Mr. Clean I Am Not

Back in June (which seems ages ago) I got pretty caught up in the USA's World Cup pursuit. I bit the bullet and purchased an American flag bandanna on Amazon.com for $1.50 to show my support and also to look like a redneck at the lake for July 4th(I succeeded at both).  At the time I never would have thought that I would be in a position where I would need a bandanna out of necessity to cover up my oddly shaped bald head.

I bring this up because I have a consult with my medical oncologist (that would now be the 3rd oncologist to join my team of doctors, but who is counting) tomorrow afternoon to discuss the treatment plan and schedule for chemotherapy.  Honestly, when I received my initial diagnosis it was the thought of chemo that scared me more than the threat of not surviving this battle.  You hear such horror stories about people that have had such terrible side effects from their chemo treatment.  Especially sitting here feeling 100% healthy, it is hard to fathom that I will have to potentially feel very sick for >6 months in order to hopefully feel the exact same way I do now.

I realize now that while yes there is a distinct possibility that I could be facing some severe side affects, it is by no means a foregone conclusion.  I have talked to a number of friends who have told me about people they know that have had very minimal side affects and have felt totally healthy throughout the treatment.  There are a lot of factors that will play a role in this (recipe, pathology, health, age, etc) so until proven otherwise I am taking the mindset that I will have some bad days, but there will also be a lot of good days that will allow me to go about some sort of normal schedule.  As I posted earlier, a positive mental attitude is so important when facing challenges such as these.  I know it sounds hokey for me to continue talking about the power of the mental state, but I've talked to a few cancer survivors who initially were very down after their diagnosis, and it wasn't much later on when they finally committed to positivity that their recovery really started to improve.  Try and apply that to any obstacles you have faced with both a positive and a negative state of mind:  Which were more successful? Which were less of a struggle?

Of course one side affect I will not be able to avoid is the hair loss.  For those of you that know me, you are familiar with the fact that I wear visors instead of hats, but those probably aren't in the cards for the next few months, so I am open to any type of head wear suggestions.  My dad is convinced that one of those hats with the fake ponytail hanging out the back is the one for me, but I'm more of a rat tail guy, so I don't think that will work.  Either way, I will wear any hat at least once, so break out the big guns everybody.

Thank you for your support!

Michael