A Beagle and A Baby: After the party

We all slept in on Sunday the 15th, the day after my party. Then we had a strict schedule of rest and relaxation.

There were leftover almond croissants and cold brew too.

I had to take a picture of all of my presents arranged in a pleasing manner before I put them up. Dang. I have generous friends and family.

These margarita lights were from Nick and Raquel.

That afternoon I did a little project on this table. It's actually not a table. It's a TV stand that we bought at IKEA years ago. I use it for all of my scrapbooking materials and I hate how they look piled up under there.

I messed up on cutting the fabric so it's loose on the right, but it's an improvement.

I worked on Monday the 16th. Brendan gave me a loaf of pumpkin bread as part of my present, so I took a picture to show him I was eating it for breakfast.

Then I took this picture to show him we were also eating it for dinner.

We ate all of it!

Elliott was 7 years 9 months old that day. We got his picture done in two takes.

Spencer's eczema flared up something fierce that evening, so I took pictures to email to his dermatologist. I talked to the doctor on call too.

We started treating it immediately, and even a couple of hours later he was looking better.

He was significantly better the morning of Tuesday the 17th.

I have been using a laser light cap to help accelerate my hair growth, and I had a consultation about it that day.

This is what I posted on FB.

I had an appointment with Brandy at National Hair Loss today. It's been just over three months since I started using the laser cap and she wanted to check on my progress. She also used a microscope to look at my scalp. She was very impressed! She sees no miniaturization of the hair follicles and no inflamed hair follicles. This means that chemo did not permanently damage my hair follicles and that everything is coming back well. I have no signs of genetic hair loss either. She did see a little bit of build up around some of the hair follicles in the back part of my head, but she said it was a normal amount and in the areas where everyone gets build up. She even said her build up looks exactly the same in the same areas. She recommended I use my nails to really scrub my scalp and it will remove the build up.

Brandy said that if she didn't know that I had bought the lowest cost and lowest level cap she would have sworn that I bought a much more expensive, powerful one because my hair has grown back so quickly and fully. Go me!

The first two pictures are of the top and back of my scalp, and the second two are at the front close to the hairline by my face. She said hair around your face is normally and naturally thinner.

I will have another follow-up with her in six months. She said I will have a hair shedding cycle about three months after my 12 hour surgery due to the anesthesia, so she wants to help me through that. She also asked if she could interview me about my breast cancer experience for their promotional materials. EEK!

Top of the scalp

Back of the scalp

Front of the scalp

I also took these pictures and made these collages on Wednesday the 18th to compare the progression of my hair

As a child vs about two months before my diagnosis.

Wig vs real (new) hair

After work that day I met Michael for a cappuccino before we went grocery shopping.

On Thursday the 19th Elliott and I went to the Ultimate Willy Wonka Fan Party. I decided at about 2:00 that day that I wanted to dress up like Veruca. I capped it at three stores to put together the costume. I finished it in three stores. The dress is from Kohls, the tights are from Target, and the buttons are from Jo Anne's. I had all the rest, including the wig.

Not bad for very little prep time.

I met Elliott at piano lessons. That's where we took these pictures.

We were the first people to walk into the theatre and Julie Dawn Cole (the real Veruca!) insisted on a picture!

We went to this movie party last year and had such a blast. I think we even had more fun this year.

I was invited up to the front for a group picture before the movie, but even though several were taken on several cameras, nobody has posted them anywhere! I'm so disappointed.

Julie (Veruca) and Paris (Mike Teevee) spoke a little bit before and after the movie. Elliott asked them two questions!

The official meet and greet after the movie.

On Friday the 20th I had a DXA scan.

From a reputable radiology website: Bone density scanning, also called dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) or bone densitometry, is an enhanced form of x-ray technology that is used to measure bone loss. DXA is today's established standard for measuring bone mineral density (BMD).

DXA is most often performed on the lower spine and hips so I had to take off my jeans and wear paper shorts. This scan was a baseline scan because I'm having my ovaries taken out next week and that, along with medication I will take after, puts me at risk of osteoporosis.