"Look Good Feel Better" and feeling good despite looking not-so great

Monday's chemo went well and, while I did have a weird spike in blood pressure that evening along with slight tingling in fingers and toes, I'm doing remarkably well! I am fully convinced the five strange weeks were the result of starting Ambien (for sleep) on the same day as my first chemo -- and of course blaming chemo until my "aha" moment last Saturday.

Last week at the Farmer's Market I picked up a brochure from the YMCA about the LiveStrong program* for cancer patients. My friend Jen had already mentioned joining the program, but as she's done with chemo, I didn't think about it for myself until I read the brochure on Monday during treatment. I was eager to join, especially since group therapy ended last week and I'm feeling good enough again to put something else on my schedule.

I was so ready for LiveStrong that I called the Y as soon as I got home from chemo. When I learned that the next session would start the very next day, I was super excited. We rushed the paperwork through and I'm so glad I didn't have to wait until another session begins in October. LiveStrong gives me three months of Y membership in addition to the Tuesday & Thursday excercise program with six other cancer patients, four women and two men. At Tuesday's meeting we were introduced to the cardio machines and to each other -- and today we did 30 minutes of cardio along with before-and-after stretching and light conversation. The others in my group are finished with chemo, but since I won the chemo lottery** and am feeling up to it, I thought it was a good idea to get my steadily broadening body moving.

That same evening Elaine and I attended the "Look Good Feel Better" class for women undergoing chemo. I attended the session four years ago with friend Mary R. when I was higher than a kite on chemo. (This time I was a bit more subdued, and, though they didn't know it, the women in this group were fortunate, indeed.)

Look Good Feel Better is sponsored by the American Cancer Society. Patients are given a bag of makeup and skin-care products donated by various manufacturers and taught how to use them to make ourselves (possibly) feel better. Scarf, hat and wig demos are given, too. I took my wig along, still trapped, as packaged for shipping, in its hairnet ball. The lady who ran the show did the honor of releasing the new "do" and properly placing it on my head. Everyone thought it was an great match and a very natural-looking "hair hat." I, of course, hated it. As one of the women there (who had a great sense of humor) said, "It makes you taller, too!"

That night at midnight, when all was quiet except for wind and rain, I took the inevitable plunge. I washed my hair for the first time in a week (using Nioxin shampoo to detox the scalp and encourage healthier follicles for re-growth). I indulged in a long, relaxing shower; yet another moment to remember.

Today when Greg gets home from work, he has a little plumbing job to do. Evidently I didn't catch quite all the hair that let go when granted freedom from its hairspray shackles. And now I am about to put the hair in the photo outside for the birds to nest in. Thanks, Josh, for the suggestion. It makes me smile to put it to good use.

* LiveStrong is sponsored by the Lance Armstrong Foundation

** An earlier blog gives credit for the phrase "winning the chemo lottery" to my stepdaughter, Katy. I've used many times since starting Abraxane treatment(vs. the really wicked stuff I had last time).