Chronicle of a Stem Cell Transplant (and on through to the other side)

Friday, December 08, 2006

Houston, We Have Lift Off...


Well, it's finally growing back. My hair, that is. All of a sudden, it has really started getting fuzzy up there and it doesn't feel quite so drafty without a hat on. Luckily, I have received a ton of touques, many handmade, to keep my head warm. Also, this new fuzz hides the line of my frontal lobe which was pretty visible without hair, what, big brain and all. I am concerned, however, about my eyebrows, which seem to have gone on an ungodly growth spurt of their own. At this rate, I'll have a unibrow by Christmas.

In other news, I had my first radiation treatment today and, gasp, they had to add wax to my mask to build up the area where they are applying the field. I laid on a table (locked into the mask) while three technicians pulled pink wax strands out of water heated by an electric frying pan (?) and applied them to my neck. It wasn't that bad and my mom got to come in with me; however, said mask was just a little tighter than I remember.

The actual radiation itself wasn't too bad either, with the exception of some additional x-rays that were needed, which just meant I had to spend longer bolted to the table. Also, when I got up, unbeknownst to me, my face was covered in a lizard skin type pattern from the mask, which explains why the people in the waiting room were staring at me.