Dealing with Alopecia Areata

I'm about to go out to work and while getting things ready, again, I spent a lot of time fixing my hair... well, some of it... I have been dealing with excessive hair loss since I was 17. A close friend of mine noticed that my hair looks weirdly thin at the top of my head, where my "puyo" is in english i think it's "cow lick". I ignored the comment thinking it's just one of my bad hair days. One morning I felt a smooth portion on my head while I was combing it, then alas! There was a bald spot the size of a 5 peso coin on my head,

(Picture courtesy of Google.com)

as days pass by that 5 peso coin multiplied and made a lot of spaces on my head making my hair extremely thin. Everyone in my family was alarmed and thought that I might be sick or cursed being the only one who have this hair issue. My grandmother who is very religious thought that I wasn't praying that much and that I might have hurt something that cannot be seen so we sought the help of people with special abilities. One of them said that I was punished by a dwarf that I have hurt with a shampoo sachet that I have thrown out of the house where I was staying at that time. So we made some offering in accordance to what the dwarf would like just to stop him from pulling out my hair. Another said that a dwarf wanted to play with me and he teases me by pulling my hair out. My mom who's a nurse dealt with the situation in a more scientific way, she brought me to the hospital just to make sure nothing's wrong with my body. They took a sample of my blood, urine, etc., to test for any diseases that would cause my excessive hair loss. Luckily, everything was normal. My hair keeps on falling and I was beginning to feel more depressed and self conscious. I began to pity my self, and question God why would such a thing happen to me. I would wake up 3 hours before my class so I have time to fix my hair trying to cover the bald spots until it reached the point when I can no longer cover my them and opt to wear a cap or even not go to school because I cannot fix my hair. It was so depressing and frustrating. I felt like it was the end of my teenage years. With my cap on, I would wait outside my classroom until all my classmates are in and ask my professor if its OK if I'll leave my cap on during the class and told them about my situation. Most of my professors understood and let me join the class with my cap on. Since I'm in the allied medical sciences department, I have Pathology as one of my subjects, when we reached the topic about Alopecia Areata, my General Pathology professor asked me to stand in front and show the class my head as an example I heard some whispers and some of my classmates looked at me like as if I was an alien.  That time, I felt super embarrassed and shamed but I have to oblige with tears in my eyes. My professor felt bad, he asked for an apology, at first I didn't understand why he would have to do that and disregard my feelings but for some odd reason I didn't hate him. Then I went to see a dermatologist for a consultation and she took a sample of my scalp for testing. She then told me that it was indeed alopecia areata. I have undergone a treatment plan and have to suffer painful injections to the head for some medicational shots that would stimulate my hair follicles and make my hair grow faster. That year, G.I. Jane the movie came out (1997 starring Demi Moore).

She was the only female soldier in the movie and she had her hair all shaved off, because of the movie a lot of women shaved their hair.It became popular that even Philippine celebrities shaved off all their hair which gave me the courage to do so. In a way, I felt empowered and confident. I didn't feel bad about my alopecia and went on enjoying my college years. I regained all my hair after 2 years although every now and then I will have some patches but not as much as when I was 17 years old when I lost almost 80% of my hair on my head. I graduated in college on October 2000 and my hair was completely back to normal. From having long thick hair, I only had short hair. From 2000-2005 I always had my hair cut short, I cannot grow my hair long, not even below my ears. In 2006 when I went to work in Dubai, I was able to grow my hair up to shoulder length. No bald spots not until last year mid 2012, I was back here in the Philippines and my hair is long and thick again. I was able to keep my hair up to approximately 12 inches long and as I was combing my hair after I bathed I got a lump of hair from the top of my head and so when I went to the mirror to see where it came from I was shocked to see a bald spot the size of a 5 peso coin. I thought to myself, NOT AGAIN!!! To cut the story short, Yes! I am bald again. almost half of my head from the forehead to the top of my head and back of my ears don't have hair AGAIN... I have to cut my hair very short and since I cannot go out with my head looking like this, I have to wear a wig when I go out to town and wear a cap or a scarf when I need to buy something outside our home. The only difference is that when this happened to me in 1997 I was so self conscious and felt depressed. Now I feel like I don't care that much. I will just wait for the hair to grow and don't need to hasten the process. The lesson that I've learned from this is that Don't question God for whatever is happening to you, there is a purpose to everything. I've learned to love my self and be confident of who I am. Yes, the hair is the crowning glory of a person, but it will not define who you are. What you do and how you do it will define you as a person. Not what you have physically.