Hair We Are

Our little firecracker 5 year old said to Katie last night right before bed, “Mom, I wish your hair was long and beautiful again… right now it’s just old and scraggly” Children are so sweet and pure 🙂

Yes Katie’s hair has started to fall out. To me, it is a non issue. It is a small thing. If it means my girl can get better and fight off this thing, then it’s worth it. I know Katie feels the same, but I also know that this is a hard thing for her. This makes her ailment very visible and public to strangers. It causes questions to be asked and comments to be made. This changes the dynamic a little bit. It can be a constant reminder when it’s not wanted. It’s hard to watch her feel sad about it. But once again I am amazed at how brave she is, and the perspective she has. I think that the hair falling out has made it a little more real for the kids.

She is planning to shave her hair off this week. We are curious/worried how our 2 year old will react to moms new “hairdo”. Our 7 year old has pledged to shave it with her. 🙂 I am glad it has been a gradual thing because I think it has allowed her to cope with it a little better. The constant annoyance of hair coming out has been a motivator for her to just get rid of it. I was shocked at how fast it finally started to happen. Just the beginning of last week she was sitting in bed when she ran her hand through her hair and looked down to see a handful of her beautiful hair clutched in her fist. That was a hard moment for her. Over the last week it has just continued to come out.

This week has been a good week. She has been feeling much better. The nausea and headaches have gone down, and she has felt the familiar energy, once again outpacing me in everything.

Today we are back in the infusion center for blood work, a consultation, and another round of chemo.

We love our oncologist! She has been amazing through all of it, very detailed, focused on Katie and her comfort. The first round of chemo was a rough one. We have learned a lot of how Katie’s body reacts to the chemo and what we need to do to fight off the symptoms. We have better meds and are more aware of the “signs of danger”. This week we are going to be taking a little more precaution to her getting the rest and care that she needs. Much of that precaution is Katie realizing that she just needs to take it easy, its not in her nature to ask for help for herself. Asking for help for her family is one thing, but getting personal attention is naturally a hard thing for most people to ask for. Two weeks ago our oldest boy called me on the phone and said “Dad… Mom is not laying down like we told her to…” I think she is ready to obey her children now. 🙂

From a quick physical exam, the doctor thinks that everything is working the way it should, the cancer growth “appeared” to be lessening. The plan is to have an ultrasound in a month or so to get a more detailed survey of the cancer. The goal of this chemo is to stop the cancer growth, control it, so that we can then turn to a surgery option. Everyone is very hopeful that it is working according to plan. We will continue to go in for chemo injections every 3 weeks all the way up to the first part of December. Hopefully around Christmas Katie will be feeling much better and the chemo will run its course. Following the first of the year we will continue to go in every 3 weeks for the next year or so to receive hormone therapy and block the receptors causing the cancer growth.

As long as the chemo continues to perform, we are looking at a surgery around January. It is still up in the air on the full extent of the surgery. We will be meeting with our breast cancer surgeon leading up to that point to discuss options once we have a good idea on how the cancer has been reacting to the ongoing treatments.

We continue to see miracles everyday. The blessings of family and friends who reach out to us is a constant reminder of the power that can come from observing and discerning the needs of others around us. Katie is a very special person. I have observed that this whole experience has been a training ground reserved for her to become more refined in the qualities, attributes and skills that she has continued to practice throughout her life. I am also being taught by being an observer of Katie, and by observing the army of angels in the form of family members, neighbors and friends that continue to rush to the aid of our family when prompted. We love you all, we can’t say thank you enough. We are excited to rejoin the army of relieving angels once again after we kick this thing. Thank you for the continued prayers and well wishes.