His and Hers head shaving

Today was just a wonderful day. The half day at work on the non-infusion day breezes by and leads to a wide open afternoon. Sharon gave me a fabulous and desperately needed massage; I felt so much better after that, I almost didn't want to go off to other activities but I had appointments to keep.

I'm glad that I did keep the appointments, too. I had reached the point of gross-out with the shedding hair and was able to get an emergency head-shaving appointment at the Rodney Mitchell salon in Hillsboro Village to have both Dave's and my heads shaved, sitting side by side, me being buzzed all the way, and Dave stopping with a crew cut at my request as I prefer to be the balder of the two at this time; it seems only proper, only fair. The stylists who work there and hosted the "Look Good Feel Better" program on Monday had mentioned that the salon offers these services on a complementary basis to cancer patients, but I didn't expect them to be able to fit us in at the last minute, nor to do Dave's hair gratis as well. It was fun, and my head feels much better now, and the wig much more comfortable.

We did this on our way to a farewell reception to show appreciation for Dr. David Johnson, my husband's oncologist and the driving force behind the oncology department at Vanderbilt for many years, who is now moving on to Dallas. It was a lovely reception and it made me proud and excited to be part of the University Medical Center. Sorry to see Dr. Johnson go, though; he is well loved for a very good reason, and so many of us from patients to faculty to his colleagues will miss him, his humor, humanity and intelligence. I'm very happy to have his contact information and invitation to call him if I need him. It's very comforting.

I've been pretty diligent about avoiding white sugar and flour, and in general keeping refined foods to a minimum since my diagnosis-that's probably the main reason I've lost the weight. Some days, though, you just gotta live a little. We took a break in the village after our hair cuts and before reception and had pastry at Provence.  Dessert before dinner. Afterward, Ted's Montana Grill for bison burgers. Did I mention I'm hungry ALL the time? I'm keeping meat to a minimum (still only eating natural/organic/grassfed offerings) along with the sweets, drinking tons of water (no vino during chemo) and taking handfuls of supplements, I've quit coffee and drink lots of green tea daily, am doing wheatgrass almost daily-heck, I've just gotta push the boat out every now and then. Both the pastry and the burger were divine.