I hope everyone is doing well!! I'm sorry I've been keeping so busy with school this semester that I'm really slacking on keeping up with all my websites. School is going good though...and...as you can see...so is my hair! I have a few areas that stayed white (no pigment), but grew back nonetheless. And I have just two small bald patches on the top, but since I've started letting the hair grow, you can't hardly tell any more. Sooooo...yay! I'm letting it grow out now. We'll see what happens.…
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Added by Mandy on February 19, 2009 at 5:30pm —
2 Comments
Hey everyone! So I haven't been on here in forever and I'm sorry! I've been so busy through the holiday season that I haven't had a chance to get on here. I think also since I am so happy I just sort of tend to neglect the site sometimes - which is awful because this site was so helpful for me when I was first diagnosed and I want to be there for others, too. So even though I'm not on here as much I still want everyone to know that I will continue to check up on my site here and respond to…
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Added by Mandy on January 5, 2009 at 10:30pm —
9 Comments
Hi friends!! What an unbelievably busy month it has been! I'm sorry I haven't been on and active as much as usual! It makes me sad and I miss you guys!! Just to let you know what's going on...I've quit my job, picked up and moved from Chicago back to my parents' basement in Fort Wayne, IN so that I could afford to go back to school full time. So I'm here now and settled in and taking 15 credit hours of classes. This week was the first week of class. How CRAZY strange it is to be back in school…
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Added by Mandy on August 28, 2008 at 10:30pm —
3 Comments
Added by Mandy on August 13, 2008 at 5:32pm —
9 Comments
Ok time for your HONEST opinions. I've never had short hair in my life. What better time to try than now that I can have any hair I want! I'm thinking about this wig below. Be HONEST and tell me if you think I could pull off a sexy style like this. I've never had a sexy style before, so for me I just can't picture it. But I really wish I could pull off a look like this. I'm looking for a sassy "go out" hair style. :o)
And I'm thinking…
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Added by Mandy on August 4, 2008 at 12:42pm —
3 Comments
So since I'm moving out of state, I've been calling everyone and making plans to see people before I go. So I just called the mother of a girl I used to babysit for since she was an infant. She's now 14 and I've stayed close with her and her family. I hadn't spoken to them since like Christmas time, so this family is about the only people in the world I had not yet told about my Alopecia. So I made plans to go see them Sunday. Before hanging up I said (to the mother), "I should prepare you for…
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Added by Mandy on August 1, 2008 at 2:28pm —
1 Comment
My boss took a vacation day yesterday, which was nice because it gave me another day to not think about having to quit. But he's back today. I was planning to give my notice tomorrow, but now that he's here I just don't think I can wait. It feels too awful keeping it from him. As much as I hate my job, he's a good guy. So yeah...I'm gonna give my notice towards the end of the day today (so he can have the evening to freak out rather than freaking out while I'm here). I plan to give him 3 weeks…
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Added by Mandy on July 22, 2008 at 11:53am —
2 Comments
A lot of people don't put their locations on their page, so I thought I'd throw the question out there and see what I find. That's right...I'm currently taking applications for a Fort Wayne BFF (that means best friend forever, if ya didn't know).
I've decided to rent out my condo here in Chicagoland in order to move back with my parents in Fort Wayne, IN so that I can afford to go back to school. I just realized how miserable I am with my job and I think that life is too short to…
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Added by Mandy on July 17, 2008 at 2:53pm —
2 Comments
So I was sitting around watching tv last night and I ran my hand over my head (I love the way it feels shaved!) and realized the bald spots didn't feel so bald... I bolted up off the couch and ran to the mirror (haven't been looking in the mirror much lately) and lo and behold...not my whole head, but MOST of it is covered with a thin layer of white hair! Wooooo!!! Not like before with a white hair here and there...but actual white hair filling in spots! Now, it's hard to tell when it's white,…
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Added by Mandy on July 14, 2008 at 12:00pm —
13 Comments
Just an update:
So I only wore my wig to work for a week. It was long enough for me to feel uncomfortable. While the new wig made me feel very pretty, I just couldn't stand the feeling of wearing it all day long! I'm away from home for 11 hours a day including my commute and by the end of the day it was just so dang hot and uncomfortable! So I've been wearing bandanas to work now. I feel so much better and more like myself this way. In a way I felt like wearing the wig was just not…
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Added by Mandy on July 8, 2008 at 4:15pm —
8 Comments
It's only been 3 days of wearing a wig to work and I'm already sick of it! LOL. I mean...I like it and it makes me feel pretty...but geesh! It's one thing to wear it for a couple hours out to the bar or out with friends...it's quite another to wear it around allllll day at work! 11 hours is a long time! For a wig, mine is VERY comfortable. Fits perfect without slippage and it's pretty light. But after wearing it for 11 hours...man...that's a long time! It gets pretty toasty in here and my head…
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Added by Mandy on June 25, 2008 at 3:59pm —
5 Comments
Well it's done! And I'm 100% confident that I made the right choice. I feel like 20 lbs lighter!!! LOL. It's just so hard to describe but I feel soooo good! I've left the fringe in front like I said I would. Not gonna lie...I'll probably end up shaving that too real soon cuz I just feel so comfortable shaved. A night like this really lets you know who your true friends are. I love you all so much.
