Introducing Raylee and Jorja.....sisters! Raylee is our cancer baby and Jorja is her sister's keeper.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Gourgeous Girl With or Without Hair!
Last night I was combing Raylee's hair getting her ready for bed and it started coming out in my hands. I just stared at it and showed Jerry; we both frowned. It broke my heart to see it and I had to step away and go in another room and cry. I didn't want Raylee to see me crying....she really is going to lose her hair :( There is nothing anyone can do to stop it. Today she lost even more hair and we have a big ball of it. At the hospital they told us one day I would be combing it and it would come out, or she would wake up one morning with a lot of hair on her pillow. Everyday I checked for hair loss and there wasn't any; I was very hopeful it wouldn't happen. When I washed her hair tonight chunks of it fell out. We told her the medicine helping her feel better is causing her hair to come out because it is doing a super good job at killing the cancer in her tummy, and she screamed 'no' and cried. I told her we can cut her hair and she cried even more. If Raylee were a boy we would just shave it....but it isn't that easy. She loves her hair....we love her hair....its adorable! As girls we identify ourselves through hair even at Raylee's young age she is attached to it. We will go ahead and have it cut short...probably this weekend. I feel so bad for her. But when it comes down to it she will still be Raylee, my little girl, as adorable as ever. It will be my job to ensure she feels cute and adorable, smart and pretty, and down right a gorgeous incredible girl with or without hair!!
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Hey Melissa i have a special little gift for Raylee because i knew this was going to be hard for her and for you. I got her a bunch of Kufi caps and little flowers to wear on them. I can't imagine what you guys are going through or having to go through this with my girls, she is a special little girl and needs to feel as girly as she can and i hope these will help. We love you guys like family, and are hear anytime you need us.. -Andy And Samie
ReplyDeleteSad! But, like you said, the chemo is doing it's job. Dig out all those darling bows and HUGE flowers she wore when she was a baby. Hang in there SuperMom. As always you are in our prayers.
ReplyDelete~Cathy & 'crew'
Melissa,
ReplyDeleteNot one part of having a child with cancer is easy, and when they start to loose there hair they start to look like they have cancer which makes it more of a reality. It seems to be especially hard on girls so she will definitely be watching how you and Jorja react. My advice would be to take a little girls trip and pick out some hats and scarfs, help her see how fun it can be to wear scarfs. Izzy would pretend the scarf was her hair and drape it across her head, she also did that with her long sleeve shirts. She wouldn't pull her head all the way out and she would tell us it was her hair. It may help to show her some pics of little bald headed princesses, you can go to my blog and see Miss sassy Pants. We ended up shaving her head at the end of January because she hated to see the hair all over. After we shaved it she cried, but then we told her how beautiful she was with or without hair and we did a photo shoot.
My thoughts and prayers are constantly with your family.
Much Love!
Jennie aka Miss Sassy Pants Mom
www.misssassypantsvscancer.blogspot.co
I am a fellow "cancer mom" of a little girl. My daughter, Annabelle, is 4 years old and had a hard time with the hair thing too. She was diagnosed at the beginning of May so I consider myself fairly new to this world also. Annabelle was so disgusted with the hair all over her bed and anywhere she went. She finally allowed me to cut it and then a few days layer we shaved it. I never thought she would let me do it, but eventually she did. She cried and hugged me and said how she still wanted to be a girl. That was a hard moment for me. My little one thought if she didn't have hair she would be a boy. She loves hats now and all her headbands. She enjoys picking one to wear each day. It will say that it has gotten easier as the weeks go on, but it's ok to feel the emotion as it is happening. Sometimes when she catches her reflection or looks in the mirror she will frown and miss her hair, but now she talks about "when her hair grows back" and looks forward to that time. We try to talk about her bald head in a positive way, like it is a really good thing that the medicine is working. I hope your sweet little girl is doing as well as she can. Feel free to check my blog montanayates.blogspot.com There are a few pictures on there of Annabelle with her bald head and there will be more in the future. Maybe it will help for Raylee to see another little girl with a cute bald head! -Sally Yates
