Pictures from the past months

So, I never thought that I could survive with short hair. But here is some solid proof that I did it! And didn't look half bad doing it either =] Its funny though, when I had no hair going through chemo I had thought by this time I would have hair down to my shoulders already lol. HOW WRONG I WAS! Its been 8 months and I still do not have much to show for it. But thats okay. Good things come to those who wait !

this was about the time where the headbands were perfect.

this is about the week where my hair started to get too long. It looks exactly the same to you probably but there was about 2 weeks between these 2 pictures, and the top one was primetimeheadbandtime.

Week 29-ish

Oh man ohh man! It's been forever since I have made a post, so I apologize for that. Too busy livin' I guess. So many new things are happening in my life right now and its just crazy! I got my first hair cut about a month ago. Nothing significant-- just to trim the dead little ends and cut off the dreaded mullet. My hair is so flippin curly though its crazy!  My mom keeps trying to tell me that my hair looked like this when I was a baby, but I don't know. I do have a picture that I am gonna put on here from when I was a babe though so that should be funny.

So! Yep, I moved to Columbus :) I love it here. It's so busy all the time and its great!. There is always something to do too which is good. I miss Medina sometimes though. Actually who am I kidding, I miss Medina and my family every day. But this will be good for me. I am down here with all my friends doin what a college kid is supposed to do ! I have a new little office job working about 7 hours a week which is just purrrrfect! I didn't want a job that had a ton of hours because I didn't want to get overwhelmed. So far so good, although it's only the first week of class! Not even a full week-- it was a half week! I live in a house very close to campus with 5 other roommates. I have to share a room which is less than ideal but what are you gonna do. It's only for a year so I think I'll be able to survive for that long--hopefully! 

As for my hair, its being very awkward. It looked really good in headbands for about 3 weeks, but now it just looks bad. I dont know what else to do with it besides just let it do its poodle thing. Im gonna try and go online today and search different hair styles. Hopefully I'll find something! I bought that Wen haircare stuff that you see on infomercials...the stuff that doesn't have sulfates in it, which is the stuff that makes the shampoo lather when you use it. It's really good for you hair but I dont have 30 extra dollars to spare a month for it. I am a poor starving college kid you know!

I guess I'll just have to wait it out and rock the mullet for a while. There are worse things in life than a perpetual bad hair day. Better than having cancer I guess. Maybe......

Oh- for these pictures i tried to straighten out my hair so you could see how long its becoming. It's a lot curlier usually. EEEEP.

There is me as a little baby. You can kinda tell that it was super curly haha. a little afro!

Week 20

I don't know where the picture of the back of my head went, but it is somehow lost in the abyss of my computer. After I take these pictures I delete them off my phone too so who knows. I can't remember if my last post showed how I cut the back of my hair, but I did. Just to shape it up a little bit. 

I am thinking about cutting it too, but I don't know when a good time to do that would be. My sister says it looks dry when its dry, if that makes sense. Which I do agree with so I gotta figure out something to do! I might just wait until its a few inches long. Its starting to get to the point where I don't know what to do with it. Last week (which was when these pics were taken) my hair was at a good length I think. I could still just wake up and go! I usually put some type of mousse in it just to give it some more definition. If I dont, it seriously looks like a cottonball.

I don't mind it this length at all. But I am starting to miss being able to put it up into a ponytail. My little sister can put hers into a small pony tail now haha! It is definitely a mullet though because the top is still short but she just puts a headband in and all is well!

In other news, I get to move into my new apartment in Columbus on the 10th of August! I am beyond excited but nervous at the same time too. Being out of school for all these months has been really nice. I don't know if I will be able to get back into the swing of things. I never really got to experience college. I mean I did go to Kent for one year but I can't even count that because I was coming home all the time. I know that college is supposed to be the funnest years of your life and I am really looking forward to being able to live down there with all my good friends =]  I will miss my family but I know that I always have the option to move back if need be. But I don't think I will have to, providing that this CT scan about 2 weeks from now goes according to plan. Well MY plan that is..... which subsequently does NOT include Hodgy coming back. Fingers crossed ladies and gents.

Week 18

I can't believe it has been 3 weeks since  I last posted. I've just been busy living life I guess:) Im so happy I am able to say that. Not much has been happening since last time. Nothing new with the hair either. Except that I am starting to wake up with bedhead, but thats nothing a little water can't fix! I did end up shaving the back at the bottom a little bit. It was too messy and looked odd. Now it looks more like a deliberate haircut !

The other day I tried on one of my wigs, just for fun. And I hated it! I looked so different and not like me at all. I am finally used to my short hair and actually like it. I can't even remember what it was like to have long hair. Last weekend I was watching my friend do her hair to get ready for a party and it was so weird because honestly I can't remember ever having to do my hair. I mean I can, but it is such a foreign thought! It's getting to the point where I actually have to spend some time on it but its not something I mind doing.

