It is hard to believe that Jim can be four weeks into this chemo thing and how good he feels. The hip pain (where the biggest tumor was) has subsided so much that he has quit using the cane and now moves with a fairly normal gait. When we are walking side by side I'm walking at my normal pace. His stomach has been a bit "wiffy" (a word my deceased mother used to use whenever her stomach felt a little off). That was the word Jim used when I asked him how he felt last night. He knows it brings a smile to my lips when I hear it - because it makes me think of her. Anyways, he took one of the anti-nausea pills and in pretty short order he felt better. He has had multiple people hammer into him that he should not wait to take it. At the first sign of discomfort he needs to take it. He did - and it worked!
Jim is losing his hair in a big way. Every day this week he pulls another big gob of hair out of the shower drain. He is also using a lint roller on his pillow each morning to "clean it up"! It appears that the dark hair is going first as he only has gray left on the top and sides. He still has dark hair in the back but it is starting to get pretty blotchy. He is rapidly approaching the point in which he is going to have it buzzed off. I asked him this a.m. if it was weird looking in the mirror. He said, "Yes, just a little bit". I'm pretty sure I would not even go out in public without having my head covered at this point. But I think that I'm alot more vain then Jim is. I think also that women in general would deal with the whole hair loss thing much harder then men. If you'd like to see a current picture of him (taken yesterday) you can go to Becca's blog where she has posted two shots.
We've heard quite a few hair loss stories lately that have been pretty interesting. One person told us about a gal who had cancer twice, had chemo twice, lost her hair twice, and each time it came back a little different. We also were told about a guy who had no hair on the top of his head before receiving chemo and when it came back in later he had hair on the top again. How weird is that? So now we play the wait and see game. How will it affect Jim...hmmm....???
So for now, all is well. Jim is feeling pretty good. I can't say he is looking pretty good..but that is from a cosmetic perspective. He is smiling because he is so glad about the decreased pain in his hip/leg. He is working and not feeling overly tired at the end of the day. Bottom line - we have alot to be thankful for. We are blessed in SO MANY WAYS! We also know we are blessed to have family and friends who care enough to pray for him and his recovery. Thank you so much for that! Once again, I will share Jim's work email address so if you want to send him any wishes you can do so. It is jim@customhose.com .
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