Book Excerpts
Hair Watch – Week 19
Not to brag or anything, but it is August and I'm sitting at a lake in Minnesota and the temperatures are in the 60's during the day and low 50's at night. My only complaint is that it is too cool to get into the water. Poor me. Steven has traveled with us to be my...
My Mother
I have had a lot of support from family and friends during this journey through breast cancer, and one of my strongest supporters has been my mother. She got on a plane all by herself after not flying for fifteen years in order to be here for my surgery. She sat up...
Hair Watch – Week 17
Seventeen weeks since I stopped Phase II and the chemo that makes your hair fall out. Can you believe it? When I had the last chemo on March 31st, my Mom asked me how long it would take for my hair to grow back. I told her that I wouldn't need my first haircut until...
Hair Watch Week 15
I'm done with hats! Seriously. No more stocking caps. No more ball caps. Raquel can stay in the drawer. I have hair now and I'm happy to flaunt it. Granted, it is too short to need styling, but I do use shampoo and conditioner . . . a drop of each. I tried to borrow...
Hair Watch – Week 13
I kind of look like I'm praying to the hair gods here, but truly I'm celebrating how even the hair is coming in. I have tiny eye lashes and my eyebrows are coming in nicely. They do tend to stick straight out, but I'm not complaining.
Hair Watch – Week 12
I'm upright and outside and with family. It doesn't get better than this!
Hair Watch – Week 11
Ah, week 11. My brother-in-law and I had a hair growing competition. I asked him when he decides it is time to trim his hair and he said, "Whenever I wake up and have bed head." Something to look forward to!<
The Trip From Hell
I have gotten several requests from readers to write about my trip from hell home from Vegas. I admit that I have a policy not to write when I'm mad. Nothing good comes from writing in anger. So it has taken a while to find the humor in our travel experience. The...
The Wedding
On June 17th, my son, Nicholas married Samantha, the love of his life. It was a beautiful, simple ceremony in Las Vegas with two dozen family and friends in attendance. The day started with my siblings and I taking our mother to breakfast and then out to teach her...
Radiation Side Effects Part II
During radiation, my biggest concern was whether or not my skin would be healed before I attended my son's wedding. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I had what I have heard called a "wet reaction." The skin on my chest and under my armpit blistered, cracked,...