The doctor said my hair would start falling out about the 14^th day after the first chemo treatment. So on the 13^th day after chemo, I had an appointment to have my head shaved and fitted for a wig in Florence.

Say goodbye to my hair.

Ada’s Skin, Hair & Nail Salon does this without charge for cancer patients. And when I no longer have need for the wig, I’ll return it.

Ada is one sweet, patient, funny lady. She made the whole experience fun. My neighbor Hope took me and stayed. I gave her my camera and asked her to document the whole experience. So that is what she did.

Combing and wetting my hair prior to cutting.

Ada started by wetting and combing my hair and then she started cutting it to within a couple of inches.

Here is my punk look.

Then she used one kind of electric shears to give me sort of a buzz cut. Looked like I was ready for the military.

Looks like I’m ready for the Marines.

Then she got the shears that got rid of all hair. So it was done in three stages. And it never pulled or hurt.

Bald! Yuck! I look like a guy with big ears!

I have to say I looked like a guy with no hair and had no idea my ears were so big. Not my favorite look; I much prefer having hair. I have to say that I do have a nice smooth head except for the lower back, which is sort of bumpy.

I look like an Elvis impersonator.

Then the fun really started when I started trying on wigs. First, Ada put a sock-like skullcap on me, which keeps the wigs from sliding all over.

I started with a curly, brown wig and that made me look like I was trying to be an Elvis impersonator.

When I put this one on, we all liked it.

Then others—blond, reddish, gray, and all of them were definitely not me. Then one with lots of highlights that was sort of a grayish/ash blonde was perfect. All three of us said, “Yes!” in unison. It is a different color than my hair, but short and similar to my style. So that was it. I was happy and didn’t try on any more.

I was surprised to find that my head is  cold without something on it. When  not wearing the wig, I have the cap that Hope knitted me. I also wear it to bed at night.

When I’ve gone places, nobody stops and stares, which of course is what I thought would happen. When I stopped by the bank this afternoon to make a deposit, Rhonda, who usually waits on me, asked if I’d done something to my hair. I said, “Yes, I sure did. Check out my blog.”

I’ve felt good this past week and started driving last Thursday for the first time in five weeks. I’m not on any pain-killing drugs and my chemo brain fog has lifted, so there was no reason I couldn’t. Boy, does it feel good to have wheels again.

On Wednesday last week just before I went to see Ada, I saw Dr. Buchanan, my oncologist. He said my white blood count was back up to normal and all my other numbers from the lab work were very good. So he scheduled me for the next two chemo sessions and was very pleased with how things were going. If he was pleased, I was pleased!

So this coming Wednesday, I get to do it all over again. My neighbor Hope is taking me to Eugene for an 8:15 a.m. appointment. She will pick me up at 6:30 a.m.

It takes a few days for the cancer fatigue and chemo brain fog to set in. On Friday my sister is coming from California for 10 days. So she’ll be with me. This time around, my friends and neighbors can take a break.

My new look!

I’ll keep you posted. . . . So how do you like my new look?