Cancer? Me?

Recently I was diagnosed with Nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkins Lymphoma , what a mouthful! Basically, I have cancer. Cancer?! Me?! Not exactly a diagnosis anyone wants to receive.

I don't know the right way a person is supposed to react to a cancer diagnosis but one of my first thoughts was.... "my hair!!" ,as we all know chemotherapy traditionally equals a bald head. I was very much not looking forward to that side effect.

My first chemo took place on June 16th and aside from a few small side effects (sore teeth being one of them, feeling a bit tired being the other) I have pretty much been feeling good. I'm still able to go about life as normally as ever. I think many of us have the mental image of a cancer patient as someone who's constantly ill and spends their days in bed, this isn't the reality that I have experienced so far. The lovely doctors and nurses do everything thing they can to prevent any side effects before they occur.

I have also always been a believer in putting your best face on and carrying on with things. For me, personally, I feel better when I get up, put on my makeup and wear something I feel good in. I hope to continue this throughout my treatment. By the end of treatment I'll probably own everything Cocoa Brown has to sell, I feel so much better with a tan and Cocoa Brown is by far the most natural looking tan out there. As my hair has recently begun to fall out, seriously...strands of hair everywhere, I have a feeling that wig shopping and headscarf shopping could become a new addiction. I also feel that I need to buy more lipsticks, you know, a strong lip to distract from the lack of hair... Any excuse to shop. I hope to continue to blog on products I find and what works for me, cancer is an ugly word but it won't stop me wanting to feel pretty.