Wear a Wig

I had a doctor, he is an exceptional doctor, but an older gentleman of a different generation who tried very hard to convince me that as a working woman, I should wear a wig. After I lost my hair because I didn't want to distract my team with my bald head. So I dutifully went out and bought a wig. And I don't know if you've ever tried to wear a wig, but they're so uncomfortable. Some women wear them beautifully. I don't. And I put one on one morning and went to work. And by 9:15, I had taken it off. I just felt ridiculous.

And instead, I went to work every day with either a scarf, mostly a scarf - I bought myself some beautiful Hermes scarves. Sometimes I had to work. And it actually turned out to be a good thing. There was a silver lining there. And the silver lining...There are several silver linings, I would say. One was my team and also my colleagues at Comcast were incredibly supportive. And, after the first day I showed up with a scarf on my head, nobody cared.

Non-issue.

Non-issue. Nobody thought twice about it. It was great in that feeling that I could go to work every day with a scarf on my head, was distracting me from the cancer. And I think it's one of the reasons why I got through it as relatively smoothly as I did. And then finally, you've probably never been bald, but being bald is incredibly liberating.

You don't have to worry about getting shampoo, conditioner, hair spray!

You get 20 minutes in the morning that you don't typically have. So it was scary going into it. And I think the most frightening aspect of it of breast cancer for women who have to do chemo is the prospect of losing your hair. But once it happened and once I knew that I could deal with it, it was liberating and it was empowering.

Yeah, well, I think you look beautiful with hair and without.

I'm just telling you that being bald can actually turn out to be a nice thing, at least on a temporary basis. I wouldn't wish it on anybody. I wouldn't wish chemo on anybody.