Hair today, gone tomorrow

Even though I have horrible short-term memory, I can remember the last day that I had “my hair” very vividly. Let me clarify what I mean by “my hair.” Obviously, the hair on my head now is MINE, but it’s definitely not the same as my pre-chemo hair. Anyway, it was the day I knew would come. Getting out of the shower that Saturday morning, I brushed my wet hair just like I always had–except I noticed that large globs of hair were sticking to the brush. I had a baby shower to go to that afternoon, and my hair was not going to make it past the weekend! Interestingly enough, I was quite enthralled by the way I could tug on my hair and it would fall out, effortlessly. At the shower, it became an all day game of  “go ahead, take a tug…it comes right out…isn’t that cool?” I encouraged others to pull at my hair as if it were some kind of game.

And the next day, I had my husband take me to a Supercuts and I instructed the stylist to buzz me down with a number three. Of course, she looked at me incredulously. I explained that, yes, I was serious, and that I wanted to deal with hair loss on my own terms. She understood and then complied with my request. My husband happily video taped the entire ordeal while she did it. And that was one of the first times I had shared with a total stranger that I had cancer.

About a week later the buzz cut started looking incredibily sparse, and my gem of a husband took  a razor and shaving cream to my head and made me a bald woman.  I would remain bald for most of the next twelve months.

So, I told that story to tell you a funnier one. The other day I was taking video of my almost 18-month old daughter when I noticed that some older videos from her younger days remained on the camcorder. I played a video in which my daughter was about 3-4 months old. While I was watching her gurgle and smile, I saw a person with no hair come into the frame and wipe my daughter’s face when she spit up. I say to my husband, “Who’s that bald guy?”

“Um… that’s YOU!” my husband states. And we laughed for a loooong time. It’s funny how quickly you can forget the unfortunate times when you have a beautiful miracle baby to brighten your days. How cool is THAT?