Two nights ago Mike had had it with the shedding. We were sitting on the couch and he asked if I would go outside with Sydney, our yellow lab. She sheds like crazy in the spring, but she wasn't inside...I was. The medication caught up with me and I am losing my hair. I went this week and had several inches taken off so this is a pic of my new shorter do. Even still, I am losing it by the handfuls. The pic next to it shows what is on my pillow in the mornings. I don't know if I will have any left or if I will lose all of it. This is actually very hard to deal with. I know it is only hair...I know...but it is hard. Mike lost his hair to chemo 11 years ago this month. When it came back in, it was very thin, lacking color and a strange texture. He literally could care less, as could I, but for moi? It's a different story. I'm a tomboy when it comes to being outside, but, wow, am I ever a girly girl when it comes to hair and makeup. Right now I'm experimenting with new hair products that are supposed to give me "big sexy hair". Yeah...that's just how I'm feeling... :-|...oh baby.All good news on my bone marrow though. Without cutting my throat muscles or removing a section of my vocal cord, my airway has remained open even through a few reactions. We wanted to postpone the surgeries until after the new treatment because the surgeries will make it very easy for me to aspirate the rest of my life. Our goal is to avoid surgery.
As for the boys...well, I'd be LYING if I said things were good, so I won't. Things are, as always, full of challenge. The Reader's Digest version is this: Aaron's stint in public school didn't workout. After 4 weeks, the school decided that he needed to be moved from the resource room to the life skills room. In the meantime, Aaron had lost most of his reading and writing skills he had begun school with. It was so frustrating because his I.Q. is in tact, but they said they didn't have the manpower to work with him. So, once again, we pulled Aaron and actually placed him at Burley Christian where Noah attends. We hired a private teacher to work with him all day, yet help Aaron participate in the classroom too. She has actually turned out to be a true Godsend. Unfortunately, Mike needs to moonlight more! And, of course, Aaron is still Aaron...sweet, lovable, seizure maniac, accident prone, little Aaron...last week I had to get him from school, take him to the E.R. for a fracture in the ankle and on the way to the hospital I got a flat tire. Ahhhhh, yes...life in the Schlegel household...never boring. He used the crutches for exactly a day and then chucked 'em. He said his armpits hurt too bad! Okay, but what about the ankle?
Noah is still struggling to maintain weight. He is 5'4" now and at 79 lbs. Last week the doc said if he loses any more weight he is going in the hospital. We don't have a definitive diagnosis on him, but with the biopsy, it still looks like crones or colitis. He is, without question, the heaviest concern on our hearts right now. Unfortunately on Sunday morning he woke with a fever of 102 and has been hugging the porcelain queen all week. To stop his over reactive system, the doctor has him on several extra medications. Because his fever broke, we MADE him attend school this morning and that didn't go so well. His system didn't cooperate and the school doesn't understand that just because the kid is barfing; (and I knew he might still be) that he doesn't have something contagious. Ohhhh, they weren't too happy with me. :-}
So, thanks for checking up on us. Most importantly, thanks for the prayers. Obviously a miracle is occurring since there really was no hope for me to recover and look at me now. I am a bonifide, functioning person again!!!
