Getting Ready
So I'm going to be bald. Again.
Yup.
Now that I have the first round of chemo behind me, I'm pretty much just waiting for my hair to fall out. Last time around, I was on a chemo drug that was highly predictable, and I was told that my hair would fall out 16 days after the first treatment. And it happened right on schedule, on that very day.
When I woke up that morning, there was a bunch of hair on my pillow—not a big clump, but dozens of individual hairs. Then, when I ran my fingers through my hair, long strands just came out.
It felt like a scene from a Stephen King novel or something—very creepy.
Not wanting to star in my own horror film, I decided to take control of the situation: I was going to beat baldness to the punch. So I went to see Dave, Zach's brilliant hair stylist (and mine ever since), and got a buzz-cut.
For a couple of days, I looked a lot like a Marine. (Minus the uniform. And the gun. And the six-pack abs.)
Every morning, I took long showers and shampooed my hair several times.
Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
Every time I rinsed, more hair would come out. But because it was already so short, it was much less traumatic. By the time it was all out a couple of days later, I was used to the idea.
This time around, the drugs aren't so predictable. My oncologist estimated that it would take 3-6 weeks for my hair to fall out, and that's a pretty broad range. I'm 12 days in at this point, so we could be talking about next week or another month from now.
Meanwhile, my hair was getting longer and longer, thicker and thicker. Why pay for a haircut, I thought, if it was all going to fall out anyway? But then I realized that if I didn't get it cut, the change would be especially dramatic, and maybe especially upsetting. (Ever since it first grew back in late 2001, I'd been keeping my hair pretty short. Now that I had put off a haircut for a couple of months, it was longer than it had been in years.)
So last week, I got it cut. Short. Very short. Very gamine. If you've seen a picture of Natalie Portman lately, you know what I mean.
I had had it this short for a long time, and it was kind of nice to go back to a familiar look. It had been my post-bald look, and I guess now it's my pre-bald look, too. For another 9-30 days, anyway. . . .
Yup.
Now that I have the first round of chemo behind me, I'm pretty much just waiting for my hair to fall out. Last time around, I was on a chemo drug that was highly predictable, and I was told that my hair would fall out 16 days after the first treatment. And it happened right on schedule, on that very day.
When I woke up that morning, there was a bunch of hair on my pillow—not a big clump, but dozens of individual hairs. Then, when I ran my fingers through my hair, long strands just came out.
It felt like a scene from a Stephen King novel or something—very creepy.
Not wanting to star in my own horror film, I decided to take control of the situation: I was going to beat baldness to the punch. So I went to see Dave, Zach's brilliant hair stylist (and mine ever since), and got a buzz-cut.
For a couple of days, I looked a lot like a Marine. (Minus the uniform. And the gun. And the six-pack abs.)
Every morning, I took long showers and shampooed my hair several times.
Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
Every time I rinsed, more hair would come out. But because it was already so short, it was much less traumatic. By the time it was all out a couple of days later, I was used to the idea.
This time around, the drugs aren't so predictable. My oncologist estimated that it would take 3-6 weeks for my hair to fall out, and that's a pretty broad range. I'm 12 days in at this point, so we could be talking about next week or another month from now.
Meanwhile, my hair was getting longer and longer, thicker and thicker. Why pay for a haircut, I thought, if it was all going to fall out anyway? But then I realized that if I didn't get it cut, the change would be especially dramatic, and maybe especially upsetting. (Ever since it first grew back in late 2001, I'd been keeping my hair pretty short. Now that I had put off a haircut for a couple of months, it was longer than it had been in years.)
So last week, I got it cut. Short. Very short. Very gamine. If you've seen a picture of Natalie Portman lately, you know what I mean.
I had had it this short for a long time, and it was kind of nice to go back to a familiar look. It had been my post-bald look, and I guess now it's my pre-bald look, too. For another 9-30 days, anyway. . . .
posted by Jody Rosen Knower at 8:38 PM
5 Comments:
If that doesn't look like the photo of someone who will one day be on the inside jacket cover of her best-selling (authentic) memoir, then I'm James Frey. I've got dibs on the first autographed copy.
Agreed Robin! Well said. I especially enjoyed the James Frey reference.
Jody, it looks great! Have you seen the Diet Coke commercial where the hot chick walks by the Barbers and sees a picture of a short hair cut on the wall, takes a swig (cuz we all know what kinda courage we can get from a Diet Coke) and then goes in and tells him to cut it all off? Then she comes out looking even HOTTER with the short cut....that's YOU BABY! You're the HOT CHICK FROM THE DIET COKE COMMERCIAL!!!
OK--on the other hand--Do you just want to punch people who hear you're going through chemo and then tell you you would look good bald?
You look good for someone who has all kinds of toxic chemicals floating around in your body. When the hair goes, just remember, hats can be lots of fun. Plus, it is really true what they say about losing all the heat though your head. Glad we are heading into spring.
To Christine:
I don't know if she wants to punch those folks or not, but I can testify that Jody looks fabulous bald. And I have the old pix to prove it! I'll see if I can find them and get them posted...
To Anonymous:
No kidding on the spring thing. Last time around, she had to deal with this in July and August. Imagine constantly wearing hats in the middle of summer. Ick.
You look darling with or without hair.... Chin up my dear Jody. You are inspiring.
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