Before, During and After

A few days ago I was hunting through a resale shop and bumped into a lady who had the same hairdresser I do.  That hairdresser being chemotherphy.  Lil and I hugged each other, commiserated a bit and then began comparing notes on our individual health situations.  

Turns out Lil was much braver than I was when it came to being seen in public without any hair.  Lil said she never resorted to scarves and caps to cover her bald head, even in the dead of winter.  

So, I decided it was time to share a few photos of me taken 

Two Months before my Cancer treatments began

One of the many scarves used during my treatments 

Me, finally hatless, a few days ago at a birthday party 

Sorry, but I would not let anyone photograph me with my bald head.  Don't ask me why, whatever vanity I use to have wore off decades ago, I just didn't want pictures that would be a permanent record of my baldness.  

While we are on the subject of bald heads, I learned a good bit about my accident prone life from mine.  Once I was hairless, I discovered my old pate was covered with scars, most going back to my school days.  In fact, my doctor looked at  my bald skull and said "Has someone been trying to kill you?"  Apparently, I have a half dozen or more scars of various sizes and one that ran across an impressive crater which had old fracture lines radiating out from it.  I new instantly where it came from.  When I was in third grade one of my brothers pushed me off a cliff and I landed on a railroad track.  My parents took me to a country doctor who stitched me up and failed to notice I had a pretty severe skull fracture.  I was lucky I healed without complications.  Next time I'm told that I need something "like a whole in my head" I can honestly said "Been there, done that."  

I have heard horror stories about cancer patients whose hair came back a different color, different texture, much thinner or worst yet did not come back at all.  I fall somewhere in the middle I guess.  My hair is coming back pretty much the same as it use to be with one exception.  I have a palm size place at the back of my head where the radiation killed all the follicles and it is unlikely that patch will ever grow more hair.  Folks have suggested I get hair transplants, start using Rogaine or just resort to a wig.  For now I am doing nothing and ignoring the looks and comments it causes. 

It has been a rough, bumpy winter but if a little bald patch is all I am left with, I will count myself one lucky girl.