Home from the Holidays

We're back from our trip North to see family. It was very nice to see everyone and spend time there. Alison started feeling poorly on the way, and she was in the hurt-locker by the time we arrived. But being with her Momma was really good for her spirits. She was hurting so bad that we called the doctor. He doubled her dose of oxycontin, and it seemed to do the trick... until we realized she would run out in 24 hrs!

So then we went to the Emergency Room, which was like a highschool reunion for us. Alison knew a LOT of people there. Anyways, with business taken care of, we were ready for the home-bound trip. Of course, this is the abridged version of the trip, because here's the real news:

We've switched to a new form of chemotherapy. This new therapy is a three-day treatment that goes every three weeks. (The last one was every two) The drugs now being implemented are Carboplatin and VP-16. It was a little more daunting to change than I thought it'd be. Questions arose in me while the doctor spoke, like "Will this give her relief like the last regime?" and "What will the side-effects be?" and more than a few 'what-if's.' The side-effects are a trade: She'll no longer have temperature sensitivity, but she'll lose her hair. (bum trade probably).

So... a friend of Alison's has offered to donate some of her gorgeous blonde waist-length hair to a wig for Alison. A nurse at the center suggested a wig-maker to us. We don't know how fast it'll happen, so we'll have to see. I think the plan will be to head it off at the pass, and as soon as it begins, we'll buzz it.

Hair is not necessary until it becomes a symbol for us. That is, until we give it a meaning. Alison's hair had been a beacon for us, as if as long as we saw it, we'd be safe. We didn't intend it to be, but it has been. So this is scary. But I heard something the other day on a radio-sermon from [I think] Chuck Davis. He relayed an old sea-worthy saying [I have a soft-spot for sea-worthy sayings],

"He Who is Enslaved to the Compass has the Freedom of the Seas."

So as we move away from our beacon, I feel confident we'll still navigate just fine.