Alopecia Awareness Month...Here We Come!

Wow...it has been a hot second since I wrote a full on blog entry. Like most people, I cannot believe September is right around the corner. This has been the fastest, slow year of my life! Life without masks and social distancing feels like centuries ago. I’m pretty anxious for November. I wish people would realize that in the history of mankind, nobody ever changed their political opinion by arguing in the comments of a Facebook post. Or worse yet...LinkedIn. My hope is that the keyboard warriors will take a break from random on-screen arguments and take a minute to enjoy the joy that is Tik Tok. While I waste approximately 948,000 hours a week watching videos of dances I’ll never be able to do (how...just HOW can everyone in the world do splits but me????), I have fallen down the rabbit hole that is organization Tik Tok. The plus side is that thanks to this,my dresser drawers now look Marie Kondo AF. Thank you Tik Tok. No regrets. 

In other news, Alopecia Awareness month is right around the corner! Woot woot! It is so crazy to me that it was almost a year ago that I went to work for the very first time without my wig on! (Check out this blog post for the lowdown on how it went) Now here we are again. Another September and life couldn’t be further from what it was 52 weeks ago. You know how men partake in no-shave November? I'm toying around with the idea of no-wig September. I will still wear wigs during my workouts because it helps keep the sweat out of my eyes, but for everything else, perhaps I should just be bald? Work conference calls, grocery stores, and well, that's pretty much all I do these days so I suppose the buck stops there? What do you think? Yay? Nay?  

Speaking of Alopecia Awareness month, last week I was lucky enough to sit down with my company’s Women’s Network to have a virtual chat about my hair loss journey. The funny thing is, this event was originally scheduled for St. Patrick’s day (aka my girl Carrissa’s b-day!). I apparently did not have the luck of the Irish on my side, and like most social gatherings in 2020, the event was cancelled due to a little thing called COVID-19. For a brief period of time, I held onto hope that this pandemic would simma down now and I’d be able to have my event in a room full of friendly faces. But once again, COVID said, “Girl..BYE”, and virtual it was. 

I really love the way it turned out and am so excited to share it with all of you! A huge shoutout to my girls Alison Moy (President of the DISH Women’s Network) and Leigh Rasmussen (Vice President of the DISH Women’s Network) for making this happen. I’m telling you, this blog will not be the last time you read about these amazing women. They are such bad asses paving the way for many women to come!! 

With that, here is the recording of my interview. Hope you enjoy it! 

Fear, Coasters, and Alopecia Awareness

September is Alopecia Awareness month. It is the month where us baldies shout from the rooftops and edumacate our hairy friends on what is like to have your immune system go haywire and sign you up for a Rock look alike contest. For me, alopecia and fear go hand in hand. Actually, if I’m being completely fear has ruled everything around me since birth. Probably since the womb. All alopecia has done is given me a boat load of new things to be afraid of. Last weekend, I got to erase one of those items off the list. Amusement parks. Not just any amusement park. Cedar Point. If you grew up anywhere near northeast Ohio, you know that Cedar Point is basically the best amusement park ever times 10. However, in my mind, wigs and roller coasters were never meant to go hand in hand. Unless you are trying to end up in a viral video where the whole world witnesses your wig flying off mid ride. This is why I put roller coasters on my list of things I “can’t” do (by can’t I mean won’t because I may poop my pants from fear). I LOVE roller coasters, but I had no idea how I would manage the logistics of it all. So, I just avoided it. Then I started dating a Colorado native who had never been to Cedar Point. Since it is an Ohio must, we made a decision in May that we would go back to Ohio in August to give him the full adrenaline experience. I had exactly 3 months to concoct a plan. Yet I was going back and forth and back and forth on what I was going to until the week of the trip.Obviously, going wig-free would have been the easiest option and I did seriously consider it until my anxiety crept in and told me to consider something else. Next, I thought of wearing my Yaffa wig. It has an adjustable band and I can get it to sit pretty snugly on my dome. However, my Yaffa is a $3000 wig. I just couldn’t risk the chance of 3 grand literally flying off my head. So, I scoured my Amazon for days looking for a suitable synthetic. Buying cheap wigs on Amazon can be so hit or miss. You can end up with something surprisingly adorbs, or you could end up with something that looks like a straw mop. I must have had a wig angel that day because what I ordered was PERFECT!! A wig with an attached headband that I could wear in a HIGH PONY! You heard it folks. Momma rocked a high pony for the first time in FOUR YEARS!!! For added insurance, I used my Milano wigs wig-grip to keep that puppy in place. Finally, I found a tank top with a hood to add an extra, extra level of security. And guys let me tell you it was *chefs kiss* PERFECT! I think I would have been okay without the hood, but I took comfort in the fact that the hood would catch the wig if it fell off. I had SO MUCH fun! It was also entertaining to see the looks I got when tying up my hood before each ride. I will take those looks over the looks of people witnessing my wig flying off any day of the week. So, if you are an adrenaline junkie baldie who is missing the coaster life, you MUST try my method.The next thing I’m going to erase off my fear list is a bit scarier. This Friday I am going to go to work for the very first time without a wig. My stomach is doing puke flips just thinking about it. Its happening friends. Stay tuned for that post!