Hair, hair, everywhere: in a plastic bag, on my shoulders, on my pillows, in the tub, etc.

On my way home yesterday from an errand downtown, I remembered I was going to drive by Rudy's, a hair chop shop in my neighborhood.

I had gone there about a month ago to have my hair cut short in preparation for dying it blond and then it falling out.

I decided to just get it over with. Pulling my hair out in front of others for the shock value is fine, but not something I want to do for very long.

When I walked in, the man who had cut my hair before was not busy. He remembered me. My first visit there, I had told him about starting chemo and he told me both his parents were on chemo. Yesterday I said "It's time..." and blithely pulled out some hair to prove it.

I told him I wanted to save what he cut off (it's in the bag in the photo above) and I wanted it cut down to about a half-inch. He asked me if I was sure. Of course I was sure. I wouldn't have walked in if I was waffling.

He cut it off and wouldn't let me pay. When he was done, the haircutter next to him said "I'm a survivor, too." We chatted and as we chatted I wondered not for the first time why I dislike the term "survivor" in reference to cancer. I don't feel like a survivor now and I don't think I'll use that term later. If you know me personally and can think of a term that's more fitting for me, please let me know.

When a friend saw the photo above, he said "Your hamster looks sick. You probably shouldn't keep it in a plastic bag..."

I talked to my cousin Rich this morning. He said he's been reading my blog and added "Hair's over-rated."

It's falling out very fast. This photo was taken this morning, after I gently massaged my scalp in the shower. Even now, in the late afternoon, there's a discernable difference from this morning. I'm very glad now that I cut it short yesterday. It would have been hard to have it fall out when it was longer.

My hair appears to be falling out in the way that hair falls out for many men. It's fastest straight up from my eyebrows and heading back. And hair's disappearing just about everywhere on my body, except my eyebrows and eyelashes, though I'll probably be without those, also.

And at last! Some nausea! I woke up about three in the morning a little queasy. I got up and took a pill and the nausea disappeared.