Thursday, morning, Nov. 17
We attended our appointment with the cosmetic surgeon yesterday. We did got two of the four tubes removed which was good. Another surgery is scheduled for Dec. 9th. More lymph nodes must be removed and because a third tumor was discovered during the last surgery, a section of skin that it was very close to, or had attached itself to, has to be removed. Betty is in a fair amount of pain today but has some medication that is helping to manage it. She is still very positive about the whole ordeal. Friends have called and emailed and have really boosted her spirits also. She can only raise her arms to about shoulder level. Even at that, she has no strength to grasp or hold on to anything. I have been doing her hair for the last week. That word “doing” is very interesting to me in relation to hair. Hence the phrase, “Hairdo.” When told that her arms would be useless for a few weeks, Betty looked at me and said, “What am I going to do about my hair?!” I said not to worry, because I’d help her with it. To which she replied, “No, really, what am I going to do about my hair?!” She has felt so awful this week, that she didn’t care about her hair like she thought she would. So I am now the hairdoer. I knew that Betty always had thick hair, but I had never tried to comb it when it was wet. My soul! It was like an explosion in a copper wire factory. She said that she used relaxer on it and that it could be found on the cabinet in the bathroom. I was amazed at what I found on the cabinet in the bathroom. I had gazed upon all the bottles and canisters that line our cabinet before, but only in passing. I had never ventured into them. Pore refining toner, micro-sculpting serum, triple eye enhancer, cuticle oil! I thought, oh my, she’s been on medication for years. The relaxer worked on her hair. After wrestling with drying and styling her hair for half and hour, I sprayed some relaxer on me. She asked me if I knew how to “back comb.” That caused me to think of an uncle of mine who has more hair on his back than his head. I didn’t want to get involved in that! Betty said it’s where you hold up strains of hair and comb them toward the scalp. I said, “Like teasing, right?” YES! That’s it, like teasing. She said it causes you hair to stand up and be fuller. So I teased the back of her hair. Once I got started, I couldn’t stop. Something new I’d never done! When I got through, she said she looked like a 1970’s majorette. Well, I remember liking majorettes as a kid, but apparently, that’s not in style. We got the hair tamed down and it was time for make-up. Here she drew the line. I was not allowed to help. She said because of my enthusiasm on the hairdo, that if I did her make-up that she’d probably look like a clown. Well, I remember liking clowns as a kid, but apparently, that’s not in style. Again, thank you for your prayers. We are comforted in your caring and love. God bless.