Round 2: Me versus Chemo

Today, I looked in the mirror at my bald head and thought, Man, I look pretty tough! So, as I prepare for Round 2 of chemotherapy in the morning, I picture myself as a fighter.

(Mental soundtrack: the theme song to Rocky and Pat Benatar's Hit Me with Your Best Shot)  [Help! I'm stuck in the '80's!]

Here's me, the tough fighter, "trash talking" chemotherapy:
Chemotherapy, I'm on to you. You aren't something to fear; you are just a cancer-fighting tool. Nothing more. You might steal my hair and my energy and you might take down my immune system, but all your effects are temporary. I'll be back. I'm SO on to you.

And I'm fighting your chemical warfare with chemical warfare: over the next three days, I'm taking THIRTY-SIX different pills to counter your negative effects. Now I know what to expect from you and I'm prepared. I've got a pill or two for every side effect you hit me with. And that's not all, I'm eating my veggies (organic ones. Take that!) and swallowing multivitamins and lifting weights and jogging -- three miles this morning (but no steps to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Sorry, Rocky). You won't take me down again without a fight.

I even know ways to use you to my advantage: I shave my legs and they stay shaved. Ha! My week of quarantine? That's reading and writing time: a gift of two of my favorite activities. And all these headscarves? A fashion statement, that's what. Triple ha!!

Chemotherapy, you ain't da boss o' me.

On a separate note, Things to Ponder:
1. If my immune system has been laid low, how is it that I still have seasonal allergies? Despite my training as an immunologist, it's all a mystery to me. Something to think about.
2. Another thing, how much hair must one have to still require shampoo? Are the scalp-conditioning benefits listed on the bottle just a gimmick? At what point do I just soap my head?