ReplyDeleteHI! You don't know me, but I head about your little girl from Jennie. My little girl has cancer and we are friends through that. She told me about your little girls hair lose and I wanted to write to you. Amelia had beautiful long hair before chemo took it from her and I have to tell you that has hard as we thought it would be, it wasn't. The experience is going to be different for everyone, but we did everything we could think of to help Amelia deal with it. One is got really thin we had a Hair Cutting Party. She loved it! All her family and friends came and everyone who wanted to cut or shaved their heads. Amelia got a cut little chin cut until she was ready to lose it all. Everyone sent their hair to Locks Of Love and Amelia loved the idea that she was helping other people. Once she was ready to shave it all (there wasn't much left) we had a Head Shaving Party. Amelia was all smiles and now that her hair is coming back she misses it bald. Sometimes she talks about shaving it off again. Something else that helped was having a photo shoot done of my new bald beauty. We wanted her to know and remember how gorgeous she was without her hair. Now I have big canvas prints of her hanging in my living room. The one thing that helped her the most was seeing other baldies. Please feel free to email me any questions or check out or blog (her pictures are on there somewhere. Actually one of the 1st ones is a bald picture from her shoot). Know you and your little one are not alone and that we would love to help you in anyway we can.
ReplyDeleteMuch Love, Amanda Flamm www.bradyandamanda.blogspot.com
(Amelia or Millie is my cancer cutie)
Melissa,
ReplyDeleteI cannot relate whatsoever to what you are going through, but, as always, I admire your strength (you have a lot of it, from my perspective, even if it doesn't feel like it)! What if you got her a cabbage patch doll? Cute 'n' bald? Or, what if you kept a dress up box in the living room and whenever you guys were feeling kind of down ALL of you girls could put on boas, necklaces and other silly things to wear as you do your daily "do's"? Maybe you can take her on a special day just for her to pick out some special jewelry or fancy shoes or something that can make her feel like a princess! Perhaps you can buy her some funky, fun wigs - maybe purple? :)
Maybe every time you girls leave the house you can all pick out a hat/bandana/headband to wear? Maybe with your hair in a pony so you guys look more similar?
She has a great support system and a fabulous family! She is lucky to have you all! I know in my heart you guys will make it through this with flying colors!
Melissa and Jerry,
ReplyDeleteI am not sure you will even remember me, but I just wanted to let you know that we (Bill and I) heard about your daughter via facebook. We wanted to take a minute to let you know that our family is here for you if ever you need us. I am sure you have quite the amazing support system surrounding you and and your beautiful girls, but know you have friends in us. We will be there on Saturday with donations in support of Raylee and your family. Please don't hesitate to ask if you ever need anything. Raylee is a beautiful girl, hair or not here sweet spirit radiates through her angelic little smile. We are rooting for Raylee and a road to recovery.
Hi Melissa, Jennie shared your blog with us in the cancer group. I just wanted to let you know that this does get easier. When McKall (my cancer cutie) was diagnosed it used to take an hr or more to get her to take her meds too! We asked everyone for advice, but the doctors reassured us it would get easier...at the time it felt like it never would. But they were right, it did get easier. Last night McKall swalled 10 pills with no complaints! My heart goes out to you and your family. There is nothing about cancer that is easy, but please know that we are here for you. The only advice I have is to try to make time for you and your hubby. This cancer thing can be rough on marriage, and it is so much easier to deal with when you are united as a couple. Also, Ive noticed McKall looks to me for how to react to things that happen during treatment. If I freak out...so does she. Ive learned calmness on the exterior is a must, even though inside I may be dying. Please know that we are here for you if you need anything. My blog is: www.McKallsOneToughChick.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteHang in there...and she IS so beautiful!
Lea Shepherd (fellow cancer mom)
Good to see you guys on Friday:) Your family is beautiful:) We love you all! You are in our prayers throughout your journey...If there is ANYTHING ever that we can do, please email me! keiauni@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteYou are one strong Momma, Melissa! Your home is full of love, and it is easy to feel it even when you are there for just a few minutes.