By Dr. Darla Shaw
I started dealing with three bouts of cancer in 2017. I was totally overwhelmed. The least of my worries had to do with the loss of my hair.
While going through treatments, my area support group suggested I see the volunteer wig lady. I wasn’t thinking of a wig, but the group told me to Give Wigs a Chance.
With a huge mirror in front of me I started trying on wigs. I tried not to laugh. There seemed to be a wig for almost any celebrity. There was the Dolly Pardon wig, the Farrah Fawcett wig, the Shirley Temple wig, the Cher wig, and just so many others. The wigs came in all lengths, colors and with all types of different stylings.
When the wig woman asked me which wig caught my fancy, I said, “None of them. I want a short white wig that looks like my normal hair.”
The wig woman was shocked, she replied, “Why would you want an old ladies wig when you can have your choice of any color, style or shape?”
I replied, “I want to look like myself, not some celebrity from the past. I also like short hair and most of these wigs have volumes of hair.”
To this the wig woman replied, “You can always take the wig to your hairdresser and have it cut and styled to your preference.”
“I don’t think so,” I said, “ since I do not go to a hairdresser.” So, during my chemo treatments I would go bareheaded or if it was cold, wear a ski cap.
When my hair came back after my first bout with cancer it was white with tight curls. I could not believe it. For years I had put my hair in pin curls and big rollers to get curls and now I had natural curly hair.
After my second set of chemo treatments, I was expecting more tight curls. Instead, I got hair that looked like Astro turf. The hair was short and bristly, and almost looked like a “crew cut.” I was fine with this look as it was neat and framed my face nicely.
Then with my third bout with chemo, I had an entirely different look. Now I looked like Einstein. My hair was thin, wispy, and uncontrollable. It loved to stand up straight or go into a kewpie doll look. I had to wear a hat over this mess as I continually looked like a “bed head.”
From my experiences with chemo, I learned that you will never know what to expect when the hair comes back. It can even change color.
I am certainly not putting down people who wear wigs or scarves. With cancer you do whatever you can to survive. For me, since appearance was never of great importance to me, I did not obsess over the loss of hair. I took it as it came, tried to find humor in the situation, and stay authentic.