Hair Revisited

I have done hair-on-the-head updates but not elsewhere. So here's a brief elsewhere.

Underarms - this hair still hasn't grown back post chemo (we're talking December chemo here too). I am delighted as underarm shaving is a bit boring. 

Legs - hair fest. The mistake I made was shaving them which triggered the whole lot to grow even thicker. I can't be bothered to shave them again. 

Eyebrows - thin. Looking at makeup options to make them visible. Although I've never been great at them.

My head hair has over 1/2cm of regrowth now, it's fluffy and looks better than when it was shorter. No further head hairloss since radiotherapy #2 and the brief chemotherapy #2. 

Hearing Revisited

Have I mentioned my hearing? For the last god knows how many years (since maybe 2004?) I've had tinnitus. I get on with it all, it doesn't stop me from doing anything. 

But.

I am wondering whether the radiotherapy has affected what I can hear. It's possible. But maybe not. 

Earlier today we went to the cinema with the Brownies. I found some dialogue in the film difficult to follow - things I might have heard clearer in the past. Song lyrics too. They kind of blurred into something that made no sense.

(edited to add - when I went to the ENT dept back in the early 2000s I was diagnosed being only able to hear either vowels or consonants as each has a different frequency. I can't remember which way round it was though - but that's my hearing for you anyway).

It was weird. I've noticed that husband's voice seems quieter than usual, the teen too. But what if it's actually me with the problem and they're doing what they've always done? 

One to keep an eye on. 

Hunger Revisited

Seriously. This hunger is too much.

Husband reckons it's steroid related, I'm not so sure. Other than right now I need a giant bag of crisps and that's with husband outside starting the BBQ. Which we have lots of food for.

Which I need to eat now.

I'm not starving but I'm the hungriest I've been in a few weeks. 

It's becoming a bit of an obsession. 

Second Tumour Stuff

Last week I finished my second session of Radiotherapy. I kept it quiet, apart from a handful of people because I felt a bit like I had failed myself and I didn't need to tell everyone (this happens at times, okay?). 

Initially it was going to be three weeks, but the location of the new tumour (which is still quite small) was close to my spinal cord, so it was decided to make it two weeks and hope for the best. 

I asked my neuro nurse whether my upcoming MRI will show any improvement with the new tumour, and was told that it's unlikely we'll see anything as the imaging will be fuzzy. That's a new one on me, so another to add to the list of things to learn about. 

Neuro nurse said I'm doing extremely well with the treatment - especially as I've had no seizures which I swear they think I should have had by now, the amount of times I'm asked. I've had my nausea/food aversion period, and I feel like I might be going back into the dry skin phase now. Fortunately I have all the moisturisers ever because I'm a sucker for stuff like that. 

We chatted more, and there's a chance I might be on a different chemotherapy fairly soon. I think this is to zap tumour #1 (aka Greebo) and who knows what it'll do to tumour #2 (unnamed). 

I have two Radiotherapy masks now. Got to think of names for them. The only names that come to mind are Hinge & Bracket.  

The Hunger

My hunger issues appear to be over. However, in place of this is the need to be eating all the time, ever.

Right now I want Pringles. It is a bad idea for me to have Pringles as I've just done my blood sugar test and it was high (we had a Greek lunch). But I need to eat. My tastebuds are dictating they need a slightly cheesy crispy thing and they need it now. 

So I have to pretend I'm not hungry and don't need this food more than anything else ever. I distract myself, classic distraction technique, watch some crappy tv to make me think of other things.

But still the taste of the Pringles is in my head. 

I am grateful I seem to be eating normally, but resentful of the Pringles cravings I'm having. At least they're on offer with the supermarket at the moment...

In summary, I'm a diabetic (insulin controlled) as I'm back on steroids and my diet needs to improve. As in, no Pringles. So I think I've done okay today denying this craving. 

A Long Weekend

I like how when we get an extra day off, a bank holiday it's classed as a long weekend. It also means I have no radiotherapy on Monday because of this - so all back to normal on Tuesday. 

That extra day makes all the difference. 

I can tell I've got a dry cough, not sure if it's hayfever or an actual cold but as I'm so close to the end of this phase of treatment I'm hopeful things will be fine, especially with the extra day. Oh and a nice sunny weekend and a child-free weekend too as she's going off on her practice trek for Duke of Edinburgh Bronze. 

So it feels like it could be a nice time to just slow down, eat well and relax. 

(and miss my child)

Side-effect wise, everything feels normal again other than not being able to sleep properly. My legs are a little bit dry, remedied with some moisturising cream I've been prescribed, and a drowsy antihistamine. I get there in the end, though last night slept from around 11pm until 6.30am which was the old sleep patterns I had back in the pre-brain-injury days. I'm sure tonight it'll get wonky again. I'm sure. 

So this phase of treatment will end soon, then more MRI scans to see if it did any good. Then we'll know more. My sister asked if all the waiting was frustrating, but I don't think about it. I don't think it would be helpful - we get the info when we get it (so to speak). They moved me forward with this Radiotherapy as there was a space and accommodated what needed doing. 

So yeah, who knows what happens next? 

What Date is It?

Well, considering I wasn't sure what day it was yesterday, it now appears I've lost a whole date. I'm not sure how. 

I log my blood sugars three times a day - all for the diabetes reporting of course. But today as I put in the next date, the 22nd May, I realised it is in fact the 23rd. I'm not aware of missing a day - lord knows I'd happily skip a day if I could. But it's not there, it's missing. The 22nd definitely happened because it was yesterday and I had a friend pop over for a catch up - so I didn't sleep through it or anything (if only). 

It's a bit weird. Not losing sleep weird, but weird.