Returning to Original Treatments

On Sept 6th, Ed returned to his original chemo treatment--Avastin, Irinotecean, and Xeloda. He was definitely more tired for at least a week afterwards and also had some queasiness. Definitely not what he was used to with NO side effects at all. Mid-September he began to lose his hair. He could tell it was thinning but it was less noticeable to me.

On Sept 19-21, I traveled to Tallahassee for work. When I returned on the 22nd, Ed was losing quite a bit of hair in the shower each morning. By Saturday morning it was quite upsetting as there was hair all over the bathroom. Although Ed had no obvious bald spots, the amount of hair in the shower and on the counter/floor in the bathroom was significant and Ed was quite upset. Our first outward sign that Ed had cancer.

On one hand, I kept reminding him to be thankful...we'd gone about 16 months without any outward signs. So Ed called his barber and we went in Saturday afternoon to have his head shaved. Thankfully a lot of men shave their head so it's not like wearing a big sign saying "cancer" (especially since Ed still has his eyebrows, etc.). Unfortunately, though, for Ed, he is reminded every time he looks in the mirror.

Ed's Barber Matt....a great guy who kept us laughing through this momentous occasion.

The end result...