Purple Hair by PDXFirefly

  Last Friday morning I washed my purple tresses for the last time.   I had a busy weekend coming up and wanted to look as good as I could while I still had my hair.   Most people like my purple hair and I absolutely love it.  It has grown on me as a sort of “badge of courage” and I’ll be sad to see it go, not  just because I am losing my hair, but because I am losing my PURPLE hair.  Portland is so weird anyway that nobody hardly notices it — at least they don’t act surprised when I go into stores and restaurants.    The reaction of little girls is the most fun to observe!!!   

     It has only been two weeks since my first chemo, and my nurse told me that my hair will definitely be gone before my second chemo (which is scheduled for Thursday, 4/9).  I figured that I might lose it on the Tuesday or Wednesday just prior to my Chemo.   But when I washed it last Friday, I felt something in my fingers as I was putting mousse in my hair.  I looked and it was a glob of hair –purple hair –full length, not just a tiny little bit.  I set it gently on the corner of the sink, the purple was easy to see against the white porcelain.  I stared at it for a while –trying to comprehend the reality of what was happening.  My hair is really going to fall out.  And soon.

       Then I went on with drying my hair, all the while praying fervently that it wouldn’t all fall out until after my lunch date on Monday.  Please just let me have my hair for this week-end.  I know it sounds stupid, but I really have some people I am meeting this weekend and I want them to see my purple hair and then it can all fall out.  

    When it does start to fall out, it is supposed to come out in clumps;  that is when people go and get their heads shaved if they want.   I’ll see how the process goes.   My girlfriend in California, who has the exact same type of cancer I do (primary peritoneal) told me that my head will hurt before  my hair falls out.   She is right;   my head has been hurting for days, so it is nice to have a bit of a warning.

      Once I lose all of my hair, it will stay gone until after chemo stops.  Then about 6-8 weeks after chemo stops, it will start to grow back in.   Let’s see 18 weeks of chemo,plus 8 weeks to start to grow in, then another 8 weeks until it’s long enough to see so that would be 34 weeks.  Hum-m-m there are 52 weeks in a year, so that would be roughly 9 months!  This is April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December!    My hair grows so very slowly, that it will take forever for it to grow back in.  I guess I’d better get used to my wigs and scarves and hats!!!

PS:  It is now Monday night and God answered my prayer.  Enough of my hair stayed in until tonight.  I was able to have my lunch date, then Happy Hour with some girlfriends, then I stopped by dance class to see everyone for a few minutes, and finally off to Dairy Queen for a sunday before heading home.   When I got home, my head was hurting and every time I touched my hair, hair came out in my hand.  I would just look at it as though I had never seen hair before.  Finally I decided to just cut it as short as possible.  Then I decided to wash it to help it fall out.  After drying it, I felt much better.  Now I look like Annie Lennex with a purple haze.  Tomorrow I will call my hairdresser and have it shaved off.  A friend who lost his wife to Luekemia last fall, called me tonight (Monday) to offer me her hats.  His timing is perfect and his generosity is greatly appreciated on many levels.  Yes, I shed a few tears, but this only means that the chemo is working.    More blood tests Tuesday and then we see the Doctor and I have my second chemo on Thursday.

   The picture shows how my brush looked when I brushed my hair on Monday and then you can see some of the hair that I cut off Monday night.