Comment

Comment by Carol Solis on March 20, 2009 at 12:16pm

He Thea,, I always enjoy reading things you write, you are very educated on alopecia, and speak truthfully about what is out there and what is just chasing false hopes. And mostly making it ok to be a bald lovely woman or man. Always encouraging.

Comment by Christie on March 20, 2009 at 7:54am

Aw...thanks Sandy!! You have made my day!

Comment by Christie on March 20, 2009 at 7:42am

Two days ago, I had been faced for the first time of needing to decide on how I was going to handle a situation. I was leaving a friends house, when a few teenage boys were standing near my car. They could see I was wearing a bandana, but couldn't see what was underneath (patches, patches...and more patches - I haven't shaved my head again since the first time (Jan.23/09)) Anyways...as I was walking, one of them said...."Oh man...look at her she is sick, awww".....I believe the context he meant it in, was not as in...hey look at her she's gross...but as in...oh no...something is wrong with her health.
But, as the one guy said it...the other's laughed, and agreed and said "Yeah man...there's something wrong with that girl", ha ha ha.
Since nobody on here really know's my personality - I'll tell you that i'm not usually the type that would back down from any situation - and if people had an issue with me...I would address it right away. Well, for some reason, that day...I decided to keep my mouth shut and just walk away. I thought in my head that if were to go over to these punk kids and try to explain my current situation...they wouldn't understand, nor would they care to. I thought...what's the point??? I later told my boyfriend about it...and he was very suprised that I received any comments at all, and especially the fact that I didn't confront them. He's very protective of my feelings since this all started. My thinking made sense to him...so that made me feel better.
I know if I wasn't in such a good mood that day - I probably would've said something, or gave a gesture that probably wouldn't have been appropriate, especially to people that aren't educated on the topic.......
I get a lot of strength from this sight - Thank you to all the angels out there!

Comment by Christie on March 20, 2009 at 7:31am

BALD IS BEAUTIFUL!!

Comment by Linda on March 20, 2009 at 7:22am

Mary's right Galena, when I exude a sense of being comfortable with my BALDNESS, people are comfortable, for the most part, around me. Sometimes children whisper to their parents and sometimes they just ask and that can throw me off a bit, but I just tell them what it is and keep smiling. When I know someone is uncomfortable, I try to put them at ease by telling them I have alopecia, most don't know what it is, it makes a good conversation.

Comment by Mary on March 20, 2009 at 12:55am

My experience, after going out bald for over a year, is that people relax and get used to it pretty darn quickly. As someone else commented elsewhere on AW, I think my own attitude and expression has a lot to do with how people react. If I'm upbeat and casual and act like nothing is out of the ordinary (for me, nothing IS out of the ordinary), people seem to reflect that back at me. In other words, I do my best to forget about being bald, and other people don't seem to make a big deal about it.

BUT, I'm also a very empathetic person...always WAY too concerned about what other people are feeling. I think that's the way women in our society are aculturated to be. So, I do sense it when people are uncomfortable or curious. Then, I usually say something to try to put them at ease or assure them I'm not deathly ill. Sometimes I make a joke about it. And, I give them one of my cards. Hope this helps.

Comment by Galena on March 20, 2009 at 12:05am

So, pardon the pun, "Insecurity about what people will do is all in our head."
Mary, Linda and LateK8 your experience is that once you let go and be yourself others relax? Or is it a mixed bag? I know my problem is what it has always been, I'm too empathic. So when people stare or don't know what to say, I can feel that. How can I stop feeling that I’m making people uncomfortable?

Thank you sisters for helping me work this out. I’m fighting to be free.

Comment by Linda on March 19, 2009 at 10:11pm

Thanks Galena, I'm feeling much better now, that z-pack works well! I'm glad you ventured out a bit, how did you feel? 25lbs~! I wish I could lose 15, folks recognize me bald and with hair, well most of them, but I don't explain unless they ask what's wrong, why or what happened, lol, then I give them the Alopecia 101 class of a lifetime!
I feel you on the burned bridges, Late K8, I've burned a few, 1 or 2, because folks think a person should march to the beat of "their" drum instead of your own unique drum.
Good for you Mary, you are an inspiration to us all!

Comment by Mary on March 19, 2009 at 8:41pm

Last weekend, there was a big folk dance event where I live. We had a wonderful band from other parts of the country, and there were about 5 band members I've known for over 25 years. None of them knew about my hair loss, and it had been a long time since I'd seen some of them. Also, I hadn't appeared bald at a large evening dance event (as opposed to my dance class I teach bald.) I was anxious about it all the week before.

Long story short, I took off my scarf early on when I got hot, and danced all night, and led the dance line many times, and felt beautiful. It was fine! The dread was bad..the reality was absolutely no problem.

Comment by Late K8 on March 19, 2009 at 8:01pm

I have a hard time with this too. I have a hard time going to visit my parents because I don't want people from the past to see me like this. I have yet to have a bad experience, but I still want to hide it from people that remember me differently. I guess just like going out bald, the dread is probably worse than the reality. But I know for sure I don't want alopecia to cause me to burn bridges.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 41
• 42
• 43
• 44
• 45
• …
• 62
• Next ›
• Page