One of the programs at the cancer centre is a two hour workshop for women to learn to cope with their scars and hair loss and it is called Hope is Beautiful. In the workshop they spend time teaching about both skin care and make up. Both chemotherapy and radiation can cause hair loss so there are plenty of people who need help with their self image. Even though one knows it will grow back in it is a constant reminder of what your body is dealing with so it is a physical, emotional and mental part of one's ability to heal.
As for me I am ever so grateful to be home from the hospital. The shiner that Rob wrote about is not nearly as puffy; however my whole face feels like it is two inches away from my bones.
The top of my head doesn't even feel like it belongs to the rest of me and the almost 50 staples scream at me from time to time. The staples don't come out for another week so I had better get used to the sensations. Last night I slept for the first time since being in the hospital .....no torture devices, flashlights in the face and no list of twenty questions every hour on the hour. That being said I can not say enough good about the care that I was given by everyone at the hospital. Rob and I were thinking that my surgical day probably involved 100 people .......from imaging staff to cleaners.....it takes a small village to do such a big operation.
I don't see my neurosurgeon for a follow up until later in March. The good news is that we know that the post CT scan looked clear and that the tumour is gone; however I will still have to have radiation. I have a couple of weeks at home to recuperate and then the radiation treatments will be daily for two weeks in London. We will stay at the The Residence Inn during that time. The Canadian Cancer Society sponsors rooms for out of town cancer patients and their families. The hotel provides a shuttle to the Cancer Program as well. After the radiation treatments it will be time for scans to see if the Yervoy is working on the other tumours. For now I am very grateful that my surgery went well and I will spend the next couple of weeks healing and preparing for the next challenges of this cancer journey. Sometimes when I get feeling sorry for myself or the pain gets me down I don't much feel like my Bad Ass Melanoma Warrior self; however then I remind myself that Hope is Beautiful.
