Well, not really. It was just too good a pun to pass up!

Here’s another hair update after my whole brain radiation. I had been told it would all fall out about a week after I stopped which now was about a month ago.

Most of my hair has fallen out, but definitely not all of it. My super-cute pixie cut lasted about 3-4 days of being really cute, and then it started to get a bit patchier, but still fine. I had Peter take clippers to my hair (most advice I’ve seen has said NOT to shave your head because of infection/cut risk) about a week or so ago, and it was a good call. I kind of have a little bit of patchy fuzz all over my head, with more hair near the nape of my neck, giving me a kind of weird mullet. The pace of the hair falling out has slowed to basically a normal level now, so I’m still losing hair, but not very much at a time. If you are facing hair loss, I would *highly* recommend cutting it as short as you can handle before it really starts, because when it does fall out, there is a LOT and dealing with a lot of little short hairs is way less gross than dealing with a lot of long hair (plus, it just seems like less hair overall).

At home, I never wear a head covering, unless I’m feeling cold (which happens a lot more now). When I go out, I usually wear a scarf or wig, depending on how hot it is and how much I care.

I’ve been doing a lot of research and online searching for wigs and have found some really great sites:

Headcovers Unlimited is nice because they offer a wide range of things, not just wigs. They also have scarves, hats, turbans, bangs, swim caps, and a good selection of wigs at a good price (still $$$, but good wigs are not cheap). They also have eyebrows, eyelashes and skin care products for people going through chemo and radiation. Like many wig sites, they have a nice resources section that is helpful for going through the wig/hat/scarf buying process. The prices seem quite good and they offer a color consultation when buying a wig to help you pick the right color for you (this means matching your actual hair coloring using a swatch of your real hair or a picture, not necessarily other colors that might look good on you). From what I can tell, this service is free when ordering a wig.

Vogue Wigs is a good option if you want some cheap, “fun” wigs. It seems like most wig sites have the “good stuff,” which means very realistic. If you are like me and want to have some fun with purple, pink or other crazy colors, this site has a ton of options. One nice thing about these kinds of wigs is that they are WAY cheaper ($30-40ish, as opposed to $200+). I’m sure they wouldn’t stand up to the same kind of wear as a really nice wig, but if it’s just every so often, it’s probably fine. This site also does have the nicer wigs, with similar prices to the above site.

Wigs.com has tons of wigs. They have normal and “costume” wigs, if you are looking for the fun colors and cheaper options. Like the other sites, they also have a really good section of resources, with videos explaining various aspects.

I’m sure there are plenty of other wig sites out there, but these are the ones I’ve spent the most time playing around on.

I think I’ve picked out the one I want to buy, but now I have to decide what color I want. I did get to go to the “fancy” wig shop in town, which was nice to be able to try on some of these nicer wigs (including the one I really like). It also was really interesting to see how so many of the hair colors were NOT right for me, which surprised me. The blondes were too blonde, and some of the brunettes were just too dark. I would have thought that maybe it was just because I was used to seeing myself with my own natural color, but even my mom agreed that the colors just weren’t right. So that makes me a little nervous about ordering online (even though I’ll choose a place with a good return policy). I will not be buying the wig from the real shop because: a) they were $100 more than online; but mostly b) they were super UNhelpful. The lady was willing to get wigs for me to try, but really volunteered nothing, suggested nothing, and basically only answered questions with as few words as possible. I feel like I wrote about this experience already, but I’m not seeing it, so maybe I’m just imagining it. If I did, bear with my repetition please 🙂 The very worst part of the whole thing was that she told me 80% of their clientele had some medical reason for hair loss (cancer, alopecia, etc.). And yet, I didn’t find a scarf or hat under $75 in the place! It was nuts! It just felt like they were taking advantage of sick people. (Really, I swear I blogged about this! Why can I not find it?)

Going back to scarves and hats, since that’s what I’m wearing most of the time, I’ve discovered a few things. First and biggest, everything looks so much different without the padding of hair underneath. I’ve always looked good in hats, any hat, but now they all look weird. I did find this neat scarf pad, which not only adds a little bit of bulk, but also helps to absorb sweat and helps to reduce scarf slippage. Speaking of which, I’ve discovered without anything underneath, I have to retie and adjust certain scarves, especially the silkier ones. I think the scarf pad would help with that, but something to keep in mind if you have also lost your hair and are looking at choosing a scarf.

This would be a great time to give a shoutout to my amaaaazing friends, coworkers and family who have given me a truly wonderful selection of scarves, hats and wigs to use. I saw on one website an idea for throwing a “scarf party,” kind of like a baby shower, to give a person with cancer scarves, hats and possibly wigs. I’m so glad that I didn’t need one of these, but I did think it was a great idea for a friend who is looking for a really useful way to support a friend with cancer.

So anyway, I plan on buying my “big” wig (lol) soon and I’m excited and nervous about it. I’m also on the hunt for a new hat that meets my standards, which are apparently high. In the meantime, I’m quite happy with comfortable scarves and even just being a baldy!