Comment by LaNae on November 3, 2012 at 11:29pm

Even though we lose our hair, what we do next is a matter of personal choice. I was diagnosed with Alopecia about 2 1/2 years ago. I have be inspired by the courage of so many on this site as you tell your stories.

I am a Mormon and my faith in Christ sustains me. I feel there are lessons to learn from life's struggles. To me, my personal journey has become somewhat of a modern-day parable, and I have had several opportunities to share it (and my unique visual aid) with young people along with a simple question: What if your testimony was as obvious as the hairs on your head? Consider the parable of the hair:

There was a girl who grew up lovingly nurtured by a mother who was a beautician and a father who was a barber. Having well-groomed hair was a family tradition. As the girl grew into a woman, she felt that having a head full of hair was a family heritage. Her parents continued to have thick hair as long as they had lived, so she really didn’t worry too much about it.

Then came a time of great stress in her life. Every day seemed filled with more questions than answers, more problems than solutions, and more frustration than peace. Day after day, week after week the pressures added up. On an especially worrisome day, she scratched the side of her head. Instead of fluffing her thick hair, her fingers slid across smooth skin. In astonishment, she pushed her finger through her hair again. How could this be? It felt like there was a hole in her hair. No way!

As soon as she could get away to the privacy of her bathroom, she grabbed a hand mirror, positioned it just right, and lifted the top locks of her hair. The sign on her wall read, “Smile,” but she bit her lip to fight the frown. Not only did she have a bald spot some two inches long, but several other dime-size spots were starting to thin out across the top of her head. For others who regularly had their hair done by a professional beautician or barber, a bald spot may not have become so big before being noticed. But since growing up she had taken pride in being able to handle cutting, trimming, and styling her hair herself patterning her method after what she had observed from her parents. Now she thought of times when she might have noticed something amiss before but had always just pushed the thought out of her mind instead.

The woman was now concerned enough to seek the counsel of a great physician who specialized in skin and hair disorders. A diagnosis of an autoimmune system disorder called alopecia areata was given and a steroid injection treatment attempt to jolt the body out of its self-destructive mode of attacking hair follicles.

But no one mentioned she needed to keep coming back to the great physician. In fact, she soon grew frustrated with the after affects of the injections and the continued hair fallout. Even though there was some new growth in the original treated spot, instead of checking back in with the great physician, she sought counsel from others. The next practitioner demeaned the efforts of the first. He smirked at the methods and declared he could do better himself. So the woman agreed to let him treat her head his way.

For a few days, she saw a little improvement. The hair wasn’t falling out quite as fast. But it wasn’t long before that was no longer true. The hairs on the head continued to fall out – never all at once, but a hair here, a hair there, a little here, a little there.

Still seeking a better answer, she made an appointment with another physician. He listened to her story and agreed with the diagnosis of alopecia areata. But with a shrug, he simply said he couldn’t do any more than had already been done and sent her on her way.

Day after day her internal immune system continued its attack against her hair follicles. Her hands were covered with hair when she shampooed her hair. Her brush was filled with hair when she brushed her hair. There were hairs in the sink, hairs on the counter, hairs on the floor, hairs in the clogged up drain. Ahhh! The number of spots on her head increased in number and dimension until she could rest a stretched out hand on the bare skin of her scalp. Desperate she once again made an appointment with the great physician.

Realizing there could be underlying causes for the hair fallout, the great physician took time to research the problem. Getting the results from skin biopsies and blood tests took time and the hair continued to grow thinner.

A treatment plan was instilled, and the woman was delighted to see a few new patches of hair, dark curly soft hair seemed different than she was accustomed to having. She has done some research on her own and read somewhere that the tendency for alopecia may be genetic. She could not think of anyone bald in her family, but it really didn’t matter. This was her trial to face as her active, out-of-kilter autoimmune system continued its attack. It was stronger and more aggressive than the tender rooted new growth. As the bare scalp splotches continued to expand, they snuffed out all the hair, new and old. Now when the woman looked in the mirror, she could hardly recognize herself as her face became framed by baldness with only a few fleeting tufts where her hair once grew so abundantly. Tears came as she realized she had lost it all.

The analogies that may be seen in the parable are many. Like the girl who felt beautiful hair was part of her heritage due to the efforts of her parents’ study and skill, we can rely too heavily on the testimony of others instead of investing in gaining our own knowledge. In times of stress, we can start to doubt or find holes in our faith.

The great physician can be likened unto Christ. It is our choice to turn to Him. It is folly to think that the way to regain our testimony will be a one time deal.

The option of whom to turn to for guidance is a matter of agency. The practitioner who demeaned the first could be a parallel to Satan. He wanted the credit and was quick to foster doubt. The next consultant carried the familiar persona of those who listen but really do not give aid as they go on about their own business at hand. (As we have discussed this with the youth groups, some saw this could even be them as they cared but lacked the knowledge to know how to really reach out and help others.) Even when turning back to the great physician or Christ, there is a danger the internal forces will continue to attack the new strands of our testimony. Doubt, discouragement, fear and pride are powerful foes to faith and humility. If your testimony was as obvious as the hairs on your head, would you take the risk? How much time have you spent on your hair today? How much time have you spent on your testimony? If you could see your testimony by looking in the mirror, what would you see?

