The Top 10 Reasons to Celebrate Losing Your Hair

The journey through cancer is a strange one. There are times where I have no control over what this disease is doing to me and my body, and there are times and places where I can step in and chose how I want to go through this process. My hair began falling out last Saturday, while I was visiting my friend, Nancy Bloyer, who is facing stage four lung cancer. In some ways it was helpful to have it start there, where I had supportive and understanding people with me. On the other hand, I did not want my visit to be about my hair, so I did my best to not touch or brush it so I could minimize the 'fall out'.

I had a big meeting at work on Thursday, so part of me was hoping I could hang on to the hair until after that event.  I would be out Friday (today) chemo and then recovery for the following week, so it could have given me the chance to get used to the hairlessness and hat/scarf option before returning to work. No such luck! By Tuesday it was coming out in handfuls and I knew I needed to take charge. Rather than face the clumps and random falling out, I went to the same hair place where I had my hair cut short. With a few tears, and the support of Joe and Kelsey, I had them shave my head! Even though it was hard, it was very empowering to have it done.

The next day at work I wore a hat I had bought at the hospital cancer support center. There were lots of stares, a few folks who avoided eye contact, but mostly hugs and support from colleagues. At the Thursday meeting, where I was facilitating an hour of an all staff meeting (150ish people), I had a nice scarf on and decided to face the unspoken questions head on. After I introduced myself and the topic, which happened to be trust, I said:

 "In the spirit of trust and transparency, I want to share with you all why I have this scarf on today. I don't want it to distract you from the content of my talk, so I want you to know that I am being treated for breast cancer and I lost my hair this week. My next chemo is tomorrow and my prognosis looks good. Now lets focus on our topic today.."


It was well received and I felt good to get it out there. I was calm and confident, I know how to talk about my cancer now without too much emotion. Several people came up to me afterward and offered their support, a few sent emails describing how they appreciated my courage, and a couple shared their stories of their own breast cancer or a close loved one. It was another example of the power of "owning" my experience and choosing how I want to show up through the process. 


In that light, here are my top 10 to celebrate losing your hair:

1.  You save lots of money by not buying hair products 
2.  Both time and money saved from not going to the hair salon
3.  I get an extra 30 minutes of sleep, by not washing, drying and styling each morning
4.  No longer need to worry about the rainy Seattle days ruining my hairstyle
5.  Hats and scarves provide lots of new accessory options
6.  No need to worry about hat head, or bed head
7. Having no hair really highlights your earing collection
8. No need to shave during treatments (its not just your head where the hair falls out)
9. Did I mention, no hair - anywhere?
10. Lots of looks and stares - even though you are over 50!