[LAURIE]

Having just finished my last A/C just a little bit ago, the memory of what you all are going through is very fresh in my mind. You can get through this. Cherish ths time you have before treatments, when you feel well. You also have to rememeber you are going through an awful lot with having surgery, reconstruction, port and everything else on top of starting A/C. That is a lot to handle in 1 month. I did not have a great time on A/C, no one does. I threw up every time, but after the first time I knew what to expect a little bit. I got so anxious about treatment the doctor prescribed me Ativan to help my nerves and nausea too. That seemed to help. As far as your hair. I could not shave mine before hand. It had to fall out for me to believe it was going to happen. When it got real messy, I put it into 8 little pony tails, cut them out and then shaved my head. I would not of lost all of my hair, but I would of had lots of bald spots. Those pony tails I kept have been put to good use, I have sewed them to make my own bangs. This makes me feel real. People will say your bangs look so natural, and I can respond "of course they do, they are my real hair."