Pinning chemo

"I'm crocheting a hair hat," I told Bob.

"That sounds about right," he said.

I started a Pinterest board called "Chemo stuff." This is me, preparing.

Food and Drink
Search terms on this topic have included "food during chemo," "infused water," and "ginger candy recipes." I have read they recommend eliminating red meat, dairy, processed foods, deli meat, pastries, and a few other things -- including booze. All totally doable. To drink more water I'm going to try some fun infusions (depending on what my stomach will tolerate), and I'm on the hunt for ginger-everything to help with nausea. Good thing I like ginger.

Health and Fitness
I admit it. I have searched, "avoiding weight gain during chemotherapy." (Stop. Don't have a meltdown on me. I'm not going to do anything stupid, and even if I'm tempted I've got Bob to reel me back in.) I have been doing a lot of reading about what to expect and what to do when you're going through chemo, and one thing that has been consistently mentioned is the importance of exercise. Mom always told me, you have to expend energy to get energy, and all I'm reading confirms that. Now, nothing I'm reading suggests anything like a hard-core, sweaty, boot-camp style workout, not that I'd be up for that at this point anyway. But they are talking about things like walking. My treadmill has been stowed during the basement remodel, but it needs dusted off and to find a home so I can get back on it even before my first treatment. I plan to get out the hula hoop, too.

Hair and Beauty
A few weeks ago I bought a set of false eyelashes. This was a reaction to Dr. D saying yep, lashes, eyebrows, everything. But this was before I knew anything about anything. I've never worn false eyelashes, I didn't know you had to have glue. (Stop laughing.) I only found out about this when I spent some time the other night watching false eyelash videos. So I will need glue to install the suckers. And maybe some special tweezers. I also didn't know how long they last. It never occurred to me they would not last, well, forever, so my one little set probably won't get me through until they grow back. But, you can clean them, according to the tutorial I pinned. I'm searching now for eyebrow templates. Read some reviews on Amazon, and except for being hilarious, they weren't very helpful, so I think this is going to require a trip to the drug store to see the scale of these things in real life.

Women's Fashion
Crochet hair hat. It's a little bob with bangs. The pattern and the video I watched show this made in crazy colors. But for my first one (could be my last one) is being made with a skein of light gray yarn I had laying around. I liked the idea of this for home at night when I just want something on my head. I remembered something Somewhere I read that I'll probably want to wear a hat to bed. So I searched Pinterest for chemo sleep hats. I have one in my cart on Amazon right now. I'm also on the hunt for comfy chemo clothes like joggers and cozy sweaters. No, really, Bob, this isn't like "shopping" this is all necessary stuff!

(If you want to follow me on Pinterest, here you go.)

Tomorrow morning I get the port put in. I didn't know this was really "surgery" but it is. It just takes about 30 minutes to install the thing, but I have to be there for about 4 hours for prep and recovery. One day closer to chemo. Plenty of time to keep searching and pinning.

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