I think I flunked my eye exam!

In school, I never was very good with multiple choice questions. They all sounded like they could be the correct answer, with just a little variation to make them tricky. That's how I felt after having my new lenses put in my glasses...I think I chose the wrong answer. I'm not sure if I chose "one or two", "two or three", or "three of four", but whichever one it was, I was still struggling with reading and my eyes were tired and strained all the time. I tried my best to get used to them for a couple of weeks, but I finally had to call my eye doctor and admit that I thought my lenses weren't correct. I had chosen the wrong answer.

I made an appointment to go back in and get re-tested (oh, no!) and, sure enough, came up with a different "answer"....about two "clicks" less than before. So Lynnette kindly re-ordered my newest prescription for me (you're allowed to send them back once if they're not just right) and ten days later they came in. At first, I thought they were the correct answer this time. But after another couple of weeks, I wasn't sure that these were working as well as hoped for again. I was still having to adjust my glasses up and down my nose a little, and my eyes were still getting tired. So, once again, I called Lynnette and asked her if she had kept my other new lenses. She said she wasn't sure...that she might have thrown them away, but that she'd check and let me know.

Two days later she called to tell me she had found them...in the trash! She had rummaged through their trash bags and found them. I was so thankful...but embarrassed! I had turned my doctor into a dumpster diver! Fortunately, it didn't come to that, but only because their dumpster had recently been emptied. We laughed, and then agreed to a time when I could go back and have her put my recently recovered lenses back in my glasses.

To make a long story short, my "dumpster lenses" are still not the correct ones...I'm back to choice # 2 again, after trying choice #1 and having sore, red eyes after wearing them. I'm wondering if my dry eyes are affecting things for me, as they certainly contribute to my eyes feeling tired, as well. In the meantime, I have another appointment in April to re-check my dry eyes and possibly have plugs put in, and Lynnette said that we can re-test my eyes again for vision as well. I hope it's not multiple choice!

Sore buns, but happy heart!

Well, I made my television debut yesterday and I think it went well! The interviewer, Tim, was very easy going and I hardly even realized that we were being taped until it was all over. There was no calling out "lights, cameras, action" to warn me...it just started as an easy conversation with the microphone suddenly pointed at me. Probably my most notable quote that they extracted and used from my interview (they cut and spliced three individual interviews together) was when Tim asked me what my expectations were from doing the cycle challenge, to which I answered, "sore buns". Probably not the answer he was looking for, but I couldn't help myself...it just came out!

This morning was our time to ride. Rich and I shared one bike for two hours, switching every half hour, while our son-in-law, Matt, brought in his own bike to ride on a trainer and rode for an hour and a half. We were entertained and kept pumped up by a live band made up of teachers from West Ottawa called Staff Infection, who volunteered their time and played all the hits from our era and more. The time passed quickly because of them, and I can't really complain of having sore buns! The room was full of 50+ bikes, not including bikes that were brought in and put on trainers by individuals, and it was an amazing sight to see. Having never done a bike-athon, I didn't know what to expect...how are all the bikes lined up...where does everyone fit when not riding...where do the supporters go?

We were lucky and were in the front row, so we had space in front of us to pull up a couple of chairs to sit on when not riding. The group next to us sat on the floor and played Uno while waiting their turns. But if you weren't in the front, there was only enough room for the rider and maybe one other person, but you wouldn't want to stand there for long because everyone was so close together. So when you're assigned a time slot, that's really your own solo time to ride. A time to just pedal hard and enjoy the view! Volunteers continually walked through the room with trays full of goodies...slices of bananas and bagels, cookies, energy bars, snack mix...and there was also water and Gatorade available. All you really had to do was show up and pedal...the organizers and volunteers thought of everything else.

All in all, it has been a wonderful first experience for me...I plan on participating again next year. And, as always, events such as this touch my heart...with gratitude for my own happy ending, and for the hope that is inspired by the efforts of so many wonderful people working together. Thank you, everyone.

Who's that FOXy lady?

This weekend is the 24 hour Ultimate Cycle Challenge to raise funds for cancer research. Teams will be riding bikes for 12 and 24 hours, and I have the priviledge of having a team organized and named in my honor by my friend, Betsy. It's called Marcia's Marvelous Milers! Because of this honor, I thought that I should ride with them, even though the thought of riding a spinning bike for an hour sounds grueling! But I've been told that "coasting" and other forms of resting are allowed, so I know that I will do just fine!

Another good friend of mine, Tom, is on the Challenge committee and asked me if I would agree to be interviewed by FOX-17 News on Friday afternoon for their 10:00 news report that night. They want to interview a couple of survivors who are participating in the challenge and Tom thought of me immediately. Now I just need to lose about 10 pounds before tomorrow because they say that television adds weight to how you really look! Actually, it's what I'm going to wear that I can't decide on...should I wear my bright pink "warrior" tennis shoes and bright pink shirt, or should I be more demure and wear my electric blue shirt and blue & black tennis shoes??? Which color would de-emphasize my sure to be "red as a beet" face as I'm interviewed (it's a phenomena I can't control...when I speak in front of people, the heat rises to my face and I turn beet red). I guess you'll just have to tune in tomorrow night and see which look I decide on!

