Jill's Book Cafe

The wig has arrived

question mark

 

So Friday was my second chemo session and hopefully the day I was going to have the chance to choose my wig. Well the early start we envisaged for various reasons never materialised so it was straight to bloods on arrival. That set the theme for the day, as it followed the usual hunt the elusive vein scenario I’ve become used to. After two painful attempts they got what they needed, meanwhile my right arm was cheerfully displaying a lovely juicy set of veins. The problem is though once you’ve had lymph nodes removed the corresponding arm becomes redundant when it comes to injections, blood samples and even blood pressure tests for fear of infection and the onset of lymphoedema. This puts increased pressure on the remaining arm, so if your veins won’t play ball you’ve got problems.

Anyway bloods done, I headed off to pick up my anti-sickness pill ahead of the main event at 2pm. This meant we had time to grab some lunch, while I still felt like it. It also meant that after lunch I had the chance to visit the wig department we had an hour to kill before chemo (or 3 as it turned out).

So off we went. It turns out they don’t do a lot of short wigs so that reduced the choices, and then came the choice of colour. As the stylist could just about deduce from what was left of mine that it was dark, she was surprised when I said “I’d like blonde please”. She wasn’t sure, but I had been a bottle blonde about 20 years ago for several years so it wasn’t such a bizarre choice. Luckily she actually had one in that colour as someone had ordered one and not collected it, so I could actually try that one on without having to second guess exactly what the colour would look like. OH surprisingly liked it, and said it made me look younger – so result for both of us. However just to make sure we tried a couple more, the one with realistic roots was rejected – if I have to wear a wig I don’t want to look like somebody who can’t be arsed getting her roots done.  The next one was also rejected out of hand when OH said I looked like Deirdre Barlow.  So the first one it was, and after a few snips by the stylist to shorten the fringe so I could actually see – my new image was boxed and ready to come home.

So I guess you want to see it now? Well before that I felt that as this blog was supposed to reflect my experiences honestly, I should actually show a before and after. My last blog talked about my hair loss but I shied away from showing it which was probably a cop out. So not to elicit sympathy or pity, but to reflect the reality of hair loss, here’s the before:-

 

And now by the magic of monofibre filaments meet Molly in all her platinum gold glory

 

Still needs a bit of styling and I didn’t look my best today, but a vast improvement on the before as far as I’m concerned.

So I came home a happy bunny, despite a two hour delay for my chemo, with you’ve guessed it two more painful attempts to find a vein in my hand this time for the cannula. So it looks like I’ll soon be the owner of a newly installed Hickman Line in about two weeks. This of course comes with it’s inevitable list of of jolly possible problems – punctured lung, infections, septicemia, hey but at least I’ll have workable veins and can wave goodbye to the regular painful needlefests.

81 comments

  2. Bless you. This is really tough. My son is having chemo at the moment and I don’t think I really understood before how brutal it can be. You look wonderful in your wig. Sending you all the best wishes in the world. Kerry x

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks Kerry, it really makes a difference when you want to present a normal face to the world. Hope all goes well for your son, it’s not fun, and different cancers have different regimes all with their own invariably uncomfortable side effects. The hope is though that it does the trick. Wishing you both all the best, it’s tough on the family as well xx

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  4. I love your humour Jill – the comment about the roots made me snort my tea. Your new blonde look is very stylish and suits you very well. Sending you lots of positive thoughts for this coming week x

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. Ha! I can’t imagine anyone wanting a wig with roots showing! You look great! It really suits you! Shame about the lack of rainbow colours though. 😄

    Wishing you lots of strength for the upcoming week! Thinking of you, always. xx

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. Jill you look fabulous, the colour and style suit you so well. And thank you for sharing with us such a poignant moment in your life and your journey so far. As always I am in awe and full of respect for you. X

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. Jill!!!!! I thought you had to wait a longer time!!! The wig is simply lovely: a champagne shade, and it makes you look so pretty!!!!!
    Angels at watching over you!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  15. Jill it really suits you and blondes definitely have more fun 😉 I was feeling down in the dumps today but your inspiring post and humour made me realise I need a “kick up the backside” sending you big hugs x x

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  25. My darling Jill, your humour is absolutely wonderful & makes me want to come hug you sooo hard! I can see why the hair loss was such a shock to you, but it’s not the hair that makes the woman, it’s the mischievous twinkle in your eye, it’s the wicked sense of humour you have, it’s the wit & loveliness, these are what makes you YOU – and we love you for it.

    The blonde looks fantastic & if you’d not pointed out it was a wig I’d have been none the wiser! I hope it helps you feel a little more confident when venturing out.

    Much love & freaking huge squishy hugs xxxxx

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  29. I think you look amazing. This is such a thing to go through and I think finding a wig that you like must be a big step to helping you feel somewhat “normal” given what you are having to deal with x

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  30. My gosh that hair loss was dramatic. I knew you said it came out in handfuls but after one treatment I never expected it to have gone that much. The wig looks super. Good on you for choosing something you like rather than going for the ‘that will do’ approach. Did they offer you any with pink or purple streaks??

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Please log in using one of these methods to post your comment:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.