Post Apocalyptic Update

It’s been 10 weeks since my last chemo treatment and 7 since my surgery, and I feel great! This is really nice since for some time there, I wasn’t confident that I’d ever get back to even somewhat-normal.

I still have residual chemo side effects that are noticeable to me (who knows what kind of hellish underlying and unseen side effects I have). At the top of the list—and ranked worst—eye issues. During chemo (or what my eyes would call “The drought of 2012”), my eyes were severely dry, leaving them now with some sort of residual cloudiness that often affects my vision. I’m moderately concerned about it but trying to give it some time to return to normal before taking drastic actions, like seeing another [gulp] doctor. Second on the list—the hot flashes. Sure they’re painless and rather brief, but they are completely unpredictable and super inconvenient. In the privacy of the home, they transform an ordinary TV watcher into what appears to be an insane maniac with delusions of being set on fire, stripping off layers of clothing as if in a timed contest. At work, they make concentrating during meetings difficult as upper-lip-sweat forms without notice for no obvious reason, and fantasies of nude skiing take over all thoughts. Not sure how it goes down for other women—is that about right?  

These marks on the thumb nail beds are common for chemo patients. Just the thumbs. 

It's like a secret handshake for cancer victims.  

There are a few smaller side effects left behind in the wake of the battle, but for the most part my army of cells have repaired themselves and I’m feeling quite wonderful. My spirits are up and I’ve savored some fun moments with friends and family, am getting back to my active self, and I’m even enjoying normal affairs like working (although my job is fabulous, I must say!). Surgery has left me with lingering numbness (nothing feels stranger than shaving an area with no feeling), a tiny bit of pain, and palpable scar tissue, but I have 95% of my range of motion back and am back to normal arm function. Hooray!

My hair has finally started growing in. It sure took its sweet time but now that it’s growing, I have let go of the fear that it was gone forever. I’ve only been wearing my wig for 2 months but I’m already itching to ditch it. Now that my hair is growing, it won’t be long before I go wigless (I’ve already tried a couple wig-free-in-public test runs). Oh, and it seems the chemo caused all my hair to turn gray. Yeah, it was the chemo. Damn you chemo.

Is it long and luxurious yet?