Tuesday, March 16, 2010

if you want to know.

so this is my new blog.
after this first post, it will be about music, for the most part, but today I have bigger news than any record release.

this is the story of my hair loss.
in second grade my hair started to fall out and after multiple tests at the doctors office, it turned out I had something called alopecia areata. It's an autoimmune disease. Basically, my immune system attacks my hair follicles and then my hair falls out. Like I said, I've had it since second grade, it's just kind of an ongoing thing. The cause of the disease is still for the most part unknown - some say it's hereditary (not in my case though), some say it's environmental (stress + other contributors), and there are various other "reasons". There isn't one cure for it, some things work for people and others don't... I've used numerous shampoos, taken vitamins, steroid injections, and nothing seems to work permanently. My hair loss has always fluctuated, sometimes worse in certain seasons or weather, but there never has been a real science as to why it would grow back sometimes and fall out others.

Why am I writing this post?
Well, few people actually ask me about it. To be frank, it makes me feel awkward when they do because sometimes I honestly forget I have it (no matter how obvious it is). At the same time, I'd rather people ask because a lot of times they think it's something worse than just an autoimmune disease. It just makes me more uncomfortable knowing people are talking about it.
Anyways, the second reason I'm writing this post is this - my hair has gotten extremely bad this past couple of months. I don't know why. I can't fix it and it is truly annoying having to wear a ball cap every day (what girl likes doing that?)... so today I got a wig.

It's weird. I'm not quite used to it... but I like it. My dad had always urged me to take the leap, but I didn't think I was strong enough. I still don't know that I am, but we'll see.

You may be wondering why I chose to address this in a post the whole world will see. Well it's kind of obvious that I got one, so unlike before, I'd rather take the time to address the issue rather than ignore it. Also, like I said I know people were curious, so I thought I'd take the time to tell people about the disease :) . I'm trying to be more comfortable with the condition I have.

So there you have it! Ask any questions you want. Thank you all friends who are supportive :) I appreciate youuuu

xoxo e

me, now :) . Oh and I switched to clear contacts!