Alopecia World
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Something magic happens everyday!
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 ball. It's been years - since I was a teenager - since I have been around others with whom I can talk freely about my experiences. We even had to laugh about the crazy, unpredictable nature of our hair loss - where it has come and gone, maybe come and or gone again and or not and or....you know what I mean! It was almost like a dream for me - to see other bald women like myself. Like, wow! There really are others who look like me!! It was both fun and comforting. It is a step for me because I had been trying to put that part of my life behind me, like it didn't really exist, for so many years. To be a part of establishing this group and to be sharing my experience with others, means I am ready to face this area of my life again and make peace greater with it. And for me, it is sooo important to feel I am bringing something useful and meaningful out of my AU, rather than just trying to run from it. It's like, in owning my AU, it no longer owns me. Cool stuff!!
Five of us ladies came and we had a ball. It's been years - since I was a teenager - since I have been around others with whom I can talk freely about my experiences. We even had to laugh about the crazy, unpredictable nature of our hair loss - where it has come and gone, maybe come and or gone again and or not and or....you know what I mean! It was almost like a dream for me - to see other bald women like myself. Like, wow! There really are others who look like me!! It was both fun and comforting. It is a step for me because I had been trying to put that part of my life behind me, like it didn't really exist, for so many years. To be a part of establishing this group and to be sharing my experience with others, means I am ready to face this area of my life again and make peace greater with it. And for me, it is sooo important to feel I am bringing something useful and meaningful out of my AU, rather than just trying to run from it. It's like, in owning my AU, it no longer owns me. Cool stuff!!
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Comment by Carol on May 4, 2008 at 7:15pm
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Hi Kelly
I am so happy to hear that you had fun at your meeting. Later this month I will be hosting Palopecia's very first meeting and I was kinda worried. Reading your story gives me strength. Thanx!
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Comment by kastababy on May 4, 2008 at 7:58pm
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Hi Kelly!
I am SO glad you had such a wonderful time at your support group! I am trying to get a support group started here in Memphis, TN (which ironically enough doesn't have one for a city this size.) How did you get your group started? I'm looking for any assistance I can!
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Comment by Kelly on May 5, 2008 at 2:34pm
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hey kastababy! Sarah Gomez put Alopecians in ARizona on the Groups site. I was the 2nd person to join and then amazingly within a few weeks, we had 4 others join too! Sarah already wanted to start a group so she asked all of us if we wanted to take a shot at it. She contacted NAAF who is going to email everyone in their database who lives in the Phoenix metro area once we get a permanent meeting place set up. I also place the notice of our new group on the Forums section and the Events section. We had the 5 of 6 of us actually show up at the first informal meeting and we discussed details then. So,maybe that will help you get started. Please let me know how it goes. I, like you, was amazed when I moved here 7 years ago and there was no support group. This is a huge area!!
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Carol, tell me more about Palopecia....
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Thanx for the interest! Palopecia's very first meeting is on May 22. The local paper is coming to write an article on it tomorrow and I'm so nervous. So far I have only 3 confirmed guests but I have 3 others who might come and lord knows who else - I have flyers up everywhere! I just sent my mail to the NAAF to join their group listings too. I'm having the first meeting at my home just to see what kind of turnout I get but I have a feeling I'll have to find a donated spot for the rest of our meetings. My husband made me aware of how large 2% (pop. of ppl. w/alopecia) can get when there are 10's of 1000's of people in the area. LOL
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Hey Carol, is Palopecia different from Alopecia? I looked it up on the internet, but didn't find anything about it specifically. It just brings up alopecia info. Sounds like you are on your way for you meeting. How did the newspaper interview go? We are looking for a permanent meeting place for our meetings too. I think it will all come together in time.
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Comment by Yvonne~Yhoney on May 7, 2008 at 1:21am
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Kelly, I think Palopecia is the name of Carol's support group. :) (Pal-O-pecia- a play on words?)
As soon as we can get a permanent meeting place I'm going to start hitting my Media Contacts list, to get newspaper interviews and maybe news spots for our group. I think it's going to grow very nicely here! :)
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thanks girl, I was quite confused!! :o) That would be great to get media coverage. Thanks Yvonne!
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Comment by sgomez on May 14, 2008 at 9:59pm
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Yesss, Yvonne! Contacting the media would be wonderful. Just think of how many poeple we can make aware, and even reach out to others w/ Alopecia who need support.
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Comment by KATHLEEN WEIBE BROWN on August 26, 2008 at 3:18pm
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Hi Kelly how are you? look Im very interested in starting up a support group in my local area of Lumberton, NC. I heard that there was one in Fayetteville, NC . but I dont know how true it is. There are more than a hand full of people who have Alopecia that lives in the local area and small surrounding towns. My question for you is can I start a non formal support group or do I have to go thru NAAF'S application process? Cheryl C. said to contact you. I really want to get this going and bring more Alopecians to "our family". any advice will help. thanx
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