{"id":82,"date":"2012-10-15T01:00:55","date_gmt":"2012-10-15T01:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=82"},"modified":"2012-10-05T21:45:20","modified_gmt":"2012-10-05T21:45:20","slug":"a-good-bad-hair-day-for-all-those-sisters-living-with-hair-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2012\/10\/a-good-bad-hair-day-for-all-those-sisters-living-with-hair-loss.html","title":{"rendered":"A Good Bad Hair Day – For All Those Sisters Living with Hair Loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bible passages about the beauty and symbolic strength of human hair abound – and became rather difficult for me to read around the time that I began to develop full-blown lupus. One of\u00a0the first symptoms indicating something was seriously wrong was that I lost my hair. Not in wisps and a few strands. In clumps and patches. One moment, I’d be twirling a long strand of blond curls. The next, there’d be a fistful of hair in my hand and a smooth, round patch of scalp showing on my head. This condition, I later learned, was alopecia areata (now, for me, alopecia universalis), and sometimes, tho not always, went along with lupus.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The process of losing all of my hair took almost a year, but about midway through that time, I could no longer rely on the desperate “comb-over.” I had to find a wig. That took awhile, too, and trial and error and brought up a raft of questions:<\/p>\n

\u00a0What color? What style? What length? How\u00a0should I\u00a0take care of a wig? How\u00a0long would it take me to\u00a0get used to wearing one? And, moreover, how\u00a0should I\u00a0respond to people saying, “Oh, your hair looks great?” when, in fact, I no longer had hair?<\/p>\n

Gradually, the answers presented themselves. I opted for color close to my former shade and then ventured out to other colors (red! auburn!) I tried short and long lengths, and a couple of different styles (thankfully, with manmade wigs, the styles held even after washing – no more curling or blowdrying, no more gels or creams or sprays!)\u00a0 To help myself become more agreeable to wearing wigs (they did feel like furry foreign objects at first), I started calling them my “pelts,” and stored them on styrofoam, expressionless heads.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>And then came the revelation. There was something absolutely wonderful about wearing wigs, something I’d never expected.<\/p>\n

When you wear a wig, you never have a bad hair day!<\/p>\n

I’m sure I’m not the first to come to this realization, but as the experience of being bald is new to each woman who goes through the process, it does bear repeating.<\/p>\n

In a wig, no matter how you feel inside, no matter how dire your physical challenges – you will never have a bad hair day!<\/p>\n

What’s more, you’ll have the uplifting experience of people\u00a0telling you your hair looks great, that you<\/em> look good, and you can believe they’re not just saying that to be nice, but rather they’re saying it because it’s true. Your “hair” does look good – each time you don the wig.<\/p>\n

Gives me more confidence just thinking about it!<\/p>\n

There are more challenges to being bald besides the trauma of losing one’s hair. Wigs get very hot in the summertime. Heads get very cold in the wintertime (yes, my bald brothers, I now ‘get it!’). And, emotionally, there are moments…each time I look in the mirror without my wig, I see, once again, the external evidence of the autoimmune process that’s affecting me internally, too.<\/p>\n

But, these can be handled, with head coverings (scarves, caps, hats in the winter and lighter, shorter wigs in the summer), and prayers of thanks for the life and the strength that God gives.<\/p>\n

After years living with lupus, I’ve learned that there are much more serious afflictions than losing one’s hair. Difficult tho it is, there are positives. And, above all, there’s the opportunity to be grateful – for life, for one more day…for a good <\/em>day…with no bad hair!<\/p>\n

Blessings for the day,<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bible passages about the beauty and symbolic strength of human hair abound – and became rather difficult for me to read around the time that I began to develop full-blown lupus. One of\u00a0the first symptoms indicating something was seriously wrong was that I lost my hair. Not in wisps and a few strands. In clumps…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,43],"tags":[74,73,81,82,75,76,80,79,78,72,18,77],"class_list":["post-82","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-encouragement-in-life","tag-alopecia-areata","tag-alopecia-totalis","tag-autoimmune-disease","tag-autoimmune-illness","tag-bald","tag-baldness","tag-breast-cancer","tag-cancer","tag-frustration","tag-hair-loss","tag-lupus","tag-wigs"],"yoast_head":"\nA Good Bad Hair Day - For All Those Sisters Living with Hair Loss - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Good Bad Hair Day - For All Those Sisters Living with Hair Loss - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bible passages about the beauty and symbolic strength of human hair abound – and became rather difficult for me to read around the time that I began to develop full-blown lupus. One of\u00a0the first symptoms indicating something was seriously wrong was that I lost my hair. Not in wisps and a few strands. In clumps…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2012\/10\/a-good-bad-hair-day-for-all-those-sisters-living-with-hair-loss.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-10-15T01:00:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-10-05T21:45:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2012\/10\/Maureen-Pratt-cropped-picture.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mpratt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Good Bad Hair Day - For All Those Sisters Living with Hair Loss - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Good Bad Hair Day - For All Those Sisters Living with Hair Loss - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","og_description":"Bible passages about the beauty and symbolic strength of human hair abound – and became rather difficult for me to read around the time that I began to develop full-blown lupus. One of\u00a0the first symptoms indicating something was seriously wrong was that I lost my hair. Not in wisps and a few strands. In clumps…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2012\/10\/a-good-bad-hair-day-for-all-those-sisters-living-with-hair-loss.html","og_site_name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","article_published_time":"2012-10-15T01:00:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-10-05T21:45:20+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2012\/10\/Maureen-Pratt-cropped-picture.jpg"}],"author":"mpratt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2012\/10\/a-good-bad-hair-day-for-all-those-sisters-living-with-hair-loss.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2012\/10\/a-good-bad-hair-day-for-all-those-sisters-living-with-hair-loss.html","name":"A Good Bad Hair Day - For All Those Sisters Living with Hair Loss - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2012\/10\/a-good-bad-hair-day-for-all-those-sisters-living-with-hair-loss.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2012\/10\/a-good-bad-hair-day-for-all-those-sisters-living-with-hair-loss.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2012\/10\/Maureen-Pratt-cropped-picture.jpg","datePublished":"2012-10-15T01:00:55+00:00","dateModified":"2012-10-05T21:45:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2012\/10\/a-good-bad-hair-day-for-all-those-sisters-living-with-hair-loss.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2012\/10\/a-good-bad-hair-day-for-all-those-sisters-living-with-hair-loss.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2012\/10\/a-good-bad-hair-day-for-all-those-sisters-living-with-hair-loss.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2012\/10\/Maureen-Pratt-cropped-picture.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2012\/10\/Maureen-Pratt-cropped-picture.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2012\/10\/a-good-bad-hair-day-for-all-those-sisters-living-with-hair-loss.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Good Bad Hair Day – For All Those Sisters Living with Hair Loss"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/","name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","description":"Beliefnet Voices","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32","name":"mpratt","description":"Several years ago, Maureen Pratt earned her Master of Fine Arts in Theater Arts\/Playwriting from UCLA's School of Theater, FIlm and Television. She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82\/revisions\/92"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}