I've got a CT scan in about a month from now. It's starting to make me nervous, but I try not to think about it too much. MEEP. Oh well! I can't worry about something I have no control over. It's hard to convince yourself of that and I work on it every day. Just gotta live my life as happily as I can and take on whatever comes day by day! :)

Cruisin'

Just thought I would throw some pictures from our cruise up!

getting on the ship!

me and Carli in Freeport

mom and her fruity drink

a nice dinner on the last night

Week 15

Uh oh! I skipped a week and I apologize. I went on a cruise to the Bahamas and did not get a chance to take a picture or upload it for that matter. I was too busy getting a suntan :) I just got a job yesterday too! yay! It's at the Medina Country Club. I'll be the beverage cart girl--which means big monayyy honayyy in the summer time! But sometimes I'll have to be the server and I don't know how I feel about that. I've never done it before so we will just have to see how it goes.

It seems like everyone I come across these days has Hodgkins or knew someone who had Hodgkins I swear. My boss( I think he's my boss??) said his wife had it when she was about 30. She's ten years out and still goin strong. Also, I was at a party at Ohio State this past weekend and I met a kid my age that has it now and is in active treatment! He was kinda weird.... but still. It was great he was getting out and everything. Such a small world! Before I had cancer I never met anyone else that had Hodgkins, or even heard of it for that matter. Now its something new relating to it every day! BIZARRE.

Well, hair is growing nicely. I can't wait till its mowhawk length :) a few more weeks prob. I don't remember if I mentioned it or not, but I am taking the pre-natal pills. I think they're making my nails stronger but who knows about my hair. It's doin its own thing.

Alrighty, well good day!

Week 13

Same old, same old. I've got hair yay! The top is growing in at least 7 different directions while the back is growing straight down. It is very odd. I wonder if it grew like this before I lost it all. I guess the weight of it will eventually turn it to normal. I also wonder if and when it's going to start curling! Only time will tell.

I started waiting a few days between washing my hair. I was using that Nioxin, but it is almost gone and I figured everyday was too much and maybe the natural oils of my scalp will help the hair grow more healthy.

In other news, I am leaving for a cruise this Friday! I am really excited! It is only a 4 day cruise to the Bahamas but it is definitely better than nothing! I am going with just my mom and sister so there will be no drama. Just pure fun in the sun!

Until next week...!

do not be fooled, I do not have bedhead! This picture was right out of the shower and how my hair naturally dried! its a crazy thing.

Week 12

Well! It is officially 3 months since I ended chemo. My oncologist said by the time I see him again (we scheduled an appointment at the 3 month mark) that my hair would be growing like a chia pet! And he was right haha. Atleast he has a sense of humor. I also finished my STNA course yesterday! Officially certified=] But it was funny because one of the girls in my class said my hair reminded her of a chia pet as well haha!

Also, I started taking those Biotin pills but I decided to stop them. Because after a few days my nails started to really hurt. I don't know if it was from them or not but the pain seems to be going away at least! Stupid cancer.

I am just worrying now about second cancers and it coming back blah blah blah. Hopefully the blood work I get this Friday will show now signs of anything bad a brewin'! Until next week my cancer babies=]

NOW THATS WHAT IM TALKIN ABOUT!  I love the back, it is cooperating nicely.

I think depending on the angle I take the picture for my top hair really makes a difference.  It looks less here than last week. I don't know! Its just doin its thing for now I suppose. I have to stop worrying about it and realize that worrying will not make it grow any faster!

Week 11

So, again nothing too much to post about. I think it is finally starting to look like I just cut my hair rather than it growing back. If that makes sense. It's starting to do a weird swoop thing in the back you will see too! Today was the first time I went without a hat to my English class, and the guy that sits next to me told me he liked my hair cut! What a sweet guy! Granted he is pushing 60 and probably just trying to be nice but thats okay! I'll take what I can get at this point. I also started taking these pills called Biotin. I don't know if its supposed to really work or not but I just figured any extra little thing I could do wouldnt hurt! 

Week 10

I wish my hair would grow faster. I am trying not to be greedy but it is just not filling in like I would have hoped. Maybe I am just crazy but I cant help it! I am still taking the vitamins, using the Nioxin and eating healthy. Hopefully all these things will continue to help the hair growth process :)

the top is simply taking its good ole time! grrrrrrrr! (like my wings in the front near my forehead?? SO WEIRD)

NO HATS!

