The Latest on Robin - 12/28/04

 
Well, it finally happened. Robin's hair is gone.

A few days ago, we were reading a magazine article about chemotherapy options. One of Robin's chemos was described as causing "profound" hair loss. The other was described as causing "rapid" hair loss. We didn't realize what "rapid" and "profound" TOGETHER meant until Tuesday morning!

It started on Monday, but Tuesday morning, while shampooing, Robin's hair was coming out in clumps. It was very traumatic. She decided to let John (who has been sporting a buzz-cut himself for several months) cut the rest. Robin felt that this was a better choice than losing hair all day long at work.

After the initial trauma was passed, Robin handled it very well. Fortunately, (thanks to her friends) she already had a wig that looks very much like her own hair. She said that some of the men at work complemented her on her "doo". Robin even pulled the wig off for some of her friends at work so they could see her "Yoda" look. (She prefers to call it the "Sinead O'Connor" look).

By the way, her blood levels were tested yesterday morning (amid all this other stuff) and all blood levels were good.

Upcoming events:

Tomorrow, December 30th, Robin will get a PET-Scan to see if they can determine if the tumor on her trachea is cancerous. This test is not 100% conclusive, but it should give better indications than her previous scans, and it is less invasive than a biopsy.

On Tuesday, January 4th, Robin should receive her second chemo treatment. We are hoping that they have the PET-Scan results by then, but it is doubtful, since there are holidays in-between.

I'll try to send another update after this treatment, but certainly after we get the PET Scan results.

Larry

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