A couple of weeks ago, I got very sick at work and almost passed out. 911 was called and the upshot of the whole thing was that I was dehydrated and had heat exhaustion. We have had some very hot days with the ozone level at an orange alert. The warnings for people who are sensitive in an orange alert mean me, but I keep forgetting or at least I didn't take enough precautions.
Now since I've had the shit scared out of me, I'm very careful to stay in air conditioning, wear loose cotton clothing and drink tons of water. Wearing a wig in this heat is like wearing a wool cap. So, I started wearing scarves to work.
Although I was told that my hair would fall out and I got it shaved off and bought the wig, it did not fall out completely. I had some bald spots and it got very thin, but I was never completely bald. I now have about a quarter of an inch of hair on the sides of my head and maybe a half an inch on top.
Yesterday, after a brutally hot week end, I couldn't stand the thought of a wig or even a scarf on my head, so I went au naturale. Everyone LOVES it. I hate it, I look like my dad and I feel like breaking into a Eurythmic or Sinead O'Connor song, but I am amazed at the reaction. I don't have a camera or I would show you.
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Blessed is he who has learned to laugh at himself, for he shall never cease to be entertained. John Bowell
First off, glad you got over your dehydration scare. I bet you don't let that happen again. Did you know it's possible to drink too much water? I found that out the hard way about five years ago and my electrolytes got all out of whack.
I imagination it was tough to get up the nerve to shed the scarf in public being a woman and all, but hell, when it comes to comfort in the dead of summer, why give a shit what people think? It's only hair (or a lack thereof) after all. Just pretend you're late in acting out your punk rock phase. I'm glad you got a positive reaction. Even if they're just being nice and supportive, what really matters is that you're doing what you feel like doing. After going through chemo, that's exactly the way you should live your life.
I had an ex MIL that lost all of her hair .... and she looked so much better AFTER it all fell out LOL! Seriously, her hair was fried and abused, she needed to start over. And honestly she looked at least 10 years younger with her short hair. I tried to talk her into keeping it pretty short, but she did grow it back.
I agree, we are our own worst critics.
Maybe some cute clippies or hair thingers will help you thru this. I found two of the cutest simple silver hair clips at the Brighton Store not long ago...maybe something special like that.
Did you all see the first season of Americas Next Top Model? One of the models was a black woman with almost no hair. She was so UN-stereotypical of traditional beauty. She was very ebony skinned, almost NO hair, a muscular body. I thought she was amazing looking.
She would have looked ALL wrong with long hair like Beyonce or Tyra Banks.
Wezie, maybe you are one of those women that look exotic rather than plucked when the hair falls out?
