Missing Cancer | Showers

Back when my hair started falling out, I remember several people telling me: “Just think of how much time you’ll save in the shower!” I know it was said with the best of intentions, but maybe don’t go saying that the next time you encounter a friend with cancer.

Still, showering was much simpler.  My showers didn’t get shorter, they just got better.  Not only did I get to skip the shaving, but I got to skip the stress of just needing to shave.  Trying to remember if I’d shaved my armpits first, or if I needed to do them before I got out of the shower.  With no hair, I could wash my head or not.  I usually conditioned my bald head, afraid that the skin would dry out. (A bald head is one thing, a scaly bald head is something else entirely.)  Instead of spending all that time washing and shaving, I just stood and enjoyed the hot water on my body.  A quick slather with some jojoba oil when I hopped out, and I was ready for makeup.

While I was on taxol, I ended up with a fair amount of bone pain for a few days each cycle.  It wasn’t so much a sharp pain, but it became very hard for my legs to be comfortable.  Enter the wonder shower– sometimes two or even three times a day I’d hop in and let the hot water soothe my achy body.  With no hair, I could hop straight into bed after my shower and didn’t even get cold from my wet head.  Showers were such a relaxing, enjoyable time to me, I really do miss having a shower without having an agenda.

This post is part of a series of what I’ll miss from my time as a cancer patient.  I know cancer is a serious thing, not everyone tolerates treatment well, and not everyone recovers.  I don’t mean to offend by making light of a serious subject.  These posts are just a glimpse of my efforts to make the best of my situation—to find the silver linings wherever I can.