Bye Bye, Breastcancer!
What a day – Markus is 42 and Steffi, who helps with the household and the kids gets replaced by Anja. I show her the tricks and get Pam to babysit in the evening, as we have a parents evening in Kindergarten and I take Markus out for some sushi. The kids get a bit confused …. too many things going on.
Showering I wonder, if I shall actually wash my head with shampoo or shower gel – I shall ask my brother 😉
It is the 9th Breastcancer Day for patients, doctors and interested people. Leo is still at my Moms, Markus visits his aunt with Mia and I dive into the world of breastcancer. The one thing that is really awsome, is that you get free things everywhere – free food, free gifts, free advise 😉
I browse around the foyer where the pharmaceutical companies, wig shops, breast implant producers and all different organisations display and get some information. The only stand, which actually interests me, is her Rexrodt rehab – this is a rehab, where you can’t ring then the kids along to the seaside. I am worried that I wouldn’t benefit, if I bring the kids along, but the lady confirmed that eben also participated and that the kids have their own programme. She shows some pictures: „This is me – I was 15kg heavier due to the cortisone!“ 🙄 excellent outlook – bold AND fat ….
There are some interesting talks about therapies, medical research and Prof. Dr. Warm gives some great insides – the funniest thing though is the quick-wittedness queen Nicole Staudinger. What a delight! And now I know what a deep flat is – Nicole Staudinger got new boobs, as they flapped her belly fat ‚up‘!
I meet some other girls and one of them has actually HAIR – she wore a cooling cap during her chemos and it actually worked – this is technically apparently quiet difficult, not nice to wear and is only successful in 30% of the cases and that is why Dr. Reiser does not offer it… interesting though…. Well, I actually feel alright with my bald head!
Hipp hipp hurray – 44 today!
Leo did say that I needed a crown for my birthday, as I no longer have hair….I now shave of the rest of the hair and it feels good – cannot wait for the last bits to fall off now!
In a way, timing is really good – not only is a bold head fashionable, but it will be winter soon and I do not have to be careful with the sun and can wear hats.
I am at LaufMamaLauf – I always make an effort to go – no matter what! It gives me strength and I have coffee witht the girls afterwards.
I treat myself to lunch with Alexa, Simone and Hannah and dinner with the closest friends at „Mercato Deluxe“, my favourite italian restaurant. During the course of the meal, I take the head off and it feels good. I have to tell Mom that the back of my head is indeed not flat at all, like I thought for years 😉
„I can’t even remember what you looked like with hair – this feels so normal“ Sylvie says and that is the way it is.
I have a cheeky wee glass of wine and a wonderful evening – I love you guys ❤️
My hair is still there in patches and I feel like wearing a cap. The disadvantage is that you need to find a solution for changing temperatures….
The girls compiled a playlist for me – each of them picked a few songs to listen to during chemo!.
First day of lymph drainage – oh what bliss…. I can move my arm again 😀 well, the lymph knot, which were removed surely could not have gone unnoticed. The lady from Kenya is a bit unsure, if Thisbe is good during chemo, but it feels good and I I’ll do double check with chemo nurse!
I need my children so much at the moment, yet I often don‘t have her energy – it is the balance between looking after myself and being there for them, which tears me sometimes apart. Mia cries a lot lately and it is her way of expressing her gearbeitet I loosing me, I think – I am definitely less around. The you give me so much strength ❤️
Oh my god – Markus and the kids have gone swimming and I shower. OK, I did expect that more and more hair will be falling out and the hair everywhere is really annoying, but that was quite a shock after the I dried my hair!! The rest has to go asap!
Katja says not to shave it completely, as her husband did it and she had spots afterwards… pfewww…
It is marathon, which Christina and I ran a few years back together and now are have another project we will be doing together… We have coffee until the kids are home, so they can participate in this head shaving fest!
We are celebrating Paula and Leos birthday at Paula’s and I just have to show up – thank you Andrea! I am sick, but the food helps today!
The hair is really falling out a lot – I can still hide the bold little patches, but I am glad Christina is shaving my head the next day!
Chemo nurse Frau Fassbender wasn’t there the last time and I like her straight away! „You are being expected!“ – Katja has reserved a seat for me and I unpack the pretzels I brought along – Katja brought some M&Ms and we are ready to go. It is amazing how many parallels there are – same gynocologist, same wig lady, same doctor, diagnose exactly one month before me, works for a travel agency and apart from all that – we just get along and have the same attitude! I think some of the patients are a bit annoyed that we are chatting away, but after a while we get a bit tired anyway … not from talking, but from the infusions 😉 Katja is on her 6th chemo, but she does the smaller ones, which you do weekly and therefore leaves an hour earlier than me, which is ok as well.
It gives me time to watch the people, who come in and out – all walks of life, but it touches me that some seem so fragile and weak.
My dentist told me to use a special toothpaste during chemo, Katja uses a special hand creme ….and what really shocks me – her insurance company refused to pay her medical bill for the PAN clinic and said to her husband „your wife has an 80% chance of surviving and therefore might as well have waited for another week until an appointment in Holweide would have been available“ – can you believe it!?!?!?
The sickness is still there this time, but I cope with it without additional medication and I am fine.
The wig is just ready in time – after tomorrow my hair will start falling out. To be honest – I feel so much more comfortable with my pixie cut…. oh well, this way I can always have longer hair again, when I feel like it in the future.
I will have to go for another fitting and a cut once all hair is gone!
Actually I am not really bothered at the moment about loosing hair – as my brother said „you will have no hair for 6 months – look at me, I will be bold for the rest of my life!“
The mom friends Simone, Andrea, Alexa and Christiane make it a habit to give me regular presents e.g. a little wristband to get me through chemo, Lea (Leo’s best friend Carla’s mom), leaves a large basket with fruit, juice and chocolate after chemo number one and a pile of magazines for chemo number two…. I love you all ❤
Kick Cancer Chick