HAIR TODAY, GONE TOMORROW, AND OH, WAIT, HAIR AGAIN TODAY!!!

Part Four of a Four-Part Series

Aka; Kendrie; the Do’s of Time


OK, anyone born after 1975 is probably not going to get the extreme social relevance of the following celebrity hairstyle comparison, but I think my fellow age 30 comrades will grasp the connection immediately, and, dare I say, enjoy a bit of nostalgia at the photos and music..........



At the rate Kendrie’s hair is growing, I’m concerned we’re going to be looking like this before too long:





MAY I INTRODUCE CHAKA, FROM THE LAND OF THE LOST!!!










Dare I say the images have an eery similarity???? Are you flashing back to your Saturday nights, laying in bed with the sheets pulled over your head, sweating, terrified there are sleestaks hiding in your closet, after watching Land Of The Lost re-runs all morning????

Then there was my mom, the eternal buster of the imagination balloon, who wanted to know why these people (Marshall, Will and Holly, in case you've forgotten their names) were "plunged down a 1000 feet below" (although I swear the words were: "stranded in a valley deep below") and yet never got their clothes dirty or needed haircuts??? Geez, mom, way to ruin the pretend for the rest of us!

And so ends our journey through Kendrie's "Hairstyles of Leukemia". I hope you enjoyed the trip!!!

Love, Kristie

"Marshall, Will and Holly,
On a routine expedition ....
met the greatest earthquake,
ever know ...................."
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KENDRIE'S PERSPECTIVE:

WORST PART OF HAVING CANCER TODAY: Isn't it obvious? That I have a mom who would compare me to a youthful neanderthal creature from a Saturday morning cartoon show so campy that there are actually cult internet sites devoted to it's following???? Oh well, at least she didn't compare me to the sleestaks.

More Hair Stuff

AUGUST 2004 -- TEN MONTHS INTO TREATMENT


Well, here I am on the first day of Long-Term Maintenance -- and I'm back in ass-kicking mode! Plus, my mom is hoping I see that girls can be bald and beautiful and tough at the same time, just look at the lady below!



Don't tell mom, but I already knew that. ALL kids that fight cancer are tough and bald and beautiful.

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SEPTEMBER 2004 -- ELEVEN MONTHS INTO TREATMENT


You know what I love about this picture of me, and the picture of the girl below me? When *SHE* went out in public like that, people all around the world commented on how bald she was and how on earth could she go out without being embarrassed?? We look almost exactly alike, and when *MY* hair finally got this long, I quit wearing hats --- I thought it was a long, flowing mane at this point!!! Heck, I've even started using shampoo again!



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OCTOBER 2004 -- ONE YEAR INTO TREATMENT



Yep, those hats are G.O.N.E. !!! Check me out, baby -- Farrah Fawcett's got Nothing on me! (wait, who's Farrah Fawcett?)

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DECEMBER 2004 -- FOURTEEN MONTHS INTO TREATMENT



At this point, I thought my hair was so long that it upset me when some boys at school said I looked like a boy. I like to wear it spiky sometimes, but not every day. Do you think I'll actually have to get it cut at some point in the future?????

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OK, mom says there is one more celebrity comparison photo left, but you'll have to come back later to see it. I guess this is sort of like one of those "cliffhanger-who-shot-JR" sort of things --- so check back in a few days!!!

Love, Kendrie

Hair Part 2

MARCH, 2004 -- SIX MONTHS INTO TREATMENT


Well, it's March, and its DEFINITELY gone now! Here I am, bald as a cue ball, practicing medicine on my poor dolls and stuffed animals (who, by the way, are much better sports about getting stuck and poked and prodded than I am.)



Check it out, though -- this guy was pretty kick-ass, from what my mom tells me about TV shows back in the 70's. And if HE gets credit for being so tough just by chasing bad guys and sucking on a lollipop, shouldn't I get even more credit for kicking so much cancer butt?????


And this guy is well-known for kickin' alien-ass .......



Hey! She kicked ass, too!! These people are all tough just like me! Maybe being bald is a badge of courage in this case! (do you think I'll get in trouble for saying "ass" so many times?)

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APRIL 2004 -- SEVEN MONTHS INTO TREATMENT


Well, I guess Dad figured if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. We make a pretty cute team, don't you think?



My dad must know how to handle dirt just like this guy. In fact, sometimes I hear him saying "What do you think I am, Mr. Clean????" At least that's what he mumbles when he's mopping the kitchen floor.

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JUNE 200 -- EIGHT MONTHS INTO TREATMENT



This is what Mom officially calls my "Duckling Fuzz" stage. All I know is Whew! Am I glad to have hair back!!

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JULY 2004 -- NINE MONTHS INTO TREATMENT



Hmmmm, why does mom start humming "White Wedding" every time she lubes up my head with suntan lotion before we go swimming??? Can anyone tell me????



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JULY 2004 -- NINE AND A HALF MONTHS INTO TREATMENT



What the heck??? It's gone again! How did that happen????


I heard a rumor that this guy is pretty noble. Or at least he plays somebody noble on tv. So maybe I'll go for "nobly bold." Ugh, stinks anyway.

