On Eyebrows

I think the average person just regards their eyebrows as part of the features on their face, that are ignored, plucked, tweezed, shaved, unibrowed, etc. Then when chemo removes them for you, you realize how important they are. I was perfectly happy for most of my life to have eyebrows and never pluck them (they just aren't that furry - I'm sure you needed to know this) and then chemo came along and TOOK THEM AWAY. Probably the worst few weeks of my treatment, were when my eyebrows (and eye lashes) vanished.

See the thing about cancer, is you walk around looking fine for the most part and then you start losing your hair so you stick on a wig or a hat or nothing and go about life. You might look like you are sick but not really. Its when your eyebrows go away, that you get that pale 'really sick' look. One of the toughest times for me was when my eyebrows and lashes went away. They hung around for weeks and months of treatment and then decided overnight to disappear - or so it seemed. I started to look like I was really sick when in fact I was through most of my treatment. I was not a happy camper for those few weeks until they grew back. American Cancer Society's Look Good Feel Better program (which is a wonderful thing) teaches you how to draw in brows and lashes. This proves that I am not alone in thinking about losing eyebrows and lashes - so little but so significant on your face.

There was an article in the paper (there I go reading again) about a woman who similarly lost her brows and was upset. Then she found out that the latest fashion trend (and I use the term loosely) is for eyebrowless models! Are they going for the chemo patient look these days or something? Is this the latest trend that I missed out on? Is it the chemo patient/prisoner of war look with rail thin models without eyebrows? Who had this horrible idea and thought it was a fashion trend? (Who comes up with fashion trends anyway - like who came up with the first leisure suit, underwire bra, or super high heels?)

But its Monday morning and back to work. I have to go to work and then go lead a meeting for a few hours this afternoon. I will be busy. I also have unpacking to do and reorganizing - how does camping stuff expand so much while one has their back turned? I am also trying to figure out why I have some weird rash on my stomach and arm. It looks and feels almost like poison ivy type but I didn't see any and how would it get on my stomach? I took a shower and covered it in hydrocortisone cream and will vainly attempt to ignore the itching (and suffer in silence).

The good news is that my air cast survived its bath and dried out substantially in a very short period of time. It got quite muddy and then the padded liner got wet so I washed as much as I could. I hoped it would dry over night but it dried in a just a couple of hours in the sun. I put an ace bandage on my ankle in the interim. Yes my ankle feels better right now but since I ended up icing it on Saturday I am not sure its healed but the moment of truth is tomorrow when I go back to the doctor.