P.S. Has anyone else noticed I seem to have a thing going on with foxes?

It just blew in from the Windy City...

Back in December when my oncologist told me that my hair would probably not grow back any more than it is now, Rich immediately sprung to action. He made a few phone calls and, through a friend of a friend, found a wig salon in Chicago that specialized in custom made wigs. Since my baldness doesn't seem to be just a temporary condition anymore, he wanted me to get a really good wig, customized to fit my head exactly, at whatever cost (well, he probably would have drawn the line somewhere).

I was able to check out the website of the salon, and was amazed at the video they had which showed models wearing their wigs...they looked so real! You could even see their "scalps". The bio of the owner, Brian, said that he had become bald at the age of 14, and so was at first self-taught in the wearing of hairpieces, and then went on to school to learn more about the world of hairpieces and wigs...fitting, cutting and customizing. So he not only talked the talk, but also walked the walk. And he was especially dedicated to helping cancer patients who had lost their hair from chemo. He sounded like just the person for me.

As it happened, Rich was going to be in Chicago on business in early January and I already was planning on joining him, so I contacted Brian's salon and made an appointment to see him. His partner, Jeff, answered the phone and, after hearing my story, asked me to send them a picture of myself before I lost my hair so that they would have an idea of what look I was wanting to recapture with a wig. (I sent them a picture of me as a redhead, of course!) As we're chatting away, he asked me which hotel we were staying at, and when I told him, he said that it was within a few blocks of the salon, and very chic and hip. He then advised me to wear black and leave my "Michigan clothes", i.e. fleece, at home, so that I would fit in! Evidently, his memories of visiting Holland and Douglas are of people wearing fleece, even though it's summer when they visit. I laughed, and promised not to wear any fleece, while actually thinking that maybe I would wear it to my appointment, just to spite him!

Like the dutiful person I am, I wore black to my appointment instead of fleece, but I would have anyway...it's Chicago, afterall. Plus, it's just easier to pack. Jeff acted as if we were old friends when Rich and I arrived and took us back to a private room where we met with Brian. They both were impressed with my Holland wig and thought it looked very natural and real on me, which made me feel good. But I still wanted to try on one of their custom made wigs, to compare it with my own "off the rack" wig.

The first wig they had me try on was dark blonde and shoulder length...not exactly the short red head look I was expecting. I tried it on for them and it looked horrible! I told Brian that this was not the look I was wanting. So he went out of the room and then came back with a short, dark brown colored wig which he placed on my head. Whoa...I looked like a vision of my mom with her full head of hair! It was kind of curly, too, but still wasn't the look I was wanting. I was beginning to wonder if they had even looked at the photo I had sent them before my appointment.

And then Brian showed me the magic of steam. Using a clothes steamer, he showed me how to straighten the hair of a wig, or curl it. When I asked about steam melting the hair (these are still synthetic hair wigs), he said that steam is a wig's best friend...you can create all kinds of styles with steam. It's dry heat, such as ovens, that melts wig hair. So, in minutes, the wig went from curly to straight and looked much better. But it was still too much hair for me, and the fit wasn't quite right, so Brian took if off of me and left the room again to do some more magic to it, this time with needle and thread. When he came back, he put it on me again and it fit like a glove. After running my fingers through it (it felt almost like real hair, unlike my other wig) and playing with it myself, I decided that this was the wig for me...let the cutting and styling begin. (He isn't able to keep a large inventory of wigs in the salon due to space, so only has certain "stock" wigs to try on that can be customized to whatever you want.)

The scary thing about having a wig cut and styled, is that it doesn't grow back like real hair does if it gets cut too short. So it was hard for me to see the scissors darting in and out and hair falling to the floor. At one point I thought he had cut too much from one of the front sides, but then Brian explained that these wigs are made with all individually hand tied hairs, and that he had someone who would add hair back if I wanted, as well as add the red and gold highlights that I had decided it needed. Amazing. So, once the styling was completed, I left the wig with Brian to send out for highlights and additional hair.

It was two weeks before my new wig arrived, but it was worth the wait. The highlights are perfect and add just the right amount of redness and gold to it, and the fullness it has is something I always wished my own hair had had. But the best part is how well it fits and how good it feels on...I can almost forget there's a wig on my head. There's no slipping or sliding on my head anymore and no wig liners to have to wear underneath as with my other wig. This wig came with it's own anti-slip strips sewn into the front and the back of it, which keeps it secure on my head without any added bulk. It makes me wonder why all wigs don't have this sewn into them...it seems so simple.

I'm fooling a lot of people now and feeling good about how I look with my new wig, as I wear it all the time. It feels secure on my head and I can even wear hats or headbands with it...I just have to remember to hold on to my bangs before taking them off ,or everything comes off! But even though it does feel like it's a part of me now, I'll still be doing what Brian calls "the wig walk" and keep my head lowered on windy days...it's still a wig, afterall!