QUARANTINE CUTE: WHY APPEARANCES STILL MATTER

Staying quarantine cute is worth dying for? At least protesting for?

When I saw the folks protesting in cars and screaming about their hair, I felt their pain.

Look, who among us wants to look our age if we can help it? I get that.

But, why hang your head out of a window to show a camera man a center part of gray roots in unnaturally colored hair?

Not Quarantine Cute Enough?

People who were cute before the quarantine will come out just as cute.

But, they’re starting to feel desperate. How desperate? My wife asked me to cut her hair, desperate.

She’s transitioning to a pixie cut, but says she just wants me to trim the ends for now. When I heard the request the first time, I thought short, real short. Crew cut, buzz cut, butch wax short.

We got that cleared up before I told she’d look good in short short hair. So, just the ends for now.

I do understand the desire to look as good as possible. I really do, especially after dragging through a different infection and cure.

The Chemo Cut

When I learned I’d be a chemotherapy candidate for cancer in my neck, I figured I’d lose my hair.

With a genetic base known for hair loss, I was quite happy with the hair I had. The idea of losing it was distressing.

The last time I was nearly bald was a result of an Army boot camp haircut.

The doc in the first chemo clinic I interviewed said I’d lose my hair with the treatment he recommended. He also said I wasn’t going to die, so I accepted the hair loss.

To ease the loss, I got the worst haircut I’ve ever had. It was so bad that I’d be glad when it fell out.

Then I got a second opinion on cancer treatment from the Knight Cancer Institute. Dr. Yee said the treatment he recommended, while still chemo but not as much, would spare my hair.

In my mind’s eye I see him looking at my horrible style and wondering why it would matter if it fell out since it looked so bad.

So, I got treated for HPV 16 virus neck cancer looking like I had the mange. The image in the mirror was not very inspiring once the chemo and radiation kicked in big time.

‘Patchy’ is a good description.

How Coronavirus Quarantine Is Different Than Cancer Quarantine

It starts will illness.

Without widespread testing, no one knows if they’ve got covid19 until they show symptoms, but sometimes we don’t have symptoms.

The quarantine is based on that particular unknown.

Cancer quarantine is where people in treatment get hammered so hard that their immune system is compromised. The idea of taking something deadly to kill something more deadly creates a real drop in busy white blood cells.

Towards the end of the ordeal I got a shot to boost my white blood cells. They were low, low, low.

Once testing and tracking goes mainstream, the coronavirus quarantine can end safely.

After cancer treatment, patient typically feel worse than they’ve ever felt in their lives. In my case it was a near-death experience after I declined a feeding tube and opioids.

Radiation cooked my neck, but it only hurt when I breathed. And I could barely swallow, so I got severely dehydrated while I headed toward kidney failure.

The book I’ve written, the same book I’m seeking representation for, goes into the slide, the family intervention, and the climb back to normal.

The short part of the long story is doing what it takes to make it through. And I did, which is why I’d like to reassure those in quarantine now.

Be Strong

My life was at risk from every little thing, the same as it is for people currently doing the same treatment program.

The world didn’t stop for the cancer in my neck, which was surprising. But I did notice the world moving on without me.

For many, the coronavirus stopped the world with entire nations shutting down to slow virus transmission. People are upset at being clumped together, then socially distanced, by covid19.

Since they don’t feel sick, they want their lives back. What’s it take to help them understand why staying down is important?

In the depths of my personal cancer treatment despair a visitor said, “I’ve never seen anyone suffer like you’re suffering.”

I reminded him that his mother in law had lived with he and his wife while she was dying of cancer. Wasn’t that worse?

“It was awful, but you’re right there. I’ve never seen anyone suffer like you without dying,” he said.

He said it like I was disappointing him.

In closing, if you want to know how I turned the corner in cancer quarantine, and how to tell which barber in the shop is the bad one, leave a comment.

I have a high degree of confidence that the covid19 quarantine will end as well as my HPV 16 cancer quarantine.

I’m feeling pretty damn good, and you will bet quarantine cute.