Dick Foster - My 2010 Challenge

Love, hope, joy are powerful healers.

Look Mom, No Hair

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Dick with Buzz Cut - April 30

Dick with Buzz Cut - April 30

Well, I finally decided to go ahead and get a buzz cut. After two days of cleaning handfuls of hair from the shower drain, I felt it would be easier to just hasten the inevitable. Mary thinks I have a nice looking scalp. I’m glad she likes it because she will be seeing a lot of it over the next six (or more) months.

One plus, I don’t need to shampoo my hair every day – saves time and money 😉 But it is a little “scary” when I look in the mirror.

It needs a little sun, but the weather this weekend will be rainy and overcast so I will have to wait a few days before I can remove the white glow!

Who knows, maybe I’ll grow to like the “Telly Salvalas” look and decide to keep my head shaven after I’m cancer-free!

Another great day – eating well and feeling fine!

Removing Metal from My Mouth

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Thank goodness I’m feeling great again today. I made my second of many trips to the dentist to remove all the old fillings with metal in them. Altogether I will have fillings replaced in nine teeth. Three yesterday and two today, so I’m half way there (almost). I say almost because the two today require a crown so I will need to return in a couple of weeks to have the permanent crown installed.

Why all the filling replacements? According to my radiation oncologist, the metal in my teeth will not play pretty with the radiation treatments that I will receive in June and July. So out with old and in with the new porcelain fillings. I’m trying to get as many of them replaced while I’m feeling good. My next chemotherapy treatment is next Wednesday. I’d like to get them all the old fillings removed before then. I have a third appointment on Monday and I’m hoping the dentist will have a cancellation on Tuesday so I can get the 8th and 9th tooth repaired.

I was worried about how painful it would be, but the miracles of modern dentistry have keep the pain to a very tolerable level.

Losing My Hair – Day 17

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We knew it was just a matter of time. I woke up this morning with a fair amount of hair on my pillow. Humm…  Later as I washed my hair, I noticed hair gathering around the shower drain. The more I rubbed in the shampoo, more hair fell to the floor of the shower. Even the hair on my upper arms gathering in the wash cloth as I showered. When I had finished showering, there was a significant amount of hair covering the drain. The hair lose seems to be evenly distributed. Looks like it thinning out.

So should I just go to the barber and get a buzz cut? Or let it fall out over the next few days, weeks? How long will it take?

Well, I decided not to get it cut today. There’s always tomorrow 😉

Still feeling great and gaining more weight!

Another Great Day – April 27

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I continue to feel stronger, eat without a problem, and have virtually no chemotherapy side-effects today! Put in another full day of work in my home office.

Mary is teaching tonight so Mom fixed dinner for Lois, Mary’s Mom, and me. Mummm, mummm good. Then we watched American Idol. One of the contestants, Aaron Kelly, is from Sonestown, PA, which is about 35 miles from my home town of Towanda, PA. So we’ve been watching to see him perform and hear what the judges have to say. Tonight he sang well, and the judges praised his performance.

Weekly Oncologist Visit – April 26

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My weekly visit to the Vanderbilt Clinic started with drawing blood. The area around my IV port is still a bit sore, but it’s much easier way to give blood than searching for a vein in my arm. As we were waiting to see Dr. Barbara, my oncologist, Mary and I were guessing at what my white blood cell count (WBC) would be today. Before the first chemo treatment, my WBC was only 3.5, last week it had dropped to 0.8, which was not unexpected but certainly required that I be careful about not being exposed to people with coughs and colds.

Anyway, Mary guessed the the WBC would be back to 3.5 and my guess was 3.2. We were both pleasantly surprised to learn that my WBC was 10.5 😉 Wow! That Newlasta shot really worked!

Weight – I had lost 5 pounds the week following chemo and I wanted to gain that back plus a few extra pounds. The results – I gained 9 pounds ! All those 850 calorie shakes and Haagen Dasz ice cream really worked.

Since I have volunteered to take part in a research study for a mouth rinse to treat oral mucosititis (irritation and ulcers in the mouth), my next chemotherapy is scheduled for Wednesday, May 5, instead of Monday. A required follow-up appointment is scheduled for seven days later on May 11.

All-in-all, it was a great weekly checkup!