That was my main focal point because I felt that it was, in my case, the hardest and most difficult. This could be different for different people but in my experience talking to cancer patients and survivors I found that everyone, no matter what type of cancer or what type of personality they had, they ALL suffered emotionally and mentally due to the cancer and treatments they went through. Equally the recovery process in the emotional and mental areas were challenging for all so I felt it was a priority to address that issue first.
Now I will address the physical appearance aspect of recovery, namely the hair.
I did not have any part of my body removed or altered so I cannot address the physical recovery of what some patients experience, primarily the breast cancer survivors. The only thing I lost physically was my hair so that is all I feel that I have the experience and authority to address.
As a woman, my hair was a really big part of me. Although I wasn't obsessed with my hair, I still enjoyed having it on my head. (ha!) When I lost my hair to chemotherapy treatments I refused to look in the mirror for two weeks just because I was afraid of seeing myself bald. It helped to have a loving and caring husband who supported me and thought I was beautiful with 4 feet of hair or none at all.
I'll never forget the day he came home from work to see my head wrapped in a "do rag" and asked somewhat hesitantly if I had lost my hair. We knew that day was coming because for a week I had been losing huge clumps of hair and then finally, while shampooing it all came out.
I told him that yes, I had washed my hair earlier that day and what remained had said goodbye.
He didn't say a word, just walked over to me, hugged me close and quietly asked if he could remove my head rag. I had never hid anything from him before and we always had a very open relationship but that day I was tempted to tell him "no" and hide behind my little covering.
However, I knew it meant alot to him for me to trust him with my new appearance so I allowed him to remove my head covering and see, for the first time, his new bride completely bald.
He didn't even hesitate. He swept me up in his arms, gave me a kiss on the top of my now bald head and said with pride shining from his eyes, "this doesn't change you at all. You are still the most beautiful girl I have ever saw...and I think your bald head is cute."
From that day forward I learned to be proud of my little, shiny, bald head.
It was around the beginning of April that my hair really started coming in. It began to come back in March but was hard to see since it was just like peach fuzz.
Now it's the beginning of June and my hair is about 2 - 2 1/2 inches long. I can FINALLY style it and I'm having so much fun coming up with different styles and ways of fixing my hair.
Obviously it's not long enough to put up so finding ways to style it and still look feminine has been somewhat of a challenge but youtube tutorials have proven to be invaluable.
I have grown to love my short "Pixie" style and even my husband says he adores it.
At this point, I'm just thankful for hair! I will try to include some pictures of my process to show you how far it's come.
I hope this has been interesting and helpful for you!
May
End of May
June
You look beautiful! You have shown such courage through your trial and have been a source of inspiration to me. You haven't been far from my prayers or thoughts since I have learned of your diagnosis. I remember when my Mom told me you had cancer. I told her, "no matter what happens, she will be okay". I had watched you come to early morning prayer for months on end. I knew no matter what happened, God would be with you! I'm so glad to know that God is ALWAYS faithful!!!
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