A woman with hair's thoughts on not having hair- subject to change.

"They" say nothing is sure in life besides death and taxes. Well, some things related to A/C chemo are sure and that is hair loss. I had Alopecia once in my early twenties due to stress that left me with quarter and dime sized bald patches. It's funny to think, now, about how upset it made me that I had little bald spots. 

I think the funniest realization I've had thus far is that I wont have any nose hair. One friend said I was going to inhale glitter without any nose hair to filter it and now I was going to get glitter lung cancer and am totally fucked. I've told this to so many people, I don't think I'll ever forget that she said that. 

The reason it made me so happy is because it was an example of a friend not taking this so seriously with me. I did go out and get a couple ridiculous wigs. I will probably have my head henna'd, maybe even tattooed. But I just don't think I'm going to bother with wigs and fake eyebrows (except hilarious craft fur ones made by Kris Anne!), and fake eyelashes and mirkins. Maybe every now and again for fun but not every day.

It may be difficult for people, namely strangers, to see a woman walking around with no facial hair, but why? Why can't it just be okay not to have eyebrows!? Who said eyebrows are a necessary part of feeling good about yourself? 

None of this should come as any surprise. Most of my friends know how deeply I loathe societal norms. So if you see me, sans hair, please don't feel bad. I am totally okay with this.

xoxo, Ry

Working for the weekend

William 

We really had a very normal weekend. Visited family, went for a bike ride while William long-boarded. Had brunch with Botzy. Lots of fun and normal stuff coming up this week. Hope I'm feeling up for all of it, but I am feeling good today so I can't ask for much more than that.

xoxo Ry

Silliness as usual...

Shell loves me!

Tauntaun!

By Friday I'm feeling back to normal. No fuzzy chemo brain. Mostly just random dibilitating pain from the Neulasta shot. During the day, I received the best ever care package from my cousin, Shell. Later in the evening William and I biked over to hang out with Jyoti and Josh and William passes out in a Tauntaun. 

xoxo, Ry

Back to normal life

BREFFIS!

After my days-long epic hangover, I rejoined the land of the living and went back to work, ready to take on the day with a gargantuan Starbucks and some chocolate and peanut butter bundt cake that my very talented friend, Amy, made. I got through the day alright and ended up leaving work with two more-than-half-empty bottles of wine, which I decided to consume. Because I am an idiot. Even though I didn't drink them quickly and didn't really have very much, I awoke the next morning feeling as bad as I had after that long late night of partying. I think I've got it now though...

xoxo, Ry

Wedding Night!

William signs

Botzy witnesses

First Kiss

Like our trip to Vegas, we spontaneously got married. On 4/20 in the middle of the night. In the middle of a Rap Show at the Sound Gallery. We asked our friend (hosting the show) and his lady friend to be our witnesses, were ushered into a small quiet room, and got down to business. We were already planning to get married in June so we had our marriage license. We sort of had a gun-shy officiant but when a new friendship and chance encounter presented a new friend who was already an officiant, we just decided to jump at the chance to get married in such a unique way.  



Unforunately, I had started chemo the day before. And we partied HARD that night. I paid for that night by feeling like I was dying for almost two whole days. But I'd do it again in a second. It was one of the funnest nights of my life so far.


xoxo, Ry

My first trip to Club Chemo

This photo is from my very first chemo appointment, which for all intents and purposes is a whole lot like a spa. You get to lay in a heated massage chair and they bring you warm blankies and ice chips and juice and treats. It's really awesome. There are WAY worse places to spend a couple hours on a Friday afternoon. Plus, I felt pretty good immediately afterward. I was anticipating a busy weekend so I laid low and didn't go crazy Friday night but I felt pretty normal, until...

xoxo, Ry

Oh the wigs you'll wear...

William and I went on a wig shopping spree. Well, we bought three. Two of them are utterly ridiculous, like the one in my main photo. The other, pictured here, has been lovingly referred to as the My Little Pony wig. I haven't started losing any hair yet, although I'm told that on Adriamycin and Cytoxan chemos, I definitely will. The third wig is a sassy but a bit toned-down comparatively. I imagine wigs will fit and feel better when I don't have a mohawk underneath.

My Little Pony Wig, and William!

This picture was taken at Pizza Luce, Richfield celebrating our friend Melissa's birthday. I hadn't started chemo yet at the time of this photo and it's pretty safe to say that other than eating a lot more plants and a lot less processed foods, our lives didn't really change at all after the diagnosis, with the exception of lots of diagnostic appointments cutting into my work time. We partied has hard was we could until the bitter end. Bitter end being the beginning of chemo, of course.


xoxo, Ry