Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

     Monday morning in the shower, I noticed that the drain wasn't keeping up very well. Hmmm...Liquid Plumber time I thought. Then the gut-wrenching realization hit. It wasn't Liquid Plumber time, it was your-hair-has-officially-started-falling-out time.

 

Still not quite willing to believe it, I bent over and swept my hand across the drain. I came up with a hand full of my own hair that just minutes before had been on my head! I was shocked, even though I shouldn't have been. I knew that this day was coming.

 

     Because so much hair had fallen out in the shower, I thought that after I dried my hair, it would be better. 

 

OH.  MY.  GOSH!!!  Wrong again!

 

As I ran the brush through my hair, I was SHOCKED when I looked at my brush. It was absolutely filled with hair, way more than I would have normally lost in a month!!!

 

At that point, reality is not a kind, caring, sympathetic friend. It is cold and hard and shocking. It took a while to process and accept this new development.

 

     All day Monday and into the evening, hair kept falling out. It fell on my papers, on my shirt, on my face, into my plate, everywhere!!! I knew what I needed to do (notice I said needed to do, not wanted!) so I called Kristi and Katie and we made a plan. Tuesday evening, we would set the plan into motion.

 

     Kristi had to teach a paramedics class from 6pm to 10pm on Tuesday evening. After she was done teaching, Kristi, Katie, Arland, and I would meet at Kristi's house at 10:30pm.

 

Why would we meet there? Because she had the clippers. Tuesday would be the evening the girls would shave my head.

 

     I knew that my hair was dead for about a week before it began to fall out. It was no longer shiny and it felt almost dirty, even right after washing it. My hair and my scalp hurt too. I also knew that it was best just to buzz it off to avoid the "wet scraggly dog bad hair day" look that I would certainly have when it began falling out!!!

 

     Because I knew we were meeting later in the evening on Tuesday, I watched the clock all day long...waiting...wondering...wishing it didn't have to be so... thinking...dreading...  

 

Ten thirty came and Kristi, Katie, Arland, and I met at Kristi's house, talking and joking around as we got set up to shave my head. Kristi and Katie arm wrestled to see who would do it...Just kidding!!! Since Katie has had more experience with the shaver, she was elected to do it. Not that it was really going to matter WHAT my head looked like after the buzz since no one will really see it AND all the hair that is left after the buzz will fall out anyway!!!

 

So, cut she did! It looked a little longer than all of us thought it should look so...buzz...she cut it again, this time using the shortest blade.  That's when I became B-A-L-D!

 

     A long time ago, there was a commercial that claimed, "Bald is beautiful." While I would NEVER, ever claim that to be true of my own head, I learned that bald "ain't so bad." It's doable. It's ok. It's just another new normal for me.

 

     As with most things in life, the anticipation is often far worse than reality. That was true of the head shaving event. I found out that you can learn to accept things that you wish wouldn't happen. You can do it without tears. You can trust your family to help you ease into this new normal. You are stronger than you think.

     I didn't think I would be able to find a Golden Thread through this experience. I did though! The Golden Thread was an unexpected finding! My Golden Thread???  The shower feels wonderful on my bald head!!!