Every day when I look in the mirror, I see the woman whose face is now framed by the balding scalp. The year of demise from a full head of hair to baldness taught me many things including the Parable of the Hair. Alopecia areata is an unpredictable disease, and yet it has led me to the parable and an increased awareness of my responsibility. I earnestly hope to have more success in maintaining my testimony than I have with my hair. Comfort comes from reading from the scriptures as I pondered my personal hair follicle fallout. One night after finishing reading a book entitled "Jesus the Christ," I pondered what to read next. The whispering directed me, “Matthew chapter 10.” I picked up my Bible and gently turned the pages:

27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.

My room was dark except for the small reading lamp by my bedside. What would he tell me in darkness?

28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

I knew alopecia was killing my hair, not my body; but I also realized I could not let it kill my soul.

29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.

30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Of all the scriptures, the spirit had directed me to one about hair! Oh how I needed that. I rejoiced in realizing my Heavenly Father knew me, understood me, and valued who I was. If he could care about an aging, bald woman, why would he not care about every child, every young man, every young woman, every one of his children.

But for me, I continue to learn more about the parable of the hair. The unpredictable disease can strike at any age. What if the demise were genetic? What if our failing testimony becomes passed onto our children, grandchildren, and onto future generations? What if our progenitors see who we are and seek to become like us? Do we put on a false front like a full cranial prosthesis, or a wig? The false facade can look so natural that from the outside some may even envy. But inside we will still know what is real.

A short while ago, I came home from work to be greeted by part of my family seated around the dinner table. My granddaughter, three-year old Alyssa, cheerfully said, “Grandma, take off your hair.”

“Alyssa,” I responded. “I don’t think it is polite to take off my wig at the dinner table.” Teasing, I said, “Why don’t you take off your hair.”

Alyssa put her hands up to her head and tried to lift her hair from her head. “Ugh” she said as she tugged at her blond curls. Then with all sincerity she looked me in the eyes and declared, “When I am old, then I will be able to take off my hair.”

We laughed at her sweet innocent aspirations. But inside I wanted to shout, “Oh Alyssa, I hope you never have to take off your hair. And oh, Alyssa, I hope you never, ever take off your testimony.”

Comment by coccinelle on November 4, 2012 at 7:42pm

Good luck, me at the moment I sometimes have no it any more I wonder if the life has a sense

Comment by LaNae on November 7, 2012 at 10:57pm

What Tracey asked for when she started this blog was "hopeful" stories. Sometimes life may not make complete sense. There may not be an immediate cure. Sometimes things hurt. But we still need to hang onto hope, hope for a better tomorrow, hope to make today better for someone else, and hope to see the beauty within ourselves.

Comment by LUV on November 8, 2012 at 11:43am

Hi Tracey. I know exactly how you are feeling. It's just a despair to see your beautiful hair shedding. I have lost about 50% of my hair also and it is thinning more and more even tough I am onto some treatments. I am actually doing an electrotherapy (function same as laser treatment), together with aminexil once per week. Plus at my own sake I am spraying minoxidil. I have seen many regrowths but still my hair is continuing to fall. There are days i'm totally depressed and lost all confidence but yet i still hope for the best. Whatever happens now I will take it as it is. Please do cheer up and remember life continues even we lost a beautiful part of us

Comment by Gena on November 10, 2012 at 8:53pm

It's been really hard to deal with, I had for about a year alopecia universalis, I dealt with wearing a wig but for me the hardest part was not having eyelashes and eyebrows. I had a customer once ask me "how my treatments were going" I thought she knew about my alopecia, but no, she thought I had cancer. I find that was the hardest part, people thinking I had cancer! I have had no regrowth on my scalp, but have started treatment by cortisone injections on my eyebrows (which my doctor said is one of the toughest areas to re grow) and I have started to get great results! Even my eyelashes are growing back! And I guess it's a coincidence I'm getting hair all over the rest of my body. My doctor said since the injections are local, it was very unlikely that they were the cause of my hair coming back. I have leg hair (darn! haha) arm hair, even hair starting at the back of my neck! Most doctors and most people online say once you have universalis, it's very rare for your hair to come back. I was at a point where I was starting to accept that, and voila! my hair started to come back. It was also a nuissance! Getting stuff in my eyes all the time. Meanwhile, I found someone who loved me when I had no hair at all. This was one of my biggest fears, is telling someone about it, without them judging. I'm happy to say he is the first person I have ever felt comfortable with having my hair off and no makeup on. And I still feel beautiful. Especially after I read stories about women never showing their bald heads to their husbands... I never wanted that, and am thankful for what I have found!!

Comment by Anisha on November 14, 2012 at 2:33pm

Hi again,
I forgot to mention in my previous post, that I've also been applying squaric acid to the affected areas to divert the T-cell attack. The acid causes an alergic reaction similar to poison ivy, and tricks your immune system into attacking the rash, rather than your hair follicles. I've been using it on a section of my scalp that has been resistant to steroid injections, and I'm seeing results. If you can handle the itching and scabbing for a few days, it's an effective alternative to steroid injections. I'm also using the iGrow laser cap at least 3 times per week. It's hard to say if it's helping, but it sure can't hurt.

Comment

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 3
• 4
• 5
• Next ›
• Page