August 4, 2006 - Returning Hair

My hair is definitely coming back, these days. I’m starting to look like a person with a very short haircut, rather than someone who’s had his head shaved. I never did lose all my hair, nor did I lose my eyebrows or eyelashes. That makes me something of a rarity among CHOP chemo veterans.

At first, it looked like my hair was going to come back white. Now, it seems to be getting a bit darker. Whether it will ever return to the predominantly dark-brown hue of my pre-chemo days, though, remains to be seen.

“Gray hair is a crown of glory;
it is gained in a righteous life.”

- Proverbs 16:31

Today, Claire remarks to me, with glee, that my hair is sticking up in the back (where my head has been resting against a pillow). Another one of those little milestones on the road to recovery.

I still haven’t started carrying a comb around with me yet, but the day is coming...

August 1, 2006 - Renewal

Today, going through some mail, I come across a subscription-renewal notice for a preaching journal. It offers me three options: a one-year, a two-year or a three-year subscription. The longer the subscription period, the cheaper the per-issue cost.

Looking over that notice takes me back to a time, about six months ago, when I was considering a similar subscription-renewal notice, for another professional journal. I distinctly remember hesitating, at the time, at the thought of the three-year renewal. I’ve got cancer, I said to myself. I’m receiving chemotherapy. Sure, the doctor says my chances of going into remission are pretty good, but what if I’m in the unlucky percentage? Can I be sure I’ll still be alive, three years from now? I wrote a check for a one-year subscription.

Now, as I hold today’s renewal notice in my hand, I feel differently. I’m in remission. The next three years look brighter, clearer.

I check the box for “three-year subscription,” and write a check for the necessary amount.

As I lick the stamp, it feels like a victory.