im good!!! sorry that it took 4ev for me to write you bak!! lol...yea i know i frickin love this site!!! ahhhhh~~! lol

Yeah, you're so right. I am in counseling now because I didn't have the best ways of coping with it when it first happened, but now I am using it kind of to my advantage. Sometimes it just doesn't seem fair and I just want to cry and feel sorry for myself.

hiii...i saw in one of ur pics that u have a monroe, im so jealous. i want that so bad! lol i love piercing but im just not brave enough to get any on my face lol...i think im gonna get one soon tho...anyways whats up???

Yeah, I wouldn't ever wish Alopecia on anyone, but I think you're right about an experience to open their eyes. I actually stopped going to school because it got so bad with the teasing and immature comments. I just don't know what to say to people when they say those things to me. I also get the sympathetic looks when I go out bald because people think I have cancer or something; that actually bothers me.

heyy :) im 15 aswell! whats your story? ive never met anyone with alopecia, especially my age, so looking forward to chatting!!

I ended up playing volleyball despite my hair...prolly cuz i'm stubborn. I love volleyball, & i guess i love it so much i couldn't give it up because I was losing hair. I played through it. At first I wore a bandana around it like a sweatband during our summer tournaments, because that was enough to cover it. Then i ended up resorting to a skull cap which is what i wore all of the regular season. I had to take a doctor's note with us at all times in case we got any static from the ref's, which we actually did once, but it was VERY obvious even with this skull cap on that i had no hair. My coach was protective about it, & set the ref straight real quick. Only one ref was an ass about it. & my team was extremely supportive & treated me the same, & i think that is what got me through it. No one treated me different & despite how embarassed i might have been (even though i wasn't too bad) all my friends still talked to me the same, all the fans i knew talked to me the same. & you know what? i played the sport i love, & for those few minutes while i was playing, i didn't think about my hair, & i was just one the girls trying hard to get that point.

I'm pretty much eclectic in all i do. I find myself a little weird at times but i do what i like, what i get joy out of, end of story. I have made it one of my life goals to better aware people of alopecia, & to hopefully make life easier for current & future alopecians. I strive to do this by educating people, & setting a good example of what alopecians can be like. By educating people, others will be embraced when met with these knowledgeable people. I also am hoping to make some changes with insurance companies pertaining to wigs.
I like to hunt & fish, but i also like to read & take photos. I have recently found great pride & joy in Word Processing. An event i have competed in frequently & successfully lately, placing every time i compete. I will be going to nationals in this for F.B.L.A. Sometimes i enjoy just hanging out at home, because the part of my family im staying with now is very fun. I also like to hang out with friends, and I'm looking very forward to attending college, i registered today, im very pumped. I absolutely love getting on this website, it has helped make my life more positive. I also like sports, my favorite is the one i played for 7 years-volleyball. I will miss not playing it for school anymore. Pretty much i do all kinds of things-things that make me happy. =)
What all do you like to do?

I used to be big into poetry, & i guess it kind of fizzled a while back...sad. But i'd like to read some of your work sometime if you don't mind. I like to read poetry. Especially when its about something i can relate to. I will definitely hit you up on myspace. I haven't been getting on as much lately, but I try to check it daily. =)

I'm great, thanks. It's nice to meet someone my age that understands exactly what I'm going through. so, what do you do about the people that stare and make rude comments, because I know there are so many people like that.

I don't know myself what you're saying, but a couple of my friends have some piercings, and you sound like them about it, haha. They're like oh i wanna get this, then they get it & theyre like oh i want this one too! haha, i think everyone has their "addiction" like that. Haha
Thanks about the picture. I'm glad to evoke that emotion out of you, because frankly, that's what i was shooting for when i took it. I wanted to convey my emotions i was feeling at the time. & i hoped someday, someone, could relate to how i was feeling.
I totally accepted your friend request on myspace. I love having alopecia friends on there. =) You seem pretty darn cool too. =)

I'm doing wonderful. wbu. I'm excited about getting to know you. How did your Alopecia progress. Like did it start in spots or did it just kind of come out at one. I'm looking forward to Chatting with you.
-Katie

Hi Brooke and welcome!! I also tried to add you on myspace but needed your email or last name. Mine is www.myspace.com/dottyj, feel free to add me on yours. By the way, my husband's family is all in North Carolina. We visit every other Christmas, and my stepson goes to visit his mom in NC for the whole summer. He's 14. Thanx for the add and anytime you need to talk, feel free to ask me anything!!! Please don't ever feel like you are alone again. Love and Hugs, Dotty
P.S. I think you are absolutely beautiful!!!

I dunno your email...heres mine..add me!
myspace.com/leanna1127

hello! you are such a pretty girl! Im gonna add you to my myspace if thats ok!

I'm doin pretty dang good. I'm legal today, so I'm definitely diggin that. =) How bout you, how you doin?

Hi Brooke! I've been AU for what seems like ever and can completely identify with the way you've felt! Hang in there girl, there are brighter days ahead!!! Keep smiling that beautiful smile :-D

Either bring a friend with you, or make some here before you go and make arrangements to meet up with them... and if you do go... BE SURE TO FIND ME AND SAY hi! :)

You can see a couple of photo on page, most of from the conference. Basically you spend a weekend in the majority, totally surrounded with 750-100 people with alopecia. You talk , you cry, you laugh, you dance your butt off, there are support sessions, makeup demonstration, wig vendors. I did a lot of my "firsts" at the conference. The first time I went out with a hat on, then without a wig, then the whole weekend without a wig, and then left the wig at home... You can also go to the NAAF website for more information on the sessions. I have been to 17 and have yet to miss one and would feel really strange if ever I had to. A couple of people here are going, you can rsvp under the events so that we know who all is going and try to all get together while we are there. You should consider it, you won't regret it.

Brooke, that was the whole reason behind the site. When we are struggling, waiting for a yearly conference or the next support group meeting in 2 months... won't cut it. This way it is instant, you can talk to either people your own age, or someone in a similar situation as you. We all give input and then we take or alter the option that is acceptable or liveable for us. The information that I have seen on this site is amazing. People are finding tips and products and sharing them with each other, stuff that they would never have know about. I also seen people make arrangements to meet. I think it is awesome. Are you going to the conference in Kentucky?