The Bald and the Beautiful

 

The Bald and the Beautiful

There are bald eagles, famous bald movie characters and actors.  There’s even a Mount Baldy but nothing ever prepares you for your own baldness.  A woman’s hair is her crowning glory.  We are used to men losing their hair but for woman it might be more frightening then the cancer diagnosis itself.  Through experience I have learned differently.

I looked back in My Cancer Diary and I didn’t write about my first buzz cut.  Maybe it was too traumatizing but hair (Ha!) goes.  My husband along with my stepson took me to his barber.  My husband would never be caught dead in a salon and I figured a barber would be more familiar with my new style I was forced to get.

I had long hair that fell to the middle of my back and I didn’t want to deal with big chunks coming out in the shower. I was told that I’d start losing my hair within weeks of my first chemo so I figured it might be easier and do this dramatic change in steps.  My neighbor gave me a cute short cut which I had fun with it for a couple of weeks.

It was Saturday morning about 8AM when my family and I entered into the barber shop.  I wanted to go early before anyone else arrived.  My husband and stepson went first.  They were buzzing their hair too.  I got teary eyed when my stepson was sitting in the chair.  He didn’t have to do this but I believe it was his way of supporting me and my husband his father.  I told the barber not to cut his hair to short so he gave him a faux hawk, my stepson later got his hair all the way buzzed.  He’s such a great kid.

By the time it was my turn there were about 6 people waiting.  Oh crap, I now have an audience but they were wonderful giving me encouragement and telling me they knew someone with cancer and one gentlemen told me how his mother has the illness that makes you permanently bald and it wasn’t that big of a deal. I asked the barber to give me a Mohawk before he buzzed it all off because I always wanted one in the 80’s. 

It turned out to be a better experience then I ever thought.  It was very liberating.  As I entered into the chemo world and I became as bald as a q-ball my husband loved it.  He said I looked like a hot Vulcan.  He used to rub my head all the time which I believe might have helped my hair grow back at a faster rate than most.

I even had fun with wigs; I had a blonde, black and brunette one.  I had received them from the cancer society or a private donor, most of the time I went bald or wore hats.  My neighbor ladies gave me a hat party early on so I had lots to choose from.  I even had a dear friend knit me a pig hat which I wore to chemo.  What I realized was my hair didn’t define who I was and I wasn’t loved any less.  My fear of first going bald was just that, my fear.  I now think it was one of the fun parts about cancer.  I was able to get ready for the day much faster and it freed me from the hassles of blow dryers, brushes and curling irons.  I think a woman should try going bald just once even if she doesn’t have cancer.

Next week I'll share my first time doing time (chemo).  Until then go out there…and remember true beauty comes from within so don’t be afraid to buzz it all off!

 Might as well have fun with it

The Balding family, Ha!