It is not time for my weekly post just yet, but I have decided to go out WITHOUT hats or scarves or wigs! This past Wednesday I went out for the first time and it was so nice. It was a rare but lovely 60 degree day in early March and I decided what the heck! I have just enough hair to look pretty normal. I went to my STNA class and nobody cared at all. I mean why would they, but still. It's more of a mental thing than anything. Of course I miss my long hair like crazy but having some right now is way better than nothing. Its super super soft and thin at the top but that is okay! I have a picture too! I am at my sisters best friends bridal shower :)

Week 9

Hello all. Nothing really new this week. I think my eyebrows have fully grown back. I may have to pluck them actually because there are some stray birds up there. The hair in the back of my head is getting thicker but the hair on top of my head is still sparse. Still not going out without a hat =/ Maybe by the end of March I will be able to. It is going to start getting warmer so lets hope it keeps growing at the rate it is! Good day =]

didn't have my photographer today so I did my best!

I made this one big so you could see my brows which look like they did before! and also notice the little blonde hairs on my cheek---never had those before! they are all over my chin and ears too!

Week 8

Two months post chemo, I never thought the day would come! My hair still seems to be coming in nicely. My eyebrows are almost all the way back it is a miracle! I can now go out in public without having to fill them in or anything! It looks better if I fill them in of course but its not a necessary thing. It is truly amazing. And also my top eyelashes seem to be getting a little bit fuller- more hairs are growing in making me look more normal when I wear mascara!

One thing I notice is that the top of my head hairs seem to be growing slower than the hairs in the back of my head. I also have a nice little bald patch in the back near the bottom but I don't it mind so much.

Leg and armpit hair are there--still thin and kind of few and far between though. No big deal- I don't really need those anyway haha. Pube hair is coming back normal though wahhhhh!

Something else that is bothering me-- FACIAL HAIR. Not dark or thick. It's blonde and barely noticeable, but I have never had that before! Pre-chemo was smooth as a baby! I was reading online and I guess this is a normal occurrence but I do not like it! Some people said that they shaved it off once or twice and it never grew back. Others said they just let it be and after a few months it went away. Hopefully that is the case for me too! I will probably just wait  it out and hope for the best =]

My goal is to have hair by March 31st when I take my STNA test. That way I wont have to wear a hat or scarf with my scrubs! That would be wonderful. Not like I have any say in meeting my goal or not BUT a girl can dream =] That gives me roughly 33 days. eeek!

notice the bald spot on the bottom right. as I said, I do not mind it. If I have to have a bald spot, I am glad its there and not in the middle of my head or something!

the back is definitely doing much better than the top!

Week 7

My hair is finally growingggg! kind of. And so are my eyebrows! Eyelashes not so much. they are still wimpy and irritating but at least I have them. My hair is super soft too. It looks kinda lighter than what it used to be? I dont know! I dont care! =] I just think that it will take a while to actually fill all in. you can see the difference though just from last week. I am excited to see what next week will bring!

its really hard getting a picture of these babies but you can see them! its a frikin miracle truly. I never thought they would come back!

the most hair I have had in a LONG time. almost 3 months now as it is Feb 21st. I went bald right around the beginning of December. Oh how I love my hair new sprouts!

see what I mean though about thinking it will take a long time to fill in? I may have to shave it again in a month or so just to let it all grow even.

Week 6

 I had my mom cut my hair again. It seems to be a little thicker than before and it definitely feels softer and more like real hair but we shall see. My eyebrows are still coming in nicely but I can't seem to capture it in a photo. There is another girls blog that I follow and she didn't have a nice covering until about 14 weeks I think? Grrr. I am worrying more about hair coverage rather then hair growth. I just want it to all come in thick and nice like before ! Short post today. Love all you Hodgys out there!

Week 5

It is February 6th, approximately 38 days, or 5 weeks post chemo and I am finally starting to notice a little growth here and there and everywhere. Not necessarily on my head, but my eyelashes and eyebrows and stomach hair... things of that nature. It is quite exciting! The hair seems to me more fine though. Definitely more thin. Especially when it comes to my eyelashes. Previously I had none at all on the bottom and now I see little sprouts! My eyebrows are the same way. It is not dark as you would expect eyelashes to be. It is more blonde? I dont know. But hey, its hair right! It is a start. I think after I take today's pictures I will have my mom shave what I have off. You will see why. I was supposed to take the pictures yesterday, but I kind of sort of passed out in the shower and ended up in the hospital. OOPS. We called my oncologist and he said he didn't think it was anything cancer related so thats good =] Probably just dehydrated or something. 

Any way, here are the pictures ! I had to take them myself this week because my photographer (sister) decided to go to sleep early!

I wish all my hair was this long. It is a teaser! But my mom and friend told me they can see dark spots where my follicles /pores or whatever you call them are supposed to be. Hopefully it is a start!

I took my eyebrows off haha! you can't see the little hairs. Maybe next week?

I tried to capture the little spots that are supposedly there. I don't think it worked though=\