Hairy Hospital Highlight

I got my head shaved on Saturday afternoon during a couple of hours leave from hospital. The last little wispy bits made my scalp quite tender so I decided to get rid of them. Thankfully my hairdresser was free to do it for me. It felt important for some reason that she be the one to give me my one & only buzz cut.

I thought that I'd be quite emotional as she did it but I was strangely calm. I felt bad for the other clients whose jaws all dropped when I pulled off my headscarf. The pity in the room was palpable and I wanted to tell them that it was ok, I'm ok. Its just hair. Of course, thinking about it now...to those clients in that salon hair is rather important...$100 for just a trim, yes, hair was up there on their priority lists. Oh how my priorities have changed.

My hairdresser was fab...no "holy fucks!" this time but we had a good chat and a laugh. She was a little tentative about hurting my scalp but shaving my head actually gave me relief and felt so much better. When it was done I wrapped my new baldy head back up in its scarf, gave her a hug goodbye and walked out the door. It was only when I got to my car that I briefly felt a little teary.

Driving back to the hospital I realised that the picc line that had been inserted into my left arm on Friday was bleeding...a lot. I had no idea how long for, i couldn't feel a thing. So I hightailed it straight back to oncology. One pressure bandage and half an hour later the bleeding had stopped and a new dressing had been put on. My veins are well and truly kaput now. Cannulas are no longer an option. I think I rather the pic line anyway, its a lot less painful and awkward.

That night I tried to have a sneaky quiet cry about losing my hair, but one of my favourite night nurses, Sean, caught me wiping away tears. He was fab, told me to have a good bawl and get it out of my system. He called in my other favourite nurse, James, who sat on the bed, gave me a hug and joked about my hair coming back red & curly. If only he knew what my late grandfather looked like! Sean came back in with a little vase holding pink & orange gerberras. So sweet!

The next evening Sean came on shift bearing a large gift bag filled with one hot pink glitter cabaret hat; one red tinsel wig; one cuddly teddy and enough chocolate to turn me diabetic. I gave him a huge hug and burst out laughing. I had to promise that I would do a Liza Minnelli performance in my pink hat out by the nurses station...I'm working on it. He is beyond awesome! How lucky am I!!!

 

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