I Am the Wig Master!

I was scheduled to have a follow-up appointment with my surgeon today. This appointment was scheduled back in May and they didn't tell me what was involved. Several friends asked what my surgeon wanted to see me for and I could only shrug. They don't tell me anything! (Which doesn't mean I don't ask...it just means that no one who schedules or answers phones knows a darn thing.)

I made great time on the drive to San Francisco, so I decided to go to the gift shop. The gift shop at the cancer center has a wig/hat shop in the back. While I was checking out their hats, a woman who works their approached me. She saw my flapper-on-acid indigo bob and wanted to tell me that she loved it. She asked if I could hang around for a little while, because the wig master of the San Francisco Opera would be arriving soon to teach a wig seminar. He is always encouraging women to have fun with wigs during chemo. However, few get playful with it and she knew he'd want to meet me.

I said sure, I could wait around. I then had to shop at a snails pace because I'd already looked at everything I came to see.

Lucky me, though, I found the perfect finishing item for my Friday infusion outfit. I had thought of painting a T-shirt to wear but I haven't had the energy to tackle such a project. The gift shop had a black T-shirt with a pink rhinestone awareness ribbon right in the middle of it. Paired with my black jeans, that's the perfect outfit to go with the 1960s pink flip wig! I was ecstatic.

The woman who had talked to me before slipped into the resource center (also attached) and came back with something. She said that someone had just donated a lavender wig to the cancer resource center and she knew I had to have it, since I could carry it off. She gently wrapped it in hot pink tissue paper, told me to be sure to wash it, and slipped it into my bag.

When the wig master arrived (doesn't that sound like a SciFi or horror movie character? I AM THE WIG MASTER!), she introduced us. He was excited. The women taking the seminar gathered around us and we just chatted about wigs. It was kind of funny. I talked about my extensive wig wardrobe and where I got them, we talked about how to have fun with them and care for them, and I did my bit to support the shop by saying how it's important to get fitted for their everyday wig at a shop and get it styled.

After finding out about the wild wigs I have at home, the wig master turned to me and said, "I like your style!" You know, when your body is freaked out by chemo and everything is going wrong, having someone say that really makes your day.

After this, I went upstairs for my appointment and waited a while. Then they took my vital signs and put me into an exam room. My buddy nurse stopped by to tell me about something she was excited about. While we were talking, a nurse practitioner whom I didn't know came in. I said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't change into the gown yet, I can do that quickly." She said, "Hold on, I don't think you need to."

My buddy left and the N.P. closed the door. She verified that I'm in chemo and asked questions about that. Then she asked, "Why did they schedule this appointment now? You were just examined by your oncologist and we don't want to go probing around while you are under chemo."

Again, all I could do is shrug. I DO NOT KNOW.

So, the surgeon didn't see me at all. The N.P. said I should come back a few weeks after I finish radiation and do the follow-up then, but for now, nothing. She asked, "Did you drive far?" I smiled crookedly and shrugged. Oh, well, I was free to go.

I would complain about having to drive up, except that now I have the chemo outfit for Friday, a new wig, and a wig master who LIKES MY STYLE, so I'd say Margie and Norm had plans for me.

Oh, and best of all? I tried on the T-shirt when I got home. It's super clingy and, amazingly enough, makes me look like I lost twenty pounds and had a boob job. That's MAGIC!

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