Goodbye Sister Locs (very thin dread locs) Hello Baldy Head

That's a shot of me embracing my bald swagga! Tapfuma thanks for that great shot and making me feel better after the ordeal! When it comes to losing hair, I must admit, the truth of the matter is it can be a very emotional experience. You will all recall how I have been stressing about losing my hair and how many times the Oncologist, nurses, case manager, the list goes on and on. Oh Gosh, this hair thing appears to be a hot topic in cancer treatment. They all advised me that hair loss was inevitable and that I should be prepared emotionally and mentally. Although annoying, I am glad I was reminded of this at every appointment as it allowed me time to process my emotions. So the A in my ABVD chemo treatment is the drug that causes hair loss. This occurs because of how chemotherapy targets all rapidly dividing cells i.e. the dividing cancer cells including the healthy cells. Who knew, hair cells are the fastest growing cells in the body. If you are not undergoing chemotherapy your hair follicles divide every 23 to 73 hours. How about that? Gosh! Scientific evidence has a way of really encouraging when doubt starts to creep in.

As soon as I knew chemotherapy and radiation would be part of my treatment regimen, instead of waiting for the inevitable I went to the barber and had my hair buzzed. I am glad I did because after my first chemo my mouth was burning and my head was burning and itchy. I thought gee! why am I having all the side effects simultaneously. I later learned that the burning is the beginning of hair falling off and the burning in my mouth turned into sores. I could not imagine seeing my locs falling off one by one. That would have been tragic. That experience, I knew would have caused me great emotional distress. So I made a pre-emptive choice and truth be told, it was empowering and exhilarating. This move allowed me an emotional advantage and for once I felt in control of part of my roller-coaster journey. In fact, it appears my partner took my hair loss more badly than I did. What I told myself was that this bald head may be outside societal norms but, at the end of the day I was like hey, I am beautiful with or without the hair. I kept telling myself that my hair will eventually grow back again even prettier. I say so because I believe when you lose your hair through chemo it does not come back the same - it comes back usually thicker but more curly and soft. So, my mental image of regrowth is that of even more beautiful curly hair who knows I may soon be donning a new look altogether. I can assure you, there was no pity party - no nothing just getting down to business and allowing the feeling of sadness to engulf me and allowing it to pass. After that process, I embraced my going bald and now I am looking for scarfs and hats that can rock my new look - maybe a wig who knows. I decided what the heck? Why stress about my hair after all the same toxic chemotherapy is hopefully giving me a new lease of life? So, Amen to that! All in all, a bald head is the least of my problems. I am holding on tightly to that life rope, rocking my bald head and keeping my chin up!