Lint roller on head works......

2014.03.29

Woke up early but stayed in bed anyway. The day is too long if I get up when I wake up.

Then after two more hours it was time to get up and take those pills and then hop in the shower. Now because there is stubble left on my head that is only 3 mm when I wash my head my hands are covered with small pieces of hair. Not as shocking as when it was long but still an interesting experience. I decided to try and use the lint roller to get the hair off my head. It worked. Peter had fun rolling it on my head.

Lint roller works to get hair off of head.

Our first order of the day was to get the ladder and the long pole and take down the mapgpie nest again. Those two birds do not give up at all. They have now rebuilt the nest 3 times. Peter used the pole as my Dad held the ladder and I stood out in the street supervising. Of course the neighbors came out to enjoy the fun too. No one likes those two birds and we are hoping they get the hint soon they need to find a new tree.

Then Peter and I went to get his watch fixed but of course the store was closed today. Luckily, we were near his brother's house and could stop in for a quick cup of tea. We even got to take some bakery "semlor" home with us. They are a Swedish specialty of a bread bun with almond paste and whipped cream in the middle. They were so good. Thanks Anders.

Stop at the supermarket on the way home so we had everything we needed for tonight's dinner guests. My Mom and Dad prepared the dinner and we helped them. It is fun to have such good food every night. Thanks Mom and Dad.

Martin and Petra arrived and we could sit down and eat soon after the boys had finished grilling the chicken outside on the grill. We laughed, we ate, and ate and ate and then laughed some more. I even had some wine with dinner tonight. Dessert was 3 different sorts of girl scout cookies and some of the semlor. Mmmmmmm goooooooood.............. 

We even facetimed with my sister and brother in the US. My nephew Jackson, got an "A" on his Bravery paper from school. Well, done Jackson. Both of my brothers have shaved their heads for me. Amazing. 

The clocks are being put forward one hour tonight here in Sweden for daylight savings time. I hope I can sleep a bit tomorrow.

Enjoying life each day and living in the here and now. I am seeing progress as I continue my journey to kick cancer's ass.

LOVED. FOOD. KICK CANCER'S ASS. GIRL SCOUT COOKIES. FRIENDS. LAUGHING. GOOD FOOD. SOUL.

Shaved Heads and ABBA

2014.03.27

What a day! Awoke at 4:30 a.m. thanks to the steroids. I got up out of bed at 6 a.m. Took my pills, took my shower and my hands were worse than gorilla hands as more and more hair fell out. Got the kids up and got them to the train on time.

Today was a day of excitement because I decided to shave my head and the whole family was going to be in on it. And after that some of us were going to the ABBA museum.

My Mom, Dad, youngest son and I get in the car to head into town to the world's best hairdressers. SOUL. We arrive at 10 am and the two older boys leave school for a little while to get this family event going. We are greeted with hugs, we take a before picture and I sit in the chair to go first. Ulrica gives me a big mohawk to start and then makes it a little smaller. That was fun for 5 minutes. Then all of it is gone. The boys are watching intently, and a little nervously of course. Ulrica washes my head and then I put my glasses on and holy crap my hair is gone and there is just a little peach fuzz left. Feels good but still surreal.

Then its my oldest son's turn. Ulrica shaves it and he is brave and looks great. Then my middle son takes a seat and shaves to 6 mm. He is also brave and has a great bald head. Then my youngest sits down. He has not cut his hair since August 15th of last year and had hoped to get it cut when the school year was over so today was a big deal for him. He got an awesome mohawk that really highlights how handsome he is. As my youngest is getting his head shaved my Mom comes over and says that my Dad is also going to shave his head. I am shocked and honored. So then it is my Dad's turn. He looks great with a bald head.

 

We take the after picture after almost two hours of shaving. What a joy to be in a family like this. Lucky for all of the others who shaved their heads today is that their hair will start growing back right away mine will be a few months behind them. When my youngest brother got the pictures of us, he went right out and shaved his head too. AWESOME.

Ulrica and the girls at Soul made today so special by shaving all of our heads. I really appreciate all you guys have done for me. GRATEFUL.  THANK YOU ULRICA.

