Grow Hair, Grow!

Gosh, it has almost been a week since I have written in my blog. Apparently, retirement is just too busy a time for me!


On Tuesday, I had a dermatology appointment for a yearly checkup. But it had been three years since I had been to see him. I would love to have said to him as I was walking out of his office, "See you in another three years!" He said a person should really be checked once a year if they have been in the sun much.......................and that certainly would be me! He used the "witches brew" to freeze three places on my face. He said they were just due to age. The reason I went to see him is because of a very small pink mark I have on my left arm. When the lymphedema therapist was massaging my arm, she noticed it. The dermatologist said it was a very small precancerous spot and he froze it. He showed me one on his arm and said mine was much smaller than his. So I came away from there feeling pretty good. It is always a worry once you have had cancer to go to appointments like that. The cute thing, was when he was checking my scalp. I said to him that he shouldn't have any trouble seeing my scalp since my hair was so thin. He said that lots of women have had some success with products like Rogaine that they have for men. It tickled me, that this bald headed dermatologist is giving me suggestions about my hair! I actually thought it was really nice of him to even mention it. So, of course, I had to "do as the doctor ordered" and went directly to a store that sells hair products. It might not help any but it is worth a try. The gal said there wouldn't be any change (if any) for 30-60 days. I wanted to tell her that I needed results sooner than that since I might be having chemo about the time my hair starts growing! But I thought it was best just to pay the high price and be on my merry way.

After my dermatologist appointment I went to my physical therapy appointment with the lymphedema therapist. She said my arm looked great. It seems to go up and down for no particular reason. It just so happened that it was down then. So I had my therapy and I have decided that I won't have any more sessions unless my arm should get really bad. If things go well for me, I will go back in a year to check in with her. I am eligible once a year to get two new compression sleeves and gloves if I meet with her yearly. I am glad that I went to see her (I went 4 times) because she gave me some valuable tips and exercises for my lymphedema.

Then on Wednesday, I went to my weekly support group meeting for women with metastatic cancer. I had missed the last two classes so it was nice to see everyone. My special friend, Shauna, had a book for me that each person gets that submits a writing for the Writer Around Portland writing class that we had taken. A couple of months ago, several gals from our support group stayed after class to participate in the writing class. I thought it would be fun to learn a little bit about how to write. Little did I know that everyone in the class was already a fantastic writer. I felt like an elementary school student in with college students. But I stuck it out and really enjoyed the class. We were given a topic to write about and then we would read it to the others in the class. Everyone always made me feel like I was doing a good job, especially the instructor. I didn't submit a writing for the book that they were going to publish, so she made it a point to tell me that she really thought I should submit one. So, I did. It is actually pretty cool to think that I have a writing in a book that will be sold at Powells, Borders, etc. I haven't read all the writings yet in the book but so far mine is the one that is the easiest to read and understand. You know how grade school kids write so you can understand it!

As you can tell by my blog, it hasn't been a real exciting week. But I have a nice weekend planned. Will write about it later and hopefully, have some pictures.

Enjoy the nice warm weather we are having.

Love to you all,

JO