More About Me
My now-12-year-old kiddo started losing her hair last summer, just a few weeks before her 6th grade school year started. By Thanksgiving, she was pretty much completely bald. We had a huge struggle getting an actual diagnosis, the dermatologist was convinced she had trichtotillomania, but we finally got a biopsy and confirmed the results.
Shannon's doing great, she stepped up and told all of her classmates what was going on, and they have been supportive. She elects to wear wigs (and we're currently looking for better sports options) for school/church but usually just grabs a head wrap for around the house, errands, and going to the gym. I think she's doing great and am super proud of her. She's here on AW if there are other kids who are going through this, she'd love to chat.
Theantichick (Shannon's Mom)'s Blog
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:00pm
0 Likes
I hadn't realized so much time had passed since we were first struggling to understand and cope with Shannon's hair loss. It's interesting how people adapt and cope with changes in their lives, to the point you forget it was ever any other way.
Shannon's hair started falling out the summer before her 6th grade year, and was completely gone by Thanksgiving. It was a scary and confusing time - trying to figure out what was wrong, getting to the specialist, arguing with him when he tried…
Continue
Posted on November 17, 2009 at 1:21pm
0 Likes
Well, nothing much has changed at our house... We hooked up with a fabulous guy in Carrollton who fitted Shannon with an Amy's Presence wig that fits her properly and is human hair, this was in the summer before school started. She looks fabulous. It's starting to thin at the part, so I imagine we'll have to send it in for some rehab after school lets out. He also said before summer camp NEXT year he can get us a synthetic that's not quite so expensive for swimming and messing around at camp,…
Continue
Posted on May 8, 2009 at 4:17pm
0 Likes
... things have been super busy around our house. School for kids, school for hubby, school for me, volleyball for Shannon...
Shannon didn't respond to the steroid creams, and I wasn't willing to risk all the side effects of systemic steroids for the small chance of a response, so we stopped all treatment and we're going to just deal with what we have, and hope it resolves on its own when it's ready. Shannon's doing really well with all of this, I'm so proud of her.
So…
Continue
Posted on November 13, 2008 at 11:29am
0 Likes
The dermatologists’ office called, and thanks to the biopsy, we finally have a hard and fast, firm diagnosis. My mothers’ instinct and my medical digging were correct, Munchkin has Alopecia Areata. She does NOT have trichtotillomania, she is NOT pulling her own hair out. I no longer have to try to convince the dermatologist of that fact, and we can move on to other things.
In a way, I’m sad, because this is a bit more final. Last night she asked Dad to buzz off the remaining hair…
Continue
Posted on October 21, 2008 at 4:20pm
0 Likes
Munchkin has now lost over 70% of her hair. She's not dealing well with it. She's coming to realize that she's probably going to be completely bald when it's all said and done, and is in the "it's not fair" stage. All I can say is, "no, it's not" and hug her. I have set up counseling for her, both to help her deal with this, and hopefully give her more tools to deal with all of her stress that I know is exacerbating the condition, if not triggering it to start with.
We see the…
Continue
Comment Wall (13 comments)
You need to be a member of Alopecia World to add comments!
Join Alopecia World
I talked with Nick and his experience was getting massages 2-3 times a week and his alopecia resolved. he did tell me he went through a very stressful event just before his alopecia began and has been resolved for 6 years now.
Anyway, i think I will give it a try. There is a local massage therapy school with good prices here so why not.
Hope all is well with you and your daughter Shannon.
Jeffrey
I know how hard it is to have a daughter with alopecia. I have had alopecia for about 30 years. After I became the spokesperson for the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, a lot of women were needing my help and support, so I wrote a book called, "If Your Hair Falls Out, Keep Dancing!" It might make you feel better about how you can support your daughter. Check it out on my page -- and WELCOME!
LeslieAnn
There are lots of people here with and without kids to give you support and advice.
Jeff
All the kids in her class were very supportive, and she feels so much better to not have to try and hide it and worry about what will happen when they find out now.
View All Comments