Losing my hair was fun. I’m not kidding. I’ve always wondered what I’d look like bald, and it was the one bright spot in chemotherapy. Now, though, it’s growing back, and I’m starting to get a little frustrated. On the one hand it’s nice to have hair again. One thing I never realized about going bald is that my head would get cold. I guess guys who’ve gone bald naturally just get used to it. I don’t have to wear anything on my head anymore except when it gets cold–and since we’re moving into spring that’s going to happen less and less.
With my hair coming back so are memories of when I was a teenager and determined to grow my hair long. My parents wouldn’t let me as long as I lived under their roof, but when I I went off to college and just stopped getting it cut. If there was a barber shop anywhere near the campus I didn’t know about it–or care.
It still seemed to take an annoyingly long time for my hair to grow out. It was frustrating. I wanted to be like one of those Crissy Dolls that push hair out like toothpaste out of a tube. Sometimes I thought if I could hold my breath hard enough my hair would spool out. Eventually, though, it got long enough. People would come up behind me and address me as “ma’am”. Or guys would see me in a public restroom and do a double-take, checking the door to make sure they were in the right place. Hey guys–how many women do you see standing at a urinal?
Then I cut it short in 2009, just because I was ready for a change. Then cancer came and it was a big change. And it’s been frustrating in its own way. People told me my hair might come back gray and curly. “Cool!” I said. Maybe they thought this would upset me. I was thinking I’d look like Peter Capaldi, only shorter.
It hasn’t quite worked that way, though. My hair is coming back the way it was, more or less. It’s a little unruly, and I have no idea what it will be like when it gets back to normal length. I hope it gets there soon, but I won’t hold my breath.
Christopher, I love the three photos at the end. The first one is like, “normal dude”, then “during my time in prison” and then “this is my tousled just-got-out-of-bed look. Celebrities pay big money to look like this!”
I’ll have to peruse your blog at some point. There’s a lot of material! I was clicking around a bit yesterday and read a bit about your battle with cancer. The guy who fated repeatedly in the neighboring hospital bed made me laugh out loud. Can I ask– how are you doing, cancer-wise? I hope you are in remission (if that’s the correct term to use).
Please ask–thank you for asking, in fact. Hopefully telling my story I can help others. If I’d gone to the doctor sooner about a pain in my leg I might have been able to get by with just one minor surgery and avoided all the other crap.
The good news for me is the big C stands for “cured”. I got lucky. I had a very treatable cancer. Now I only have to get a checkup every few months. Eventually it’ll just be a year. I’ll get an annual checkup instead of once every three to five years like I used to.
I’m glad to hear you’re doing well and that you kicked cancer’s ass. I need you to be well and healthy need so you can continue to write funny comments on my blog posts. (That last sentence is supposed to sound funny and not weird and self-centered). But seriously, when I get a notification that I have a new blog comment and I see your name, I’m like, “Yay! Something funny awaits me”. 🙂
Geez, typo. “Farted” repeatedly. I should know how to spell that word by now.