Yesterday I had my first taxol treatment....the first 30-40 minute infusion was straight Benadryl...then 2 other little infusions, then the decadron, the steroid to help prevent nausea, and finally the taxol, a full one hour infusion.  My total appointment time yesterday; about 3 and 1/2 hours.  Just glad I don't have to go back the next day for a shot.  I will say, that Benadryl pretty much knocked me out.  I felt bad for my mom, instead of having me to visit with, she was pretty much relegated to foot shaker if I began snoring...luckily, I didn't.  I would have been so embarrassed!  They made such a big deal about a possible allergic reaction, which would have been an anaphalyctic one...they even had an oxygen machine behind me just in case.  Luckily, no reaction.  That's what the Benadryl is about.

Last week I was so happy for Friday.  I was really glad to be back to work, with my students, and I had a really good first week, but I was pretty tired.  My sub told me on Monday how he couldn't believe how tired he was, it was the most tired he could remember being.  We had a good laugh about how a lot of people don't get how exhausting being "on stage" all day long can be.  It's the talking, and reading, and just being fully present that does it.  But, it's so worth it.  I was lucky, working mornings only afforded me the opportunity to miss the extreme heat of Friday afternoon...when I left at 11:30 on Friday, it was already 88 degrees in my classroom...it was well above that when school let out Friday.  This week is supposed to be better, and for that, I'm grateful.  Working without air conditioning is a challenge, something we had in our old building...last year.it was something I had to adapt to.  Extreme heat plus chemo...not the best combination.  Today it felt about perfect in my room.  I went in and worked the second half of the day, taught my afternoon classes and let my sub teach my morning ones.  I did that because I wasn't sure how I'd feel this morning after my treatment yesterday, and also for the chance to be with my last two classes.  I think I will do this each Wednesday of this first marking period.  I think it's also best for the kids.

Several of my students told me they liked the hair I was wearing today best...it reminded them the most of my old hair.  I said, "You mean my wig?"  They all said it looked really nice.  I told them that this morning I cut the bangs on it, and they all said it looked great.  One kid said, "A-plus, Mrs. Csage."  Another girl said, "I thought the one you wore on the first day of school looked a lot like your old hair.  I didn't even know that was a wig."  I told her it was because I thought it was most similar to my old color, right down to the dark roots.  I shared with the class that the hardest thing about the whole wig thing was that none of them really looked like my old hair, and the hardest thing is looking in the mirror and seeing someone different looking back.  Like I said earlier, I've been very up front about my situation with my kids, and because of that, I think I've gotten respect from my students.  They all have been really understanding with my working half days...several ask me how I'm doing and how I'm feeling...there's a lot of empathy in my little alternative school.  Empathy from kids who live in homes and faces challenges every day that most of us can't even comprehend.  They make me proud to be their teacher.

This Saturday, speaking of wigs, I woke up at 5 in the morning and couldn't get back to sleep...I had something weighing on my mind...I needed to wash my wigs.  I decided to just get up and do it.  I got my instruction guide out, and filled both bathroom sinks with water.  In one sink, I put the wig shampoo.  In the other, the wig conditioner.  I then took a wig, and swished it around the shampoo for a few minutes.  It had to be rinsed, and because I'd set up the drying station in the bath tub, that left the shower.  I turned on the shower, and holding it under the spray, rinsed it out.  I was pretty wet myself, then took the wig to soak in the conditioner.  Got the next wig, shampooed it, got the one out of the conditioner, turned on the shower again, rinsed it really well, wrung it out gently, and put it on a wig stand, in the tub to dry.  I did this for five wigs...I had to save the sixth one to wear that day.  About half way through, Steve yelled at me, "What are you doing?"  I told him I was washing my wigs, go back to sleep.  I think he thought I was crazy.  I had no idea how long it would take them to dry, and truthfully, I was hoping that this didn't ruin them.  I also took my two wigs that were tight and uncomfortable, and stretched them out.  By the time I was done, I was soaked and my floor was drenched.  Oh well, it needed to be mopped anyway.  That night, I took each one and combed them out by hand...it was a pretty long process, and you can't comb a wet wig, but now each wig is good for roughly another 7 wearings each before needing to be washed again, and the stretched out one fits beautifully now, and is the one given an "A plus" by my student today.  I'm glad I didn't give up on it, and took the time to try to stretch it and make it fit.  It might even be my most comfortable wig!