Two big events

First Big Event

On Friday morning I went to the Women's Breast Health Centre to have a clip insertion. This means that, with the help of ultrasound, the Radiologist inserted a clip (a stainless steel object about the size of a grain of sand) into the center of my tumor. The reason they do this is because if all goes well the chemo will completely dissolve my tumor and then the surgeon will use the clip to know the exact location of the tissue he needs to remove.

It did hurt. I found out afterwards from the nurse (she says they never tell patients this before their diagnosis) that it is very difficult to freeze malignant tumors. Now that I know this I understand why I felt some pain during my original biopsy.

I also had the Radiologist use the ultrasound to examine my lyph nodes for a second time. There is some confusion as to whether my nodes are inflamed or not (the original u/s says no and the MRI says that 2 are bigger than they should be...but I had a flu just before the MRI that could explain that). The new u/s showed that my lyph nodes look just fine. This is really good news because if the cancer spreads to any nodes then that could mean the removal of quite a few of them which can permanently effect my arm movement and cause lyphodema.



Second Big Event

My hair started falling out Friday evening. When I would run my fingers through my hair I would have around 20 hairs in my fingers. Grace would tug at my hair and she would pull out a hand full. So, Saturday morning I made an appointment at Carolyn's Salon (a spa on Merivale Road which specializes in various hair loss issues and the place where I bought my wig). Grace and my mother came with me for emotional support and watched as I had my hair chopped off and then got a buzz cut. I cried a little...I knew I would. The hair stylist, Michelle, was fantastic and very understanding. I donated my hair to Angel Hair which will make a wig from my locks and donate it to a child at CHEO whose parents can't afford to buy a wig. The picture to the right was taken after I stopped crying. My hair was thick and long enough that they will be able to make a complete wig with my hair alone.
How does it feel? GREAT!!!! My head is so much lighter and cooler. I love the feeling of my brush cut (although all the hair will fall out in a couple of days). When I take a shower or lie down on my pillow my hair isn't getting in the way. I've already started to steal Kevin's baseball hats.