I don't think of myself as a vain dog.  I mean, I know I'm beautiful, but my self esteem would be just as high if I I would have been touched by the ugly stick when I was young.  Even two or three taps would have been just fine with me.  Us dogs, for the most part, are good that way.

Still, I can't help but think that maybe my physical beauty is slightly less due to my difficulties the last few months.  (Fortunately, my inner beauty--the beauty that really counts--is at an all time high.)   But the thing is, I am loosing some of my whiskers, and the replacement ones are thinner and more gray.

Not that I'm ashamed of my gray whiskers.  I've been working on a very distinguished mix of gray and black fur since I was about two years young.  I've worked hard to get those gray whiskers and I'll show them off with pride.  But still, it marks the passing of an era.  Okay, maybe the black whisker era isn't anything special, but it is a part of my past. 

I knew going into my chemotherapy that whisker loss was a possibility.  It is just that I didn't think it would happen to me.

For all of you keeping track out there, tomorrow I start the next phase of my treatment.  I'm finished with my cyclophosphamide now and I am still working on vincristine every other week for a while, but tomorrow I start on a new drug.  Tomorrow I start every other day chlorambucil (Leukeran).  I'll be taking that and prednisone every other day for a year and if I am still in remission (knock on wood) then I will be chemotherapy free.

Chlorambucil:  an anticancer drug C₁₄H₁₉Cl₂NO₂ that is a derivative of nitrogen mustard and is used especially to treat leukemias, multiple myeloma, some lymphomas, and Hodgkin's disease.

Since I am being treated for lymphoma, that seems like a good drug.  Hopefully it won't make me feel bad or anything. 

Have a good one (day/night/what ever) and I'll bark at you later. 

Little Bit