Some Rights Reserved
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons
Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0
United States License.
Life Through Lipstick Lenses: Siren- A red hot, bold and beautiful color
I wish I were a Chia pet sometimes, with a little water, my hair will grow. What is it with women and their hair? I have a friend with Crohn’s disease who, whenever she has a flair, has to be on high dose steroids among other things which in turn, makes her lose her hair in clumps. Being sans-thyroid, I rely on my thyroid medication to keep all my hormones in check. Well, that doesn’t always work, as you know. After the trauma of my three surgeries, RAI, and external beam radiation, I went through MANY periods of thinning hair. Now, whenever, my hormones are not correctly balanced by my Synthroid, it’s the same thing. Hair falls out, I’m gaining weight, and essentially, I’m an emotional wreck who can’t focus or finish a thought. Of all these ‘side effects’, my friend and I talk about our hair loss the most. For men, baldness is fine, sexy in fact. They catch all the breaks from getting older; as they get older, they look better. As women, a little hair loss and wrinkles are also natural as we get older, throw in any type of illness or trauma, and forget it. I have tried all kinds of shampoos, bodifying products, etc. The bottom line is that when your hair thins, there’s no hiding it and seriously, when it does decide to grow, why is it on my chin? For the past few months I watched American Idol. Sure the talent this year was amazing but what was I looking at? J. Lo’s amazing mane which she whipped around, constantly taunting me. Now I know she’s probably got some hair in there that’s not truly hers, but WOW, I couldn’t help but stare and be envious!
Here’s what I know, hair does not make a person who she is on the inside. On the inside, I know I’m a warrior; a fighter who for now has finally defeated cancer; a woman who fights to conquer fatigue and fogginess when her thyroid meds are off. I am stronger because of my history and what I’ve accomplished so far. I am a dreamer who dreams big, with or without hair. I have a scar on my neck, which after three surgeries has decided to darken and never leave me; it is a battle wound that I wear proudly to show the world I’ve won. So yes, I would love to have long, thick, beautiful hair, but I don’t think I would trade my past experiences, which have showed me inner strength I never knew I had.
Today I wear my siren lipstick. It is bright and bold and full of life which is exactly how I want to be.
Written by, Anna Warner
Tags: coping with hair loss side effects, learning to accept yourself as a cancer survivor, learning to live with the new you post cancer, thinning hair, thyroid cancer, thyroid cancer column by Anna Warner, thyroid cancer hair loss
Follow Dear Thyroid on Twitter/@DearThyroid | See our Facebook Page | Become a Fan on Facebook | Join our Facebook Group
You Can Create a Dear Thyroid Profile and share with friends!
Reader Feedback
10 Responses to “Life Through Lipstick Lenses: Siren- A red hot, bold and beautiful color”
Leave a Reply
Comments are moderated in an effort to control spam. If you have a previously approved Comment, this one should go right through. Thanks for your patience!
Beautiful! Lovely! Amazing! Thank you for sharing your story and your truth.
so much love!
xo
Melissa
Thank you so much Melissa! Happy to share, thankful for the encouragement and support!
What a great story!! You have taught me more than you will ever know, you are amazing!
Jen,
You’ve lived it with me! So thankful for our friendship!
Beautiful and well-written, Anna! I didn’t have cancer, but did have to have my thyroid removed due to several rather large and growing goiters. So, I know how it is to depend on a little pill that, unfortunately, usually is not enough. You’re right- self-esteem is often so low it is a struggle to function and, when you do, you never feel like it (or yourself!) is good enough. Here’s a hug- take care! 🙂
Linda,
Hugs to you!! Such a bummer that our bodies keep changing but the dose of the pill stays the same..of course it’s going to be off sometimes! It’s a constant game we must play…such is life!
xoxo
Anna
Well said! My hair was so thick my hairdresser used to run screaming from me! Always like cutting 3 people’s hair, she’d say. I went back not long ago and she asked me what the heck had happened to my glorious mane of chestnut locks? I pointed to my scar and explained. She offered ‘volumising shampoo’ I had to laugh! If only it were as simple as that, hey?
I hear you on the fact it is not who we are with our hair, but I sure do miss the comments about my hair. Bugger having thyroid diseses!
Ria,
Darn, I was hoping you tried that shampoo and it was a miracle! Oh well. Yes, I too miss having the thick hair that I would need a larger ponytail holder to control. Now, I don’t even do ponytails for fear of pulling out any unnecessary hair strands. For now, I’ll keep wearing my red Siren lipstick to distract from what’s not on my head!
Hugs,
Anna
I have what I believe to be hashimoto’s (never had a blood test but it’s the only explanation for my hypothyroidism). I use herbal essences’ long term relationship shampoo and conditioner. I don’t know how much thicker my hair looks since using it, but I can definitely tell when I use a different product: my hair falls out in even bigger clumps than usual! I like to think that’s a sign that it works 🙂 I would highly recommend trying it (the fact that it’s cheap and smells fantastic doesn’t hurt either!)
Thank you, thank you!!! I will definitely give that a try, I love the fact that the product is also on the less expensive side!