Um.... why haven't I done this before????????

Seriously people, let's just start out with this....

BAM!!!! Awesome! Really, though. Apparently I have quite the cute head. No hairy moles, no large dents, so why haven't I shaved it before? It so easy and fun. I can feel the wind blowing against the skin and it's SO cooling. :) I am sure I will be happy enough to get hair again, but for now this is fantastic. :) My mother is hoping for red curly hair when all is said and done. We shall see. :) So, now for the days doings and how we got to the point of baldness.

We started out the day with my first blood draw from my Hickman Line. PS, here's a pic of that. Sort of. We've got some gauze and such, but you can get the gist of a tube coming out of my chest and so forth.

So, first blood draw from this line. Kinda nice not being poked. Yup. There was some weirdness, I could feel it being pulled from inside my chest, but I'm told that weirdness will be so natural later on I won't even notice it. Whew. So, blood done, in and out, wonderful. Then off to a meeting with my team nurse to learn how to take care of the line. Normally there is a covering on it that needs to be changed every 5-7 days, but lo and behold, I cannot be a normal person. I have apparently sensitive to the tape stuff so I have to just have simple gauze and some fabric tape that has to be changed every day. Every day. Sorry mom. It's ok though. Turns out that you have to clean the clear tips that I am holding up in the picture with an alcohol pad, then flush the tubing with saline and Heprin everyday. So we are just adding the changing of the gauze as well. The shuttle drive said that I should go to nursing school after this experience, that I would think it was a breeze.

Well, once we learned all there was to know about taking care of my line and dealing with my lame skin, we ran away back to the apartment and I decided to sleep the day away. Apparently I'm getting worn out already. I'm such a wimp. :/ After a long nap, we went shopping at Fred Meyer and then off to the shave shop we went. Now, this was a good time. One, the whole process of shaving, and mailing my donation to Locks for Love was el freeeeeo! Yup. Free 99. Can't beat that huh? Then, I got the coolest gal to shave it off. She was hilarious. I asked her to give me a Mohawk first, then shave the rest. It was awesome. We have it on video, but that will have to come out some other time. :) I looked like a little boy. Really. I decided I'm gonna have to wear my earrings for sure all the time so people can know my gender. I'm so boyish. Weird. But I tell ya. It's sweet. This is the do for sure when you don't want to deal with your hair. Now, I don't have to worry about it. Oh, and who wants to pay for shampoo and conditioner anyway. So, that's it about me and my day. On to other things.

My mother, as you know, came in just three days ago. Already adventure has begun at the homestead she left. Now, to clarify, my father stayed home of course to take care of the church camp of which my parents are caretakers. So, after he assured my mother that all would be well in her absence. He went and decide to burn his face and forehead off. No really. I can sort of chuckle now that I know he's fine, but seriously????? It happened yesterday and she had only been gone dos days. What the who. Silly papa. He was lighting the pool heater and it decided to cause a fireball to give him severe 2nd degree burns across his nose and left upper cheek, forehead (major), and his left hand. After a couple trips to the ER and some hefty drugs, he is hanging out at my sisters house to recover. Wow. I feel bad for my mom. I take her away from her lubby (love hubby) and he gets hurt and there ain't a thing she can do about it. But, she seems alright. My sister is doing a wonderful job caring for him. So, there's that.

Tomorrow we have a class on chemo and Friday starts the fun. Chemo. Tuesday I will be admitted to the hospital and next Friday I will get my new stem cells. Wow... I can't believe it will finally happen. AWESOME!! K, I have yammered enough. Thank you all for your support and kindness and I hope that all of you are doing well. :)