Hair Acceptance

QUESTION: I’m going through chemotherapy now and my hair has fallen out. My treatment ends soon and I’m planning on starting college in a few months, but when I get there, I won’t have any hair. Were people accepting of that? – BALD BEAUTY

 

Dear Bald Beauty,

When you do get to college, whatever hair you have will be fine. It can take quite a while for hair to grow back out again, but that doesn’t mean you won’t look cute before that. A short haircut might be awesome for your facial structure. Also, people shave their heads on purpose during college all the time. Sometimes it’s a rebellion thing. Sometimes it’s to help friends with cancer. If you have the type of personality to pull that off, own it. It’s not weird at all. People will react to how YOU are reacting to it.

I, personally, was not comfortable walking around bald, so I got wigs. I actually got 4 wigs and I would trade them off. M/W/F I was bleach blond and T/R I had dark auburn hair (which I’ve always wanted). I thought it was hilarious to be able to walk around campus and not have people recognize me from alternate days. 🙂

I finished chemo in March/April of my sophomore year and then went to study abroad in France in September for the fall of my Junior year. I was going with a group of people I had never met before, so they didn’t know anything about my cancer. By September, I had enough hair that it looked like I had just gotten a very short cut on purpose (and I did get it styled to make sure), so I didn’t bring any wigs with me to France. It was really no big deal at all. Nobody questioned my choice to have a short haircut or to let it grow out awkwardly all semester. Since nobody in France knew about the cancer in the beginning, it didn’t really affect the way they interacted with me at all.

Did you wear a wig or go bald? Did you get any weird reactions to your change in hairstyle?

Have a question of your own? Ask Chemo between Classes through the Chemo between Classes Question submission form or by emailing chemobetweenclasses@gmail.com . You can get new posts by subscribing via email in the lower right hand corner, Chemo between Classes on Facebook, or following me on Twitter!