My story

Hello. My name is Justin Dawson. I am 15 years old & have had Alopecia for about 1 year and 4 months now. It all started in mid February of 2011. I was in my room texting some friends while chatting with my little brother, Brendan. You know how when you are texting, you look with your head down most of the time? Well, that's what I was doing. My brother Brendan pointed out a very small circular bald spot on the crown of my head. I looked in the mirror, but it was too inadequate to see. I told my parents & they looked at it then searched the internet. They typed in Google: "small bald spot." And guess what came up? ALOPECIA AREATA! We went to the Dermatologist to confirm that it was Alopecia. And sadly, it WAS confirmed. It was hard for me the rest of the year at school. Bald spot & Baldy became my new nicknames. By summer, about 50% of my hair was depleted... I got cortisone shots in my head, but they didn't seem to work too well. I got accepted into Tear 2 of MD Anderson. And no, MD Anderson is NOT just a Cancer Center. A small part of it is also a skin center. We went there, and my amazing & inspirational doctor name Joyce told us that my Alopecia Areata had involved into Alopecia Totalis. Which I currently have as of right now. So I was pretty upset. I went to school my Freshman Year wearing a wig. I looked terrible in it! I will provide a picture of me in the wig at the end of my story. It sucked pretty bad my Freshman year. Always petrified that someone will find out. But it turned out that everyone just somehow knew? By then, my eyebrows & eyelashes were gone. I eventually got fatigued of my wig and asked my school counselor if I was able to wear a hat to school. She talked to the principle and he agreed. And that is because we have dress code. So I wore my hat & was constantly being questioned on whether I'm going to die soon or not because no one knows about Alopecia. The first thing people think of when they see a bald person is "CANCER!" So I educated my classmates on what Alopecia is & the symptoms to the disease. Everyone told me that I have the face to be bald, & pretty girls still liked me, so I didn't stress over it. Now I am bald & happy! Living for Jesus and his word!

Here is a photo of me with the wig:

And here is me now:

Thank you for your time!!! :)

This is a photo of me BEFORE I was diagnosed with Alopecia:

Views: 181

Comment by Karlijn on June 8, 2012 at 8:35am

Hello <3 I know it's awful to loose your hair at this age!
But youre wig does look very real do you wear it often ?
Haha and I understand that the pretty girls stilll like you!
xxKarlijn

Comment by Tallgirl on June 8, 2012 at 10:32am

It cracks me up that all we alopecians take photos of ourselves with bathtubs, tile, shower curtains or toilets in the background. I have moved on to the wooden bathroom door and just trial aims of the camera towards me (instead of from the mirror) until I get one centered. Also, love the backwards t-shirt lettering from the mirror shots! We all do this!

Comment by Leenda on June 8, 2012 at 11:25am

You look handsome either way; obviously! Keep your head up!

Comment by You can do it : ) on June 8, 2012 at 1:33pm

Thanks for sharing. Glad you are happy now and everything seems to be working out. Keep up the positive attitude it will get you through a lot in life.

Comment by Storm_Uchiha on June 9, 2012 at 2:24am

Hey....Just wanna say it really does suck being a teenager with Alopecia getting stopped by total strangers who think it's their business to know what the hell is wrong with us when nothing really is.

Hey your strong and I wanna say that whichever lucky girl gets you she'll value you for life...Hey if you ever wanna talk or something PM me...Glad to have met another kid my age with Alopecia on here.

Comment by Justin Dawson on June 9, 2012 at 10:24pm

Thanks everyone! It really means a lot to me! You all are amazing! :) I'm glad I finally have a place to interact with other people like me :P

Comment by Justin Dawson on June 9, 2012 at 10:31pm

Karlijn: I wear my wig when I go to church on Sunday mornings, & I use to wear it when I was in tumbling. Now, I use a sports cap :)

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