THE HAIR THING

The FAQ sheets on taxol and carboplatin - the two drugs I'll be getting - indicate that I'll lose my hair. Some people maintain that not everyone loses their hair. I'm betting that I will since the majority of people do. It will grow back and will probably be curly or wavy anyway.

Me with longish hair
mid-April

Is this my mother haunting me?

Here's the first cut. Probably
the only selfie you'll ever see
of me. The trees I'm standing
in front of are longleaf pines on
the back of my property. They
look like they are hugging.

She always wanted a curly headed little girl. I think she thought it would make me into a Shirley Temple-sweet child. Wrong. I can't count the hours I spent hunched over the sink while she poured chemicals from Toni Home Permanents over my tightly wound hair. I can still smell that stink (remember Dianne?). But my hair stubbornly refused to curl much. Ha.

As long as it comes back the same color - the result of eons of Irish genes - I guess I'll take curly/wavy hair.

If your hair is curly when you start chemo - will it come in straight? Wouldn't that be a kick?

CLEANING!
Helen and Ann came down yesterday afternoon and cleaned all the mildew and algae off the back of the house!

I know it is hard to see because of the shadows, but the siding
was an icky green and even brown in places.

Look how clean and white the back of the
house looks after Helen and Ann worked
their magic! They did a great job. Even Plank (cat)
and Roxy (dog) approve.













Chemo begins a week from today. Using this time to stock up on things I might need. Dog and cat food and treats first! I go for chemo treatment training on Wednesday. For now it seems surreal - like a mirage on the horizon. It will be real soon enough.

This is Plank on a plank. I picked him
up on Old Plank Road about 2 years
ago. I guess someone threw him out
in the woods. He was already
neutered. He is a sweet cat with a tiny
meow and a almost inaudible purr.
Unlike Pasquale (who is still missing)
who had a raspy grouchy meow and
a purr that could be heard in
the next room.

In a perverse way, I'm fascinated that I'll be getting taxol. Paclitaxel was discovered in 1962 as a result of a U.S. National Cancer Institute-funded screening program. I think, but I'm not certain, that researchers might have looked at our own Florida yew (Taxus floridana), found only in a small area east of the Apalachicola River between Bristol and Chattahoochee, Florida, but the compound was not suitable. Then they looked to the bark of the Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia). The drug can now be chemically produced without taking bark from living trees but this should be a powerful reminder how important plants are for our continued existence.

The majority of people have no idea that plants provided our first medications and poisons. The seeds and leaves of the Florida yew are poisonous to humans.

Knowledge is power and there are pages and pages on the internet with information about the two drugs. I think I don't need to study them too much and you shouldn't either. Sometimes too much knowledge can scare the bejeebers out of you.

I think that's it for now. I'll be working at the refuge this weekend. If you are nearby you should come to our First Sunday at the Refuge presentation - a stunning video by Sammy Tedder titled Local Waters: Through the Seasons. A great way to spend a cool afternoon. Since this is a video I'm thinkin' there will be popcorn and soda. . . . . .

Gail