'm sure I've pretty much ruined your next meal, or your falling asleep after reading this rambling message, so I'll sign off.  Will drop in tomorrow to let you know how the shearing event turns out.  The mantra tomorrow...bald is beautiful, bald is beautiful, bald is beautiful.  Keep that in mind while you're eating your cornflakes.  Anyway, thanks again for reading. 

Straight from the trenches,

DT

Welcome

Welcome everyone to my blog!  Yes, after three months of talking about it, thinking about it, pondering and general hemming and hawwing, I have decided to join the blogosphere to talk about the C word.  Yes, if you are reading this, you are aware that have the big C; breast cancer to be exact.  I thought about starting a blog about all of my romantic escapades in the big city, but since there are already so many of those single girl in the city blogs out there (and because my dating life is temporarily on hiatus), I have decided to devote my ramblings to talk about my adventures with breast cancer. Aren't you excited?

Anyway, welcome to my blog.  I promise to catch everyone up on what has happened so far and will post every Friday to keep everyone informed about what's happening now.  Feel free to post comments.  The whole point of this is to open the lines of communication and help everyone stay informed.  I appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to read this.  I hope you find the experience worthwhile. 

Straight from the trenches,

DT