Neutrophils and Wigs

What is with the name of this entry?! Neutrophils and Wigs? Let's just say my creative juices are letting me down today.

Those no good neutrophils!
There is a balance to chemotherapy. Kill any potential cancer cells but don't allow too many of the good cells, those fighting off infection and keeping you healthy, to drop off. It seems we are still working to strike that balance for Nan.

Chemo #2 was scheduled for Friday, March 2nd. This would have been 2 weeks after her first chemo. Turns out her neutrophils were too low and thus chemo was canceled and rescheduled for the following Friday, March 9th. This was a bummer for us all but especially for Nan.

Take two: Friday, March 9th.
Neutrophils still too low - in fact they were lower than the previous week! How could this be?! Nan's nurses seemed convinced that her body must be trying to fight something off - any possibility she had been around someone sick? (that's me, raising my hand on behalf of my germ-y 6 and 9 year old kids) New plan, Nan would need some neutrophil boosting medication to ensure chemo could happen. She was scheduled for two injections of Neupogin over the next week and put on the chemo calendar for Thursday, March 15th.

We are all keeping fingers and toes crossed that Neupogin does the trick and Nan gets this second round of chemo tomorrow.

Now, onto those wigs! Let's just be clear, with the first rounds of chemo years ago Nan was able to maintain her thick mane of hair much to the shock and awe of her long-time hair stylist. That being said, with a diagnosis of Alopecia prior to starting up chemo again it was likely just a matter of time before Nan needed to call it quits with her hair. With good friend Lori in tow it was off to try on wigs and find some hats and scarves. After trying a few things on I think Nan became more 'okay' with the idea of a wig, finding one that even looked like her old 'do. She arrived home with a "new hair cut" (per Luca, 6 year old grandson) and some hats and scarves to keep her head cozy and warm. Honestly, if there is anyone who can pull off this scarf and hat thing, it's my mom - she looks glamorous as ever!