Losing Hair

I was lucky to get into Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) early for treatment. The first order of business was to get radiation therapy for the cancer that spread to the brain. 10 treatments every business day for 2 weeks. Some of the side effects included nausea, moon face, weak knees, ocular migraines, and loss of hair. I'm just going to talk about the loss of hair for now.

The loss of hair was pretty traumatic even for someone who's not really superficial. Strangely, it was hard to get empathy... or maybe not so much, since it's not everyday people lose all their hair in a month or so. A lot of folks didn't understand the anguish of hair loss or maybe they didn't know what to say. There were jokes about the cool wigs I could wear to try to make me laugh, or attempts to trivialize the hair loss by saying it was not a big deal because the hair would grow back. It hurts to share my experience and get brushed off with a joke or have my feelings trivialized.

It's not trivial to have chunks of hair fall out as you're showering. The loss of hair made me feel like I was losing a part of my identity as a woman and as a healthy active person. I'm sick and I can see it now. It's a very visual and real.


When a good friend of mine found out that I was diagnosed with lung cancer, she immediately bought a book to try to understand what I'm going through.
http://lorihope.com/helpmelive/
I didn't read the book, but I did browse the website. What I really needed at the time was validation. It's hard to find, but when you find it, it's golden. It makes you feel safe again. It's part of what makes me feel I have everything to HELP ME LIVE.