Friday, September 4, 2015

Glass, #iheartveggies, zen, my hair plan, and soulmates

This week, I bought a coffee sip-top that fits on mason jars.  A company called "Cappow".



Omg.  I will never drink coffee or tea from a plastic portable cup, by choice, ever again.  The taste difference is AMAZING!!  I already had a glass water bottle, which my mom bought me.  It was recommended for chemo patients because they are sensitive to metal and plastic tastes of those type of containers.  I love my glass water bottle.  In fact, I accidentally lost it and almost immediately replaced it with another one.  So I was curious about substituting glass for my other beverage containers.  Its so awesome.  And environmentally friendly.  And I just feel like its better.  No secret BPA chemicals or anything else hiding in my daily consumed beverages.   I will be buying more.  And getting a coozie for them.  And maybe getting some of the lunch box type items too.  I use them for my breakfast smoothies too.  Cappow!  They are awesome.

I've been doing a good job of eating healthy consistently too.  In fact, when I eat something that is a less healthy choice, I feel gross afterwards.  Like, that food doesn't belong in my body.

And this next statement is shocking.

I.  Crave. Vegetables.

Its so weird.  We had parent teacher conferences today, and I spent all morning dreaming about going to Planet Sub and getting their Meatless Masterpiece sandwich.  Mushrooms, green peppers, onions, black olives, cream cheese, whole wheat bread.  yummy yummy.  I fulfilled that dream and it met every one of my expectations.

I'm also drinking my first ever Matcha tea.  A Matcha Mocha actually.  Which is supposed to be the king of all antioxidants.    its SUPER GREEN.  A popular drink in Japan for Zen Buddhists when they meditate.  Yep, right up my alley.  My new zen self.

I left work at 3:38 today.  Yes!  And have a full Labor Day weekend ahead of me, without any work to do.  (except for two things I'm finishing up here at the coffee shop before I head home).

So I found a girl who documented her hair growth after her chemo treatment (which was the same as mine) and my hair seems to be doing about the same thing as hers.


I'm 8 weeks out right now.  My eyebrows and my eyelashes are almost fully grown back in.  They sprouted up out of nowhere!!!  It seemed seriously like overnight.  I just use a little bit of eyebrow filler now to darken up the outsides where its still a little thin.  In her video, there's such a difference between week 9 and week 10!!  So here's my plan:  I'm going to get my first "haircut" at about 10 weeks.  The sides of my hair are definitely sticking out around my ears.  That could use a trim, at the very least.  My hair lady could possibly do some magic and shape it into something pixie and cute.  Maybe do some color so its not so drab and grey looking (my hair is just a boring ash brownish-grey with about 20 actual silver-grey hairs popping through). And then put the wig away for good!!

I have loved my wig, and it served me well.  But I'm so over it.  Itchy, hot, and fly-aways in my face all the time.  But I love its color.  I think I'll strive to match that color while I wait for my hair to return to its original pigment.  Which, according to google, it will after a certain amount of time.

Well, I start my radiation on Tuesday.  I won't be allowed to wear deodorant or lotion during the week.  That could be interesting!!  And I have to use a certain kind of soap and massive amounts of aloe on my skin.  I also can't wear normal underwire bras.  Oversized sports bras, is what they said.   The ones I have already are not too tight, so I think they will work.  But I found a couple more this afternoon at a sale at the Gap.  (40% off everything this weekend!  Holy cow!  I bought 3 pairs of jeans, some shorts, and a couple tops along with the sports bras..  I saved mucho bucks!)  I'm just worried about how it will feel on my skin, when it starts becoming raw.  Google recommends 100% cotton and super soft.  Well, sports bras are usually spandex and other stretchy stuff.  Not cotton.  So at some point I might break down and buy some really nice 100% cotton specialty ones made special for radiation patients.  We will see.

So, aside from the daily reminder with my wig, scars, and avoiding lifting things with my right arm, its almost as if I never had cancer at all.  I do however get noticeably run down after lunchtime.  I have decided that from now on, after full recovery or not, that I will take a power nap after lunch.  I bought one of those zero-gravity chairs set up behind my desk at work.  So about 20 minutes before my afternoon classes, I drop everything, sit in my reclining chair with a pillow and a blanket and close my eyes.  There's tons of evidence on the all-mighty Google that all people on the planet should be doing this anyway.  The power of the power nap.


Oh, one more thing.  Superman presented me with a surprise tattoo a few weeks ago, to celebrate the good news from my surgery.  This isn't a picture of his actual one, but it is the same design and he had it outlined in two shades of pink in addition to the black:

I love it so much, I might have to get it too.  (you would think I would be over the whole needle thing by now....)

Also, I came home last night and found him watching "When Harry Met Sally".  After I laughed at him, he informed me that it was in his top 5 favorite movies.  I knew marrying him was the right decision.  If my fourteen year old self had known that this was how my life would turn out, my adolescence would've been much less unsettling!  :D

#soulmate

2 comments:

  1. Hi Heather! This is Valerie (Cole) Weber from KU. Amy told me about what you've been going through and I'm working my way through your blog. You are an amazing woman!

    So I came across this list and immediately thought of you: http://www.buzzfeed.com/elainawahl/32-things-every-elephant-lover-needs-in-their-life#.tqN4NwwOzx

    I especially like the salt and pepper shakers and the butt bookmark, but there's lots of good stuff!

    Anyway, my thoughts and prayers are with you often even though we haven't seen each other in a while. Keep on keeping on, rock star!

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    1. Valerie! Thanks for the message. :)

      I loved the buzzfeed link. I want ALL of the elephant things.

      I hope you're doing well!

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