I thought I was prepared for day when my hair would fall out. Nothing feels worse then washing your hair and having it fall out in your hands. I cried for at least 20 minutes in the bathroom and on the car ride out to my sister's house. Finally, I decided crying was not going to solve my problem. I immediately texted my friend and hair dresser
Brittany Lemen to shave my head.
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| This is Brittany |
I did schedule an appointment with her for Friday because I thought my hair would stay in longer...nope...14 days after your first chemotherapy treatment it will fall out. Tomorrow will be 14 days. I didn't want to watch my hair fall out on it's own so I decided to get rid of it myself.
I brought five of my closest friends, Cullen, Avery, Addison, Sully and Olivia. They were very excited to come watch Auntie Em and momma shave her head. Addison was the only one who was indifferent. Brittany was so sweet to meet me last minute at
Boss Studios where she has her own salon suite.
The kids all sat down on the floor and I explained to them I was going to have Brittany shave my head. She cut off my pony tail and started shaving.
I wasn't to nervous until she started shaving the sides. However, having all the control to take my hair off was so much better then watching it fall out on its own. She left an inch of hair on my head and asked if I was ready to be like GI Jane and to just shave it all off. I was so close but this was such a drastic change I thought I would hold off. So I am not completely bald yet but this is by far the shortest haircut I have had in my life. I have one inch of hair on my head which will completely be gone in about a week. This is what it looks like from the back.
Brittany and I met in 2006 when we worked at Agency 89 Model and Talent Management. Brittany was the Beauty coach teaching guys and gals how to do their own hair and make up. I was the acting / business savvy coach. We hit it off immediately and she has been cutting my hair ever since. I have never colored my hair so I can't speak from experience, but she is also known for coloring hair. So if you are looking for a great stylist
click here and go to professionals you will find her number there.
Brittany gave me some great make up tricks for when my eyebrows fall out to make them look as natural as possible. I will fill you in on what works and what doesn't work.
I kept watching the kids in the mirror as all this was happening and the only one who was really watching was my 4 1/2 year old niece Addison. She kept making weird faces and said she would like me much better with my wig on. Cullen my 6 year old nephew and God child reminded Addison and myself of something so insightful...
"It's not a big deal, Auntie Em's face didn't change." What a smart little boy.=) Thanks C-DOG you made my day!
As we were finishing up my 2 year old daughter Olivia asked if she could get her head shaved too! Which made us all laugh. I am so glad I took the kids because it saves me a day or two of explaining what happened to my hair and scaring Olivia with my new look. Olivia didn't even bat an eye. I think when dealing with small children if you don't make it a big deal .... neither will they. They haven't said a word about my hair since. The lesson I learned from myself was when I had to explain to Addison she should never judge someone based on their appearance. I told her she should always like someone for their personality and soul.
As soon as we finished we drove over to the Speiker's for a play date. I wore one of my wigs and my friend Sasha said she couldn't even tell it was a wig. I got two of my wigs at
TLCdirect and another one from my friend Angie. Her wig is from the Jessica Simpson line. You will get to see me in all my new hats, wigs and rag dos over the next few months. I am looking forward to it.
Although I did not choose this look, I kind of like it! I get out of the shower and my hair is dry! Now I know what it is like to be a guy...they have it so easy. This saves me an hour of blow drying and doing my hair. Plus, the weather is hot now so it is extremely nice for summer to stay cool. Never in my life time would I choose to shave my head, but since I have this opportunity I am going to enjoy it!
So if you see me without my hair don't be shy to talk to me...my face is still the same and so is my soul.
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| At my second chemo treatment on Thursday, June 2nd |
