# 12 Bending Air

The inevitable began,  I started loosing hair.  We first noticed it on Friday evening and it just seemed to come out easier with each passing hour so we, (the kids and I) decided that it was time to make our move and proceeded to get down to business on Sunday evening.

I believe the initial plan was to cut an arrow in my hair and make me an "air bender".  I figured I had bent my fair share of air, and supposed that it made sense, but also wondered if I should be offended.  I was later informed by Colter that his siblings were trying to make me into a cartoon / movie character and that I should take it as a sign of great respect.  Respect or not, it didn't take long for the hair to fly once the clippers were turned on.  To be honest, it was a pretty neat moment to sit back and just listen to the kids giggling with three sets of hair clippers buzzing away, and watching a pair of scissors fly past my face like Maverick buzzing the tower. I should probably qualify "three sets" by mentioning that at one point, Hudson was trimming my arm hair with the nose hair clippers. It was pandemonium baby! (Dicky V) and I loved it.

Hudson & Gracie getting their clip on!  Thanks for the pic Ellie.

Angie and I made a trip to MDA on Monday to meet with the radiology oncologist so we could discuss whether or not I would require radiation after the chemo.  After visiting for a while, we determined that I had a hot date with a proton accelerator.  I'm not scheduled to get zapped for a few months but I was able to get Dr. Peter Venkman and Egon Spengler for the procedure.  Seriously, who else was I going to call?  We spent quite a bit of time talking shop about the accelerator.  The doc was more than happy to go get her personal Macbook and share a presentation she had developed. Bottom line is that they have an incredible amount of precision from the leafs they use to shape the beam pattern as it is making it's sweep across the target.   The other comforting thing we learned is that the radiology oncologists operate much like the lymphoma department and that she would be presenting my case to a handful of her peers and developing/agreeing on a plan of treatment for me.  I like consensus when it comes to lymph.        

After we visited the Rad onc. we headed up to the lymphoma unit, donated some blood and visited with my lymphoma oncologist.  We had a good visit, everyone was smiling as things seem to be going well.  The takeaway from the visit is that the first treatment sets the tone for the rest of the regimen. since I handled the first cycle well,  I should expect to handle the remainder in a similar fashion.  Fatigue will still be an issue, but it doesn't appear as though I will have to suffer through some of the rougher side effects.  I also walked out of the office with a couple of new drugs to try to help with mouth sores, and something else that I can't remember. (hopefully short term memory loss).

Side notes:

• I have introduced a bias into my otherwise solid scientific study.  I have knocked down 4 more miles of running this week.  Probably not a big deal, but it feels like one.
• Apparently the steroids are working,  I have put on 10 pounds in the last 3 weeks.  This accomplishment is in no small part due to the awesome people that have treated us with the 12 days of Christmas and have been loading us up with goodies.  Thank you, we love you.  Both of our freezers runneth over, and the belt straineth.

Angela May Merrell,  bringing it on game day.

Ok,  so it isn't all that exciting.