OK - I haven't been on AW for a while now, mainly for two reasons. The first is mainly due to the fact that I can't seem to come here without having some perv think my bald head is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Although it's great that someone thinks I'm drop dead gorgeous, they don't seem to get the idea that one day my hair may come back and they will no longer find me attractive. Besides, since when was love all about being physically attracted to someone, there's gotta be more than… Continue

I firmly believed I had reached a place of genuine acceptance. A place where it was no longer "Why me? Who is this foreign creature staring at me in the mirror?" but "I am beautiful and I am the same Val that I was with hair". Yesterday evening shattered this impression. I was at Bible Study at church, a place I had not gone in a while. I kept making excuses that really covered up how embarrassed I was and the fact that I did not love the new Val. Last night I decided it was long past time to… Continue

Things have been quite interesting at work lately as far as my alopecia is concerned. Last week I finally spoke to the store manager about not wearing my wig to work anymore and she has no problems with this at all but we agreed I whould wear a scarf at least so that the public won't feel uncomfortable - I understand this and although it isn't completely fair, it is a customer service job and I can't let discomfort stand in the way of my own progress.

So, on Halloween I wore my bright red… Continue

I'm tired of this. I'm sick and tired of having my optimism and hope driven into the dirt by my mother. Every time I talk to her on the phone, I end up in tears. I resent her for making me feel insecure about something that I have no control over. She makes me feel like I'm not doing enough when in reality I've done so much. I feel that if I try one more procedure or method and bring her (and myself) false hopes that it'll just be wasted money and it will wear me out even more. I am still a… Continue

A certain sumurai had a reputation for impatient and hot-tempered behaviour. A Zen Master, well known for his excellent cooking, decided that the warrior needed to be taught a lesson before he became any more dangerous. He invited the samurai to dinner.



The samurai arrived at the appointed time. The Zen master told him to make himself comfortable while he finished preparing the food. A long time passed. The samurai waited impatiently. After a while he called out: "Zen Master - have… Continue

So I wrote back in April about my lifestory - especially about how much I struggled with my self esteem even up to then regarding being a bald female. What a rough road it has been. And yet I also wrote about some changes like the courage it took for me to even write my story. I posted pics of myself bald on this site a couple months ago and that was another huge step for me - out there for the world to see! I even posted a link to AW on my Facebook profile. Really putting myself out there -… Continue

Hi all.

My mother is not taking my hair loss well. To be perfectly honest, she's an emotional wreck over it. It is not enough for her to know that I've adjusted to the fact that some day I might be bald and wearing a wig. It is not enough for her to know that I've managed to overcome my sadness. She says that she's proud of how well I'm taking it, but sometimes she finds it hard to believe that I can truly be as accepting of it as I claim to be. The truth is, I was depressed at first. When… Continue

With alopecia I still believe that the struggle is internal and the only way to rise above it is to overcome it internally.



At one time or another in everybody lives we are going to meet up with a situation that we can not control. At that point we have 2 choices, to either keep fighting a fight that we can not ultimately win or we can choose to surrender.



Most people think of surrender as a negative, a weakness or giving up. But I see surrender as learning to…

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My fiancée, Cheryl Carvery, is not the first alopecic woman I've dated. Another one of my female companions was also bald, but I had forgotten all about it because my ex always wore a scarf and never made much at all of her baldness because, clearly, she had much deeper concerns.

My ex, whose name was Karen, also had one of her breasts removed due to cancer and constantly battled the disease after being diagnosed in her late 20’s. She endured a mastectomy and a seemingly endless…

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I am so amazed by what is happening in my life right now...some passions and hopes that have been unfulfilled for many years are starting to come true one after the other. One of them happened today, and all thanks to AW. We had our first support group meeting here in the Phoenix area. I guess there was a meeting many years back that fizzled out. But I have been here 7 years and looked a few times in the past 7 years and there has not been one.



Five of us ladies came and we had a… Continue

Life has a way of thrusting upon each of us conditions and circumstances that challenge us to discover what truly matters. Of course, to seize such moments and growth opportunities, we must first recognize them. We must see past whatever problem we're facing and truly grasp the growth potential. As one old song counsels, the one thing we must do right is, the day we start to fight, keep our eyes on the prize; for it's really how we deal with things, and not really the things we… Continue

It's so funny how God works - everything has its own time and only He knows when the time is right. God comes along and says "OK, you're ready to receive this change and grow." I don't always want these changes. And sometimes, I have been praying for them for years and wondered why they were taking so long to happen. My journey from AA to AU started at four. Bald spots and thinning were a part of my life pretty much every spring of my childhood. I had no idea though, that ALL the hair on my… Continue

If there's any good thing living with alopecia can do for you, it's make you more sensitive and responsive to the support needs of other human beings. Like most, if not all, of life's challenges, coping with alopecia calls attention to the very human need for acceptance, affirmation, and other forms vital emotional assistance. It's yet another reminder that it is not good for humans to be alone, isolated and insulated from the embrace and encouragement of those around…

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To me focusing our energies on getting to a place of self-acceptance is where the real cure is. I really don't want my self-confidence to be attached to my hair, my weight, my skin color... I don't want to go through my life with the false idea that only when all circumstances are totally lined up in my favor can I feel confident. Alopecia is probably only one of the curve balls that will be thrown at me in my lifetime.



We now have the awesome opportunity to really find… Continue

The greatest gift that you can give or receive is the gift of love and acceptance.

To be admired and appreciated for who you are, to know that you are treasured and cherished simply because of the person you are, to have the assurance that those nearest and dearest to you genuinely understand what truly makes you beautiful and special, is not only the most wonderful feeling in the world, but also the most amazing thing that could happen to anyone.

That’s why Alopecia…

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When I think of my fiancée, Cheryl Carvery, I don’t think of alopecia areata.

I think of a friend that sticks closer than any sibling; a compassionate person whose heart and life are wide open to other alopecians and who volunteers at a veterans’ hospital; a fun and inquisitive person who loves to travel and workout; a phenomenal woman who showers me with such sweet affection that I call it “addictive love.”

In…

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