mum's very own shave for a cure...

Last night the inevitable happened...mum's hair started falling out in clumps. It had been gradually thinning out over the last couple of days but began in earnest to jump free from her scalp. So she made the decision to get dad or I to shave her head. I have never had the opportunity to cut anyones hair (apparently I'm not trustworthy with scissors) let alone use a shaver. So dad got the honour. Buzz cut for mum. I cannot begin to understand how horrible that would be. She's had long hair since she was very young and having to first, get it cut short and now falling out. It would be devastating. She was scrunching up her face the whole time because of the vibration of the shaver against her head, and lamented that she'd been less aware of that sensation when cutting dad and Sam's hair.

I managed to convince dad to shave the sides first so I could get some mohawk pics of mum, citing that this was 'the one and only time you'll be able to do it.' Mum was less convinced that this was the moment but did allow me to document the process without too much fuss. So today was her first day wearing her wig for real, she was irritated with it's itchiness, and had some difficulty figuring out whether her glasses should be put on top of the wig or under it. These are all questions we so often come across...

I was glad to be with her there today, just being present as a stand along kind of support. She had quite a few visitors today during chemo which I have not decided is a good thing or too tiring for her. Depends entirely on the people too I guess. I feel quite protective which is very strange, kind of like role reversal. Dad and I have both taken on the meal/ washing up side of things. Oh, how I wish for a dishwasher...I really did take our old squeaky dishwasher in Vancouver for granted.