Hair -- A Year in Review

337 Days to Go

Well, so many people have commented, both online and in person, on the speed at which Kendrie's hair is growing, I just thought I would give you a little timeline pictorial of "The Year in Review" -- A Hair-Raising Experience, To Say The Least. (apologies in advance if you're on dialup!)

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SEPTEMBER 2003 -- ONE MONTH BEFORE DIAGNOSIS:


Wow, it's hard to remember when I had this much hair! What I DO remember is fussing every time Mom tried to brush it!!



But Mom always said she thought I looked like the Little Dutch Boy.
(((do you think she heard me saying this, and that's when the gender-confusion began???)))

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NOVEMBER 2003 -- ONE MONTH AFTER DIANGOSIS


Oh, geez, the hair is really starting to come out now -- see how thin it's getting? You can actually see my scalp in certain places. (Mom was surprised to find this photo ... she doesn't remember me smiling, let alone laughing, any time before mid-December!)



But hey! If Donald Trump can pull off the comb-over from Hell, I think I should be able to do the same thing!

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DECEMBER 2003 -- TWO AND A HALF MONTHS INTO TREATMENT


Yeah, it's getting hard to avoid the truth .... it's definitely on the way out.


But you know what? This Mark Miller guy sings lead for a band called Sawyer Something and *HE* looks pretty cool with his bald head and a microphone -- maybe there's still hope for me with my karoke Christmas present! I just have to work a little harder to pull off the rock-star thing!

to be continued ....

"LIFE CHANGING EVENTS"

Week #2 of DI #2

a.) Neil Armstrong taking the first steps on the moon.

b.) Jonas Salk inventing the vaccine for polio.

c.) The discovery of penicillin.

d.) The Wright Brothers taking flight for the very first time.

Yes, all these things were amazing, inspiring, and did much to benefit the advancement of the human race. But we had an event of such unbelievable magnitude take place here this week that I believe the history books will have to be re-written to include this earth-shattering incident. My palms were sweaty; my heart soared ….. are you ready to share in the mind-blowing, wonderful news?

KENDRIE LEARNED TO PUMP HERSELF ON THE SWING IN THE BACKYARD!!!!!

Now your first thought might be, “Well good God I would hope so, she’s four and a half!” but you have to remember that our part of Georgia is sorely lacking in the public parks department, and since pulling her out of school last year, she hasn’t had much opportunity to hone this life-altering skill. Your second thought might be, “who cares?” Well, let me tell you, my big fat lazy butt, tired of pushing and pushing and pushing, cares a lot. And more importantly, SHE cares. If you don’t think this is a million-dollar-I-can-accomplish-anything sort of smile, then have your vision checked:




We had another pretty significant occurrence this week, as well. I know you must be thinking, “How can anything possibly compete with the overwhelmingness of a kid learning to pump on the swings?” While maybe not as exhilarating, it was equally warming to my heart.

The kids and I were getting ready yesterday afternoon to pick Blaine up from the Outpatient Surgery Center where he had hernia surgery that morning. (I KNOW! Can you believe it??? First cancer, and now a hernia! I won’t even MENTION the fact he got put on High-Blood Pressure medication this week, too. I have NO idea why he would have high blood pressure, would you? Needless to say, he hit 40 this year and just flat fell apart. I might as well go ahead and add Geritol to my weekly shopping list, at the rate he’s going. What’s next? A walking cane? Removal of the prostate? A colostomy bag???…… but I digress…..)

So the kids and I were getting ready to go pick him up and Kendrie came in my bathroom and asked me if I was going to wear a ball cap. (Bad hair day, you know how it goes.) So I said “No. Are you?” and she replied, “well yeah, I’m bald-headed!”. To which I carefully replied, “Well you know, you’re really not bald anymore. You have a little bit of hair up there on your head.” And she turned around and looked at herself in the mirror. Really looked at herself, then reached up there and rubbed the top of her head. Then, this huge grin spreads across her face and she hollers out, “I’m not bald anymore, woo-hoo, woo-hoo!” and she starts running around my bedroom, doing a dance (which is not much of a dance, it’s more like running in circles, jabbing her arms and hands like she’s boxing, and doing little karate kicks with her legs. In fact, now that I think about it, she looks like a possessed cross between Muhammad Ali and Jackie Chan, suffering from leg cramps. But again with the digressing…..)

So for the first time in months, with the exception of the swimming pool, she went out in public yesterday without grabbing a ball cap on her way out the door. She didn’t wear one today, either. She never acted self-conscious, or like it bothered her, and I’m not sure if it did all these months. But she was so happy at the prospect of having hair on her head again that it brought tears to my eyes. (not big ones, because I’m really not a crying-kind of person, but definitely some little ones.) I don’t know how to tell her that the meds she is getting in this Delayed Intensification phase will probably make it fall out again. Who knows? Maybe we’ll get lucky and when school starts in August, she’ll have enough hair to avoid the whole ball-cap/bandana issue.

All I know is that for a few days, she has been running outside every chance she gets to pump herself on the swing and let the breeze blow through her ….. well, her hair. Even if there’s not much of it. And as long as she’s happy, I’m happy.

Thanks for checking in. Thanks for signing the guestbook. Have a wonderful weekend, and if you have a spare minute, stop and swing and enjoy the breeze in your hair.

love, Kristie