Ispirato

The first time I went through chemotherapy, back in 2002, I was strangely excited by the idea of going bald and of having a wig and wearing scarves on my head. But when it actually DID happen to me; when my head was shaved, I looked in the mirror and felt depressed. I am no Demi Moore. I look horrible bald. And while the wig looked reasonably natural, it was itchy and especially uncomfortable on hot days. With a hat or a scarf, was more comfortable but still looked like a chemotherapy patient since there was no hair peeping out at the sides or back.

This time, I was better prepared. I had the idea that I could save some of my real hair when we cut it off in anticipation of it all falling out. Roby and I consulted a hairdresser and she gave us some good tips on saving the hair and stitching it to headbands to wear beneath hats and scarves.

When your hair is shedding, it is much less messy if you cut it and use the electric trimmer to remove as much as possible. Roby and I made a date. She brought the trimmer and the champagne. I brought a different attitude to the one I held six years before. I knew not to expect a sexy bald head. This process was neither good or bad, it simply was. Eckhardt Tolle (author of ‘The Power of Now’ and ‘A New Earth’) would have been proud.

Wrapped in a pink plastic tablecloth I surrendered to Roby’s scissors and trimmer. I hammed it up for the camera. We agreed it was the best champagne we’d had in ages. I looked at these pictures and told Roby she needs to get the hair out of her eyes and I’d gladly cut it for her. She said no thanks.

I was interested to see how much more white hair I have hiding at root level, beneath all the fantastic color treatments my hairdresser gives me. I am sure it wasn’t this white six years ago. How can that be?

There is one more step I need to go through, and that is to use a razor to shave off the fuzz. In the meantime, it feels so cool to run my hand back and forth across my head. I’m sure you’ve all experienced that with little boys who have had buzz cuts.

Oh dear. Two months have passed and no blog posts from me. I’m sorry.

Since I last wrote a post, I have had three operations. Unbelievable! All went well.
Then I caught pneumonia and had to return to hospital for six more days. I recovered nicely.

Then, the oncology team decided to start me on chemotherapy on the last day of my hospital stay. Which was just a few weeks before the Spring Paperific Expo at the Melbourne Showgrounds. This is my business. So I had to put in lots of work hours to get everything ready in time. There were days when I felt not-so-good due to the chemo. It makes me tired - that is the main side effect. So I always felt like I was behind schedule - right to the day before we opened to the public.

Please understand: I am not complaining about being on chemo. I am glad my medical team is fighting this cancer aggressively. Hit it with everything you got, says I!

Because my immune system was deemed to be at its lowest ebb last weekend while Paperific was on, I was supposed to keep away from crowds and their germs. So friend Roby, who has worked at Paperific for a number of years, became the Expo Manager this year. I dropped in for a few hours Friday morning when the expo opened. It was huge - I was so impressed. Then I went home and slept and relaxed and had the most stress-free Paperific weekdend EVER. It was great.

Over 3,000 customers attended and we had 40 retail exhibitors this year. We also had 22 wholesale exhibitors in our Friday Trade Event, which is put on for craft business owners.

My retail exhibitors, knowing what I am going through health-wise, passed the hat to present me with a special treat: Enough money for tickets to see Wicked! plus dinner in the city for me and my husband and son. I was so very touched by their kindness. Paperific is nicknamed “The Friendly Show” by exhibitors. It isn’t without its altercations and faults, but all in all, staff and exhibitors get along quite well.

I was also touched by kind wishes from customers who knew I’ve been ill. And I love this when it happens, because it always takes me by surprise: Customers who thank me for putting on the expos because they enjoy them so much.

We had some hiccups with this expo. Hiccups are always to be expected when you are in a new venue for the first time. First, the Showgrounds caterers ran out of most of their food around 12.30pm on the Friday. Not good. So they tripled their food order for Saturday. Then we had an incredibly hot Saturday, and the air conditioners couldn’t cope. Bummer. Apart from the complaints about these problems, most of the feedback from exhibitors and customers alike gave the Showgrounds a big thumbs up. Easy to get to. Great parking close by. Open, spacious venue. Have we at last found a permanent home for Paperific? I believe we might have.