Well, this post is long overdue! Here are my hair progress photos for weeks seven through ten post-chemo. I may not be the best about putting these photos up on the blog in a timely manner, but I have consistently documented my hair progress every Thursday since I finished treatment, so that’s something! And hey, this post might be even cooler, since you can really see the progression over time.

I would also like to point out that the photos from week ten show my face without any make-up on. To put that into perspective, I did not have a single eyebrow hair or eyelash left on my face at the time of my surgery on November 28th. It is now January 6th and they are almost completely grown in. My eyebrows are still a bit patchy in areas, but to go from nothing to this in the span of literally a month is quite a feat. Not that I had anything to do with it. I owe it all to a healthy combination of Latisse, Biotin and daily affirmations. Yes, I speak encouragingly to my hair to cheer it on...I see nothing strange about this.

A quick health update: I’m doing really well. Feeling very strong and energetic these days. I should be starting radiation in this next week and a half. I was supposed to get started sooner, but due to limited range of motion in my left arm, I’ve had to put it off a bit longer. They gave me some stretches to work on, so hopefully that should do the trick. However, I’m accepting any and all prayers that I would be ready to start radiation at my next appointment.

I also started hormone therapy this week, which I will be doing for the next...wait for it...ten years. YAY! It consists of an injection in the stomach once every three months and a pill once a day. The purpose of the therapy is essentially to “shut down” my ovaries. Since the type of cancer I had was very highly hormone positive, they are able to get really good outcomes by greatly decreasing the amount of estrogen and progesterone my body produces (the injection part) and what little it does produce will essentially get blocked (the pill part). I keep expressing to David my fear that this will make me eventually grow a beard. However, that is not the case. The main side effects are those of menopause, since that’s basically what my body will be going through: hot flashes, joint stiffness/pain, loss of bone density. Annnnnnnnd there’s everything you never wanted to know about hormone therapy. Again, accepting any and all prayers that side effects would be minimal and that the therapy would be highly successful.

Last, but not least, I saw my reconstructive surgeon this week. Nothing much to report, except that he’s very pleased with how my skin has healed since surgery and is tolerating the expanders. I’ll be seeing A LOT of him over the next year, but that’s OK because he’s super nice and I get to call him, “Dr. A.”

Anyway, hope you’re all doing well and that you have an enjoyable and relaxing weekend. Thanks for stopping by!