Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no 'hair' .... Can't live, can't breathe with no 'hair' ....

It's falling out !!! (My hair) Today.... as in, right now !! Yesterday it wasn't... today it is. In clumps too.
I was prepared for it..... just not today. I knew it was going to happen. I just thought it would be after the next lot of chemo... and I wouldn't be at work ! I'm not really quite ready today... I was preparing for 2 weeks time. I haven't had chance to practice my bald look yet. Hopefully it won't take much practice, especially as I only have overnight now to get it down pat !! eBay might take a hammering tonight.... get your hats online eBay sellers.... I'm coming !!! Hat donations also welcome peeps....... Oh well..... here goes I suppose. Now I must go out and get that Hermes scarf !! ..... and the clippers - gulp.

Piet Mondrian - Art Gallery of WA

Anyway... I am drug freeeeeeeeeee!! I can't believe how different I feel compared to the past 6 months. I'd really forgotten how it felt. In fact it's been nine months since I felt like this... in fact, I've not been this weight and felt like this. Nine months ago I was "post surgery" and still losing weight. So to be able to enjoy the way I feel at the moment is quite a nice feeling. I'm still tired. I've been sleeping a lot. But during the day I feel good. I went back to work yesterday for just two weeks. This is how long I have until the Stem Cell implant happens. Yesterday Dirk & I went to hospital to visit my nurse practitioner - Tina - She went over the whole process of phase two. And I have to say, she is pretty amazing. We also bumped into my Dr - Dr Brad. He was saying how well my collection went. To understand how the collection calculations work I have copied the following:

"How many stem cells do I need? Over the years, a number of studies have been completed to determine the number of stem cells you need to safely undergo high-dose therapy. The number of stem cells is quantified by a special laboratory technique called “CD34+ cell analysis by flow cytometry.” A small sample of the stem cell collection is tested for the number of CD34+ cells in the product. We know that a minimum number of stem cells to safely complete a transplant is 2 million CD34+ cells per kilogram of body weight. The number of CD34+ cells is checked in each daily collection and the number tallied. The stem cell collection process continues daily until the planned number of stem cells is collected – usually 1–4 days. Some transplant centres check the number of CD34+ cells BEFORE starting leukapheresis to make certain there will be a good collection that day. Most transplant physicians collect enough stem cells for two transplants (over 4 million D34+ cells per kilogram body weight). "

Giorgio de Chirico
Art Gallery of WA

The reason Dr Brad and Tina were so happy was that my "CD34 - Absolute Count" was 97.3 from just one day !! Yay me !! (They needed the count to be 4 Million CD34+ cells per kilogram of body weight.... mine was 9.7 Million - I think!!)
The next hour was spent talking to Tina bout the next stage. One comment that kept being repeated was " I'm not going to lie to you.... it's not going to be easy"
Diarrhoea, tiredness, sickness, mouth ulcers, indigestion, fever, bruise easily, hair loss..... these were the most common side effects. My body must have heard this and saved me the worry of the "hair loss" by getting that one over with nice and early !! Thanks body !!
So anyway... I was also thinking about my blog and once I start this next stage. I will try my utmost to blog what's happening, but the posts may be very short and also randomly posted  as I really do not know how I am going to be. Like I said though, I will try my best to share what's going on.

Black cockatoo in our tree

I have no idea how I'm going to manage a photo a day too. I mean, how different does a ceiling look day after day !! Another thing I will have to do my best with.
One of the most exciting things that has happened this week though..... and it negates all the above feelings and makes me happy...... is that my dad has booked his flights and will be coming to visit. BIG YAY !!! Soooo excited and cannot WAIT to hug him. If there is one thing that is going to get me through all of this, it's the thought of seeing all my family soon. If all goes according to plan, we may have a wedding to plan for January. This is going to keep me very busy and just a tad excited. But before I jumped too far ahead, I will get through this so I can get excited about 2013. This is my plan.......

Wahol

Note: I caught up with a very dear friend last week and we decided to go to the Art Gallery of WA.  They had an exhibition of Picasso to Warhol. I had a great time taking snaps of the art. Afterwards we came home and hit the vino..... I believe I went to bed around 2:30am.... to be honest with you, I can't remember....