Hair Today Gone Tomorrow

I got back in the car today after my Toastmasters meeting and looked in my rear view mirror. I had pinned up part of the sides of my hair because all the rain and humidity turn my once reasonably complaint, straight hair into a mass of fly aways and bad flips. My hair looks like Farah Faucett in her hey day, but without actually giving enough of a crap to go for the full out look.

Then I looked closer into the mirror. I remembered seeing a picture of myself in Seattle last week when I was in high school. The photo had the same straight, brown hair, but there was so much more of it. Then I realized I've lost most of my hair and almost started crying.

For the uninitiated, let me just say this as a disclaimer: hair is a fickle beast. There are many things that cause hair loss, including a radical change in diet, rapid weight loss, vitamin deficiencies, hormonal changes, and straight-up "I'm going bald". Unfortunately, gastric patients often experience hair loss for one, or many, of the reasons listed above. I just didn't feel like I fit that category. I knew that I was losing a lot of hair in the shower and wrapped around my volumizing brush, but I always kind of shrugged and knew deep down, "There is more where that came from".

Then one day I woke up and I can hold up all my hair with two small clips. I have a short, bob-length cut and now I realized that even when I wear all of my hair down, you can see my neck and chin when looking at my sideways. You know. Through my hair. Because there is nothing there but the strands that have decided to stick it out with me.

I have been in denial about this for a while I think. I feel like the 40 year-old man that goes to the store to buy Rogaine because one day he woke up and his forehead had tripled in size. Last time he remembered, he was swooping his hair sideways to stay out of his eyes. Only his hair loss was infinitesimally slower than mine. His took 15 years and mine has taken just 1, but I swear I sympathize so much more now. This whole year I've been fighting a losing battle to grow my hair out. It would get to a certain length and no matter how hard I tried to pretend that it was ok, it just looked horrible and I would cut it. Let's be honest, thin hair responds to a layered bob because all the layers add volume, particularly when blow-dried and moussed and tousled.

I called my doctor's nurse today and I'm hoping she returns my call tomorrow. I'm not sure how I'm going to put in words, "I've been losing hair for the past 12 months, but now my hair is all gone and do you think you can help me?" but I'm going to give it the ol' college try. After all, my follicles deserve another chance, right? If this doesn't work, I'll be reduced to a nightly chant to my scalp, shouting, "I think I can! I think I can!" to my scalp and no one really wants that.