The girls from SOUL and ME.

So, not to let the rest of the day go to waste I had booked a visit to the ABBA Museum for 1 p.m. We drove to the museum, got a quick lunch and then headed in to the museum to have the ABBA Experience. We were there almost two hours and had many laughs and sang a few songs. 

Time to head home and make some dinner before my walk with Annica. I have energy and feel good and need to keep up the routine of going for walks. During our walk Peter calls and sends pictures of the house he had just looked at in London. We got the low down and started to make some plans. Everything works out for a reason and maybe the house buying will work out. The walk was refreshing  both for my physical and mental status. THANKS ANNICA

Well, the leftovers are gone so my Dad and I headed to the supermarket and bought a bunch load of food and then headed to my mother-in-law to pick up the dog. Finally home at 9:30 it was time to have a chat with my hubby on facetime. Technology makes it easier.

A long day to say the least but it feels good that so many people care. I feel loved and now there won't be hair falling out at all and getting in the way. What fantastic family and friends I have. BLESSED.

BALD. LOVED. FAMILY. KICK CANCER'S ASS. GRATEFUL. SOUL.

WAR PAINT

2014.03.04

 Today is the last day of "nothing will ever be the same again"....................

I got up and went through all the motions: shower, chatting with Nikki, try to wake kids, wash hair, try again to wake kids, unload dishwasher, kids finally get up (and shower, eat, brush teeth put clothes on), visit from nurse for my jab, get out the door and into the car. We were only 15 minutes later than usual but everyone got to school on time.

Home again and its a bit of time for breakfast before I get back in the car and get to experience morning rush hour in Stockholm. (not bad compared to the Long Island Expressway...) Trying to find a parking spot near my hairdresser is never easy. I finally find one about 3 blocks away. I pay for on street parking the whole day to be prepared. Then, I look at the parking sign regulations.........on that particular street there is no parking on Tuesdays between 9 am and 4 pm for street cleaning. Great that I could make a donation to the parking company. Wasn't that nice of me? Frustrated I drove one more block to the undergound garage and paid again. Lucky me.

The walk to the world's best Hair Dressers made me a little nervous of how I was going to be received and what I was going to say. I did not have a time booked, but I have been a customer for 18 years and was confident that my WAR PAINT transformation would happen sometime today. My hair place is called SOUL and it is run by two fantastic people called Sophie and Ulrica. There is always a great environment there and always something going on. (everyday goings on would lend themselves to a sitcom) I love it.

World's best hairdressers.

I came in a bit before opening time and Sophie was there and all of a sudden I teared up and couldn't talk. Now it was real. I finally managed to get it out of me and waited for Ulrica to come so that she could fit my haircut in sometime during the day. I had planned on sitting there all day if I needed to.

Ulrica arrived and was a hero when she made time for me and made it look so good. It was hard to see the hair getting cut and becoming shorter and shorter, it was made worse because I didn't have my glasses on. I felt taken care of and cared for and I knew that was how I would feel being there. It was comforting. Both Sophie and Ulrica are AWESOME. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TODAY.

A final wash of that hair.....

Ulrica crafting her handiwork on me.

Hair cut was done just in time to call Mia and ask about lunch. I was in luck because it wasn't just Mia and but also Anna K. We ate and laughed and talked and laughed and talked and then we drank some tea and laughed again. JUST WHAT I NEEDED. LOVED.

Anna, me and Mia

Now I am prepared for the battle of my life. 

The boys all think my hair looks good. Kevin can't wait to get his head shaved when it is time for me to shave my head. He is amazing.

Peter is on his way home from London. He will be with me tomorrow when we meet the DOCTOR for the real and final diagnosis with what stage of cancer and exactly what type of agressive non-hodgkins lymphoma that I have and how it will be treated.

Many questions to prepare tonight and I look forward to the answers with a bit (OK, a lot) of trepidation. Once armed with those answers I will make myself ready for the challenge of Thursday's chemo.

Katy Perry's song Roar:
I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire
'Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar
Louder, louder than a lion
'Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar

Watch out CANCER here I come.