Hair Do Well

Years ago on this blog I used this image as part of my header. In the early years it was called WildHair. With that in mind, the wigs made sense. What brings it forth today? Well, I was perusing my blog image photo album.

Had I been consistent with writing a year ago, this image could have been used as I decided which hair style to don. Chemo made me bald. Most of the time I preferred not to put anything on my head because hot flashes were intense. Head coverings simply made it unbearable. Scarves and hats were my staple until I returned to work. Then, I really wanted to look less like a cancer patient and just blend in.

Wigs gave me license to be playful in a way I had never been with my hair in the past. I bought long, short; dark and light auburn; brunette. NEVER blond. Not that I didn't try it out. I looked washed out and terrible. My natural hue is salt and pepper. There was consideration given to sporting that shade, but why? Why not be adventurous? After what I had endured that caused me to lose my hair it seemed logical to be whimsical.

One of the first wigs that I bought was pixie cut auburn 'do. It was itchy. Wearing it longer than a couple of hours turned me into a lunatic of sorts. The second one was a Joan Collins Dynasty Collection -- Arlene. It was on sale and hard to pass up. The original price was $260.00, but marked down to a ridiculous $35.00. I quickly learned the cheaper wigs had more blank spots. On a gusty day it would be obvious. Anyway, the day it arrived I couldn't wait to put it on. Shake shake shake (that's how you style a ready to wear wig). It was cute and not itchy. It was my favorite. Wearing it made me feel beautiful!

When my chemo ended on December 17, 2014 and my hair began growing again, I took photos to mark the changes. I had some spotty fuzz that grew in after it was initially shaved off. It fell out easily, though. It took what seemed ages to grow out to a point where I'd forego hats, scarves and wigs.

I remember the first day of going to work sans faux hair. My son assured me my hair was thick enough that no skull was showing. His encouragement led me to skip covering it.  The weather was chilly so I wore one of my dozens of hats. Once at work I removed it and went about getting things ready to start the day. A co-worker came in and I nervously awaited her reaction. She confirmed that my hair was indeed super cute. That day and for many weeks to follow customers would remark on 'the lady in the lab' having such cute hair. One man asked to take my photo to show to his wife because he was convinced she'd look great with her gray hair cut into a pixie cut. Little did he realize what I had to go through to have the courage to wear such a short style. I wasn't about to tell him. No need to be a downer.

Now, I love my super short sassy style. It works with the wisdom highlights better than the shoulder length style prior to the big shave off. I call it my half a million dollar pixie cut.

All of this from stumbling across an image from days gone by.

Four of the six wigs I rotated. Fun stuff! They are going to a good home.

Alien me! My brows and lashes finally fell out a month before chemo ended

A little over a month post chemo

Me at treatment

Taken in late March. This is when I started free-skulling it. I felt truly beautiful.