Return to Wig Day

I'm ready to back track now. Let's return to Tuesday and the infamous wig day. My dear friends, Deb and Michelle, went along with me for moral support. I was SO glad they were there. After all, it's not every day that a girl loses her hair in under 5 minutes flat! After my shower that morning, it was quite evident that the doctors and nurses did know exactly what they were talking about. ( I was hoping that just maybe they'd be wrong...but no such luck) After the second chemo treatment your hair DEFINITELY falls out. What a weird feeling that was. I can't even really put it into words. All I can say, is one second there is hair on your head, right where it's always been, and the next thing you know, it's lying in your hand in VERY large clumps. It made the decision for wig day very easy. The rest of the hair needed to go. We arrived at "Advanced Hair Solutions" (very fancy name for wig place...but sure does sound better) and I was ready for MY solution! My last visit there had culminated in two finalists, and they were ready and waiting for me to try on. One wig was chin length, the other extended a bit past my shoulders. You can see them over my shoulder next to the mirror. They are even labeled with my name so no one else could claim them as their "solution." I had arrived with my pink bandana tied tightly around my head for fear I would be shedding hair all over Deb's car. As good as a friend as she is, I didn't feel that it would be polite (call me crazy) for her to have to vacum up my hair from her car after she took me home. This is what I looked like when we arrived. Fairly easy to recognize me.

I told Pam, the wonderful stylist that was helping me, that her first job was to get rid of the remaining hair. She had told me on my last visit that she could do this for me and that I would also know "when it was time." She was very kind and turned me away from the mirror so I couldn't watch. I had brought my camera to document everything, and Deb had brought hers as well, so Michelle and Deb snapped pics of the entire process. When it was over, I reached up and truly felt my head for the first time. It was nubby! lol Now I know how my fourth grade boys feel when their parents decide to buzz their hair for the summer. I will now look at their buzzed heads in a completely new light. Michelle and Deb then said the magic words, "You have a beautifully shaped head," and I actually relaxed a little. After all, who knew what would be lurking up there? There could have been bumps, lumps, or anything! If you're ready to see me, I'm ready to show you now. It's ok if you stare, I've been staring at it for three days now, and I'm not really used to it either. Here I am.

See, I even managed a smile. Don't worry, the next pic should hopefully put things back in focus. I tried on the two wigs that I had narrowed it down to, and this might be hard to believe, coming from someone that has had long hair forever, but as soon as I put on the shorter wig, I felt like me again. It was hard to believe that it was fake hair. It looked SO real! Pam showed me how to put it on, and then she made me take if off and do it by myself. Everyone agreed that I looked just like my old self, and in the end, even I had to agree. Here I am with Deb and my brand spankin new hair. The next is Michelle, Deb, and I ready to go out to lunch with my new hair do.

It's been quite a week, and I'm glad that it's over. I'm wearing knit caps around the house to keep my head warm, and I'm going to sympathize now with bald men in cold weather. You can definitely feel a chill up there!

Hope you have a great weekend. (drinking ORANGE (lol) gatorade today)
xoxo
Joanne