Shave… Continue
Added by Mandy on June 22, 2008 at 3:30am —
8 Comments
Wow...what a difference a bit of synthetic hair can do! I feel pretty again! Let me know what you think. The color matches my hair so close that seeing the 2 together, I couldn't tell where my hair started and the wig began. I'm going to have to get used to the bangs, but I do think they look pretty cute. I didn't shave my head today...the lady at the shop was too scared to do it. She really wanted me to think about it. While I understand what she was saying, I am still gonna shave it off this…
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Added by Mandy on June 20, 2008 at 4:56pm —
5 Comments
I know we all have good days and bad days. Well this is one of my first real bad days. I've been able to stay very positive through this process but I think that was just because I could still hide by pulling my hair into a ponytail. This morning I was like 45 mins late to work all because I was having such a hard time getting my hair to cover my spots. I still succeeded, I suppose, but if anyone were to really look at my head they would see that one worst spot appearing through very thin.…
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Added by Mandy on June 18, 2008 at 1:59pm —
12 Comments
So I went wig shopping for the first time...it was actually pretty fun. Got to learn about different types of wigs and try on different hair. I didn't buy yet, because I wanted to sit on the info for a bit to make a decision. But I'm pretty sure I know what I'm gonna do. The purpose of this 1st wig is just to have one that looks as much like my natural hair as possible...have it at home so that when that day comes that I wake up and realize I can't pull off the ponytail anymore, I'll have the…
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Added by Mandy on June 13, 2008 at 11:31am —
10 Comments
If you didn't check it out already, I posted a forum discussion on wigs. If you have any experience with wigs whatsoever, please please check out the discussion and leave your wisdom for those of us that are clueless. :) So so so much appreciated.
If the link below doesn't work (I'm not too technically savvy) then please just go check it out in the forum in the wigs category.
Wigs 101
Added by Mandy on June 3, 2008 at 4:00pm —
2 Comments
Well so I had my 2nd dermatologist appointment today. It was kinda depressing. The doctor was upset the spots had spread as much as they had in only 3 weeks. He said, "I had a feeling this was going to happen with it having coming on as quickly as it did." He said that usually when it starts so fast like that (I had 4 spots right away within a week at first) that the treatments are usually not as successful as someone who just goes in with one little patch (based on what he's seen in his…
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Added by Mandy on May 23, 2008 at 3:44pm —
4 Comments
Ok, well one of my life-long best friends just produced her 1st cd (which is amazing, I might add). Well one of the songs actually was one of the 1st things to make me not feel so sad about my Alopecia. I felt like she was singing it directly to me! Anytime I'm feeling the slightest bit down, I play this song and it picks me right back up. The song is called "I Wish He'd Say." Here are the lyrics. I'm posting this because I hope the lyrics will pick you up like they did for me. You can hear the…
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Added by Mandy on May 22, 2008 at 2:00pm —
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Sorry, I'm a compulsive blogger! But I really really would appreciate some advice now more than ever. I'm starting to get this sinking, scared feeling in my gut as my 2nd derm appointment this Friday is fast approaching. When I went the 1st time 3 weeks ago, I had 4 spots, which wasn't bad. But now I have 14! Should I let the doctor inject all 14 spots? I hate hate hate the dents/divots that formed in my scalp from the 1st set of injections. They're still there and I hate how it feels! I can't…
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Added by Mandy on May 20, 2008 at 8:18pm —
15 Comments
Since my diagnosis on 5/2/08 when I had 4 bald spots, I now have 14.
Since my last blog with pics, here are the new ones...
Number 11 is new...small for now
Numbers 12 and 13 are new
Number 14 is on the left side...I didn't photograph it because I have a dorky little mole there...funny how I'm more embarrassed of that then of showing the bald spots.…
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Added by Mandy on May 20, 2008 at 11:38am —
2 Comments