Organ Donors: Can I Donate My Boobs?

Before I was diagnosed with cancer, I had considered becoming an organ donor and having that designation placed on my driver's license.  Well, I highly doubt anyone wants my organs anymore. 

My sad little organs have endured 20 weeks of chemotherapy along with large doses of antihistamines and anti emetic drugs.  Hopefully, they don't have any stray cancer cells hiding in their tissue.

The charitable side of me still wants to donate a body part, though.  I want to help someone in need.  In fact, the first things I would like to donate are my boobs.

What?!?

Nobody wants my boobs?!?

I can't possibly understand why.

Lake Church

I did twenty weeks of chemotherapy during the spring and summer of this year.  My head was fashionable bald and decorated with feminine accessories.  I still had terrific boobs albeit one was trying to kill me.  With all that in mind, my husband and I decided to take advantage of the terrific weather and spend Sabbaths down at the lake. 

Lake church is terrific.  Depending on our mood, we camp, dive, swim, picnic, hike, walk the dog, or skip rocks on the water's surface.  I absolutely love going to the lake.  It is so peaceful and soothing. 

My husband and I used to have lake church all the time before we had kids.  We still try to go to the lake with the kids but sometimes it can be like trying to corral ants.  However, my New Year's resolution will be to go to the lake as often as I can.

Sara Bald

I did a photo shoot with an awesome photographer this summer.  Here are the links to the pictures.

http://brandireynolds.com/2012/06/21/life-is-art-sara-is-a-warrior/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brandi-Reynolds-Photography/238973019533299

Lessons From Tyra

I secretly love to watch America's Next Top Model.  The hair, the makeup, the clothes all capture my imagination.  Their fashion ideas are so fun and funky.

Now that I am bald, I watch with a discriminating eye to see if I can swipe any fashion and makeup ideas for myself. 

For me, sporting a bald look takes guts and style.  I'm trying not to look like a small boy in summer so I wear dark eye makeup, shiny earrings, dark lipstick, and girly outfits.  So far, my strategy is working.  I still feel feminine. 

Thank you Tyra for shaving some of your models' heads!

The Buzz Cut

On my birthday looking very much like a harpy, I called my husband and asked if he would buzz my hair.  He agreed to do it.  With a sense of warped excitement, I headed home. 

There my husband stood with clippers in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other.  His brother and sister-in-law joined us for the fun and began to video tape the procedure.

Snip, snip, snip.  Off went my nasty strands of hair.

Buzz, buzz, buzz.  Now, my head was exposed to the world.

When I looked in the mirror, I was surprised to see my head was nicely shaped. 

"Very cool."  I thought to myself.

I guess if my head has to be shaved, it is a bit of a bonus to have a nicely shaped head.  However, my husband feels that I should have left my harpy hair on my head and run around town with no hat.  The shock value of my head would have been out of this world.

Locks of Love

When I started chemotherapy, I was told that all my hair would fall out.  Fortunately, I'm very warped and the thought of losing my hair did not bother me. 

Four weeks into chemotherapy, my hair began to shed like my fluffy border collie in the middle of summer.  That is not a pretty sight, I assure you.  I do have very thick hair.  So when a third of my hair fell out one morning, you couldn't even tell.  My husband and I decided to braid and cut my hair so I could donate it to Locks of Love before there were only three strands left.

My husband is such an artist.  He cut my hair into a really cute chin length bob that stylishly framed my face.  I was impressed.  A few days later, chemotherapy won the battle with my hair follicles.  The rest of my hair fell out in clumps until my head resembled that of a harpy's from World of Warcraft.

The Bucket List

I've started a bucket list of sorts.  It's written in chicken scratch on my calendar in the kitchen.  Things that I have included are storm chasing, becoming a scuba diving instructor, getting a snowboard, playing my husband's songs on the piano, relearning my Spanish, and redoing the backyard.  So far, I am actually working on these things.

I started the bucket list because I felt a little pressure to get some fun things done in my life that I had put aside.  Cancer has a funny way of changing priorities.  Life can't be stressful all the time.  That makes me a very sick girl.

So, I'm working on my fun and spontaneity.  I need to get that back in order to fulfill the neglected free spirit inside of me.