Tamara’s Hair Loss Journey

My name is Tamara and this is my hair loss journey with being diagnosed with Alopecia Areata. 

First off a little background. I have loved my hair since I was a little girl. I would cut and dye my hair all kinds of colors of the rainbow and I loved being a different version of myself each time. My hair did end up being a huge part of my identity. “What color is she going to be when I see her next?” was a common question. 

One year ago during quarantine, I noticed a rather large (it was small in comparison) bald spot. I went to my PCP who recommended some blood work. She was a new PCP and when she got my results all she could see was my anemia. Which IS a part of hair loss, but my anemia has been chronic since a blood transfusion at a young age. Meanwhile, while we were so focused on my blood work, I was losing a lot more hair.

I had my first dermatologist appointment in October of 2020. She quickly diagnosed me with Alopecia Areata (AA) Unfortunately, Reno isn’t equipped with hair specialists and my dermatologist wasn’t real sure how to handle this. By this point it was rather large and spreading. She gave me kenalog shots and steroid shots and actually what she was doing was actually growing hair, so in January... both her and I really thought my flair up was I was in remission.

Flash forward to present moment, I have not only lost all of my progression hair, I’ve lost so much of my original hair that I’m mere moments away from shaving my head. 

Obviously throughout this whole thing I was looking at wigs but never felt comfortable in this idea of not loving myself enough to accept whatever happens. Wigs are also +$1,500 for human hair/realistic wigs. Which is INSANE. And I’ve never in my life (with my debt and life situation) could I ever just spend that kind of money unless I was completely bald... 

Which brings us to.. today. For sanities sake, my therapist and my boyfriend would like me to get a wig in case I lose my head (lol just my hair and my self esteem) when I shave my head. And I’m not sure my therapist or my family could handle me if I do. 

So here is where I ask for your help. I am not someone who would normally do this, I wasn't going to get a GoFundMe. I would have rather offered something to repay everyone but working retail full time has been hard to do anything . A few people asked if I could set one up so they could donate. So here we are.  If you want to, I appreciate you just reading this. If not, I getit. Thank you for taking the time to read a bit of my journey.