My Dad’s cancer is lung cancer, and he has the magic type that is fast growing and aggressive, but responds well to chemo. He has started the ice blue chemo, and so far, is feeling pretty good, he tells me. Yesterday he went for his second round. The funny thing is, I swear someone in the hospital told us this type of chemo didn’t make you lose your hair. I realize in hindsight maybe that doesn’t make sense, but I swear I remember it. So on Tuesday when we were chomping on a little Japanese food Dad mentioned the hair was starting to come out, and I was a little surprised.
On Wednesday, when the chemo nurse mentioned that the hair would start falling out, Dad, with his true wicked sense of humor, reached back, grabbed a handful of hair and pulled it out – “Yep, I noticed that.” Ok, I know it may not sound funny, but Chemo Ann and I were laughing pretty hard. She swears no one has ever done that to her before. So Dad decided to take that show on the road. We walked into the barber shop, and he went up to his regular guy (who was working on someone about to get neglected) and said “Hey! I came in for that haircut last week, but look what my hair is doing now!” Repeat hair removal trick. The guy in the next station down almost died – I have never seen wider eyes, I don’t think, and he kept saying to me – “Is that real? Did he really just do that? Is that real?”
Is it sick that we find that so funny? It still makes me laugh. I will admit, I had a sad moment when the hair started coming off as the cute girl at the end shaved Dad’s head, but then it made me think “Look who’s in the Army now!” This time it isn’t the U.S. Army, like when he was 17. This time, he is joining the ranks of those who are beating back the cancer beast. Go Army!
mostlyjenine 