Breast Cancer Journal - Entry 12

My hair is beginning to grow back. It's very soft and fine, like baby hair, and it's coming back in salt and pepper. I thought it was going to come back all gray, but so far, it seems to just be picking up where it left off. Now, because the hair is so smooth and soft, my bandana keeps sliding up and off if I don't pull it back down on my head. Wearing a baseball cap is much easier, but when I don't feel like dealing with people calling me "Sir", I wear the bandana. For some reason, a person with no hair anywhere to be seen and wearing a bandana is the universal sign of being in chemotherapy, and people are more apt to open up their eyeballs to see if you're a man or a woman.

Pam and Kyle were here in Portland for two days for one of Dan's drum corps performances in Salem. He's a percussionist with the Concord Blue Devils - B Corps. They had a competition in Washington last week, so Pam and Kyle flew up and stayed with Keith & Lynda in Seattle and then took the train down here for the Salem show. I was very glad to have finally been able to see Dan perform. We had a short, but nice visit.

I think they were the first ones on Rita's side of the family to see me in person since I've been in chemo (no boobs and no hair). Keith saw me a few weeks post-op (no boobs, still had hair).

I'm in the middle of painting the west side of the house. That side gets most of the sun, and it was looking pretty ratty. It's going to take a few coats to get it back to looking decent. We're going with a khaki (which actually looks yellow on the house) instead of the gray. The khaki/yellow brightens things up a bit and will hopefully reflect some of the heat away from that wall. It also matches our red roof better. I'll probably add some variation of forest green or purple trim color to liven things up, and I've also ordered an awning for added sun protection over the front bedroom window. My goal is to have this done by October. I'm okay with doing one whole side of the house a year, but partial sides are not allowed. Lately though, it has been waaay too hot for me to work on that side of the house. Aidan has swim class in the morning, so mornings are out. I have to wait until after dinner for it to be cool enough, and by that time, I'm just plain worn out. I'll just keep plugging along.

Oh yeah, did I mention that because I added a motor to our little inflatable boat, I have to register it? Wonderful. Even if your motor is a tiny rubberband motor, it is a motor nonetheless, and you must register it. Okay, okay. I did. Now, I had to order a special license plate that can be glued to PVC, as the regular stick-on letters/numbers that non-inflatable boats use won't stay stuck, with all that inflating and deflating going on. Hmmm... Maybe I should just have gotten a free regular boat off Craig's List/Freecycle...

We are getting ready to take off for our annual family camping trip. We've decided to see what Devils Lake is like. It sounds interesting as it's a lake that is joined directly to the ocean in a very short distance. It is located in Lincoln City, Oregon, right off Hwy. 101. I'm looking forward to fishing. (Hey now, quit laughing...)