The weeks after chemo have been a slow but positive road toward health, such as it is.
My energy is coming back, and I've been taking advantage of the unusually warm weather to take some walks, go birding, whatnot. I was very happy to have enough vigor to thoroughly clean my bathroom and do some other tidying around the house.
My insides seem to be healing up a bit. The hypersensitivity to certain odors is gone, so I'm no longer frustrated by the too-sweet fragrance of my laundry detergent. (Yes, can you imagine? Sometimes my clean clothes made me gag!) I've pretty much lost the weight I gained from the steroids I got with the chemo infusions, and my digestive and elimination systems are getting back to normal. You don't appreciate regular bowel movements until you don't have them! (Something tells me that some of you can relate.)
And yes, the hair is starting to come in. I can see some longer hairs (maybe 1/2 inch) flopping over among the buzzcut 1/4 inch bits. Some of the follicles from the shedded hair seem to be producing hairs, too; my hairline seems more prominent, and though skin is still clearly visible, my scalp looks more filled in.
Yes, I know that the hair could come in different from what it was before. No, I can't tell whether it will be curly, gray, purple, what have you. If you've ever seen the scalp of someone with alopecia, you have an idea of what some of the longer hairs look like - kind of frail. However, not all of them are like that.
The other hairs? You know, the stuff you get with puberty? Still nothing, and I don't mind a bit. I can live without shaving a while longer.
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