Rev. Elaine Caldbeck of the Cathedral of St. James and I are planning a ritual around the transplant and losing my hair to chemo. This is one of the prayers.


God of tender mercy, hear my prayer. I grieve the loss of my hair, a change

to my body and to my sense of self as a woman. Help me to remember that you

made me in your image and that in you I am made whole, despite all wounds.

Give me confidence and fill me with hope in all that lies ahead. I pray through

God who, like a mother, bears us for joy and endless life. Amen

I am completely flattened by the chemo and Neupogen...the anti-nausea drug keeps things at the constant nausea (but very little vomiting) level. I feel like I have been run over by a truck, beaten with whips and chains, and kicked in the stomach and back. Tomorrow thru Wed. they anticipate I will be neutropenic (no resistance to infection), so I will wear a mask when I go to the lab and the doctor's office.