When I found out I had cancer, one of the very first things my oncologist said was “you’ll have to do 5 months of chemo. You’re going to lose all your hair”. That’s been one of the hardest things to accept about having to go through all of this. I love my hair! I love brushing it and styling it, and scrubbing it with shampoo in the shower. It’s like a crown we all style every day on top of our head. Every day that I’ve brushed it since starting chemo, thinking, ‘this is one of the last times I’ll do this for a while’, I’ve realized just how much I really like having hair. I’ve never not had hair! And, on top of that, being bald or wearing a cap is one of those things that seemingly marks you as a cancer pt. I didn’t want to look like I had cancer. It’s been an internal wrestling match to come to terms with this.
Steven and I invited our friend Adri into our home to capture a very personal moment. I decided that rather than wake up every day to more and more hair on my pillow, I was going to just jump and take matters into my own hands. I knew my kids were struggling to accept everything that has come with a cancer diagnosis (including mom being bald), and so I decided to include my family in something that was hard for all of us and make it something fun.
Each kid took turns cutting my hair. The big kids helped shave it down to a manageable length, and then Steven shaved the rest and cleaned it up for me. We can’t control a lot that’s happening right now but we can control the way we handle things. I didn’t want to wake up every day seeing my hair fall out so instead we celebrated my road to healing as a family, collectively sharing tears and laughs while creating an irreplaceable moment for our family.
***I’m 32. The chair I’m sitting in is 31. My mom and dad bought the dining set that chair belongs to when I was a baby. When I had a family of my own my parents gave the set to me. I can’t tell you how many times my mom cut or trimmed my hair as a kid in those exact chairs. There was something so special about having that chair to sit in while I once again got my hair cut by the people the I love.
*THANK YOU, Adri! ❤️
