Dr. Sikaria had said I needed an echo-cardiogram as well as a port placed before chemo started, and we needed to be scheduled for chemo school. Of course, both of these items need pre-approval from the insurance company. Pre-approvals went very fast; today, we finalized these last two appointments. I also had read I should get a dental check-up and cleaning before starting chemo, and if I needed my annual well check, I need to get that done before chemo as well, as that will be thrown off by the chemo.
Echo and my annual exam are scheduled for next Tuesday, The emergency dental appointment was completed yesterday (I received a clean bill of health along with some high-fluoride toothpaste to use during chemo to help prevent erosion), and the port placement is planned for Thursday, October 5th. They are squeezing me in as Friday was already fully planned, and we would be out of town on Saturday.
When I heard about the washing restrictions for the port, starting with the first three days—no showering—followed by a week when you can get it wet, but not directly, and it needs to be kept as dry as possible. After two more weeks of no direct water on the incision site and me with my normally worn curly hair, I was wondering how in the heck I was going to manage this. That was when I decided I needed to cut it off now.
I have always been whimsical about my hair. This would be why it now sported blue, green, hot pink, and purple colors in the underlayers. I have always admired those women who shaved their heads, and I figured once my hair was mostly silver/white, I would join a Saint Baldrick’s Head Shave fundraiser and shave it all off to start over and embrace the white. My husband was never very keen on that idea, but I always kept this in my mind.
So I called my stylist, and they agreed to cut my hair – very short, on Saturday. Below are before pictures….
Life is “hacking” of my hair