Bald as an Eagle

On Wednesday, December 4th around 4:15 PM, I ran my fingers through my hair while on a call.  I looked at my hand and it was full of little blonde hairs.

It was happening.

I texted Laura to let her know that I was ready to shave my head and she promptly called Genevieve at Lucas Nault salon.  We made an appointment for Sunday.

By 10 PM Wednesday evening, I arrived to emergency with a fever and was told the next day I should expect to be in the hospital until Sunday or Monday.  The pillows in my hospital bed were covered in my hair.  When I took a shower, I had little hairs stuck to my body.  Although I still had a lot of hair and it wasn't coming out in patches, this was not working out well.

I knew I would be cranky if I was shedding in my home.  I already hate it when my cats shed and I was worse than them.

Laura and Genevieve were gracious enough to accommodate me at the hospital last night.  The nurses gave us a utility room so that we could have a little privacy.

We used a wheelchair that fits over a toilet as my chair and a hospital gown as my cape.

I thought I was prepared but as Gen picked up her clippers, I cried.  But only for a second...
I guess no matter how much you think you are prepared, when it comes to the final hour, you have a fleeting moment of sadness. This is it. It is not going to grow back tomorrow.  It's going to take a long time... and it will only start after treatments finish in March.

I had two incredible people at my side to share this moment with. Well, actually Laura was in front of me with a camera and Gen was a bit more to the side/rear with her clippers.

Let the games begin!

I am likely never going to have (at least I hope so) another moment like this again; so take advantage.

We fulfilled the desire I had when I was a teenager to do a full punk Mohawk.  Then, we did that 80s look where it was cool to have a shaved head and a little tuft of hair in the front.  Within minutes, it was all off, lying at my feet and I was a bald eagle.

As I walked out of the room to look for a broom, I ran face to face into a friend of mine.  I figured that either through Facebook or mutual friends, she was aware I had been diagnosed with cancer.  Nope and the look of shock and confusion as to why I was standing in the middle of the oncology floor with a bald head was priceless.

Suzy is a very striking woman with gorgeous hair and for a split second, I wanted to grab her by her long luscious black locks and drag her into the room and have Gen shave her down so I could use her hair as a wig.  She has hair that I want!

It is a very weird feeling not to have hair.  It will take a few days to be totally comfortable but so far I am ok with the look.  However, it feels weird to the touch and I feel temperature changes.

I was born a blonde and for a number a years I was a wide variety of colours in the red family but I have never been a brunette, chestnut, chocolate, brown black or other.  I wash my hair every day and there was a point when I would wash it twice day to have a colour within the brown/black family because it will fade to an ugly murky brown.  Now is my chance to have fun and be whatever colour I want.