No, not angel hair pasta, nor hair of the dog. This blog is not about food. It’s about hair, or rather, losing it.

Most of us take our hair for granted, with our problems confined to “should I wash it today or could I get another day out of it?” A luxury really, to have the choice of whether to wash your hair or not.

Full or partial hair loss can occur as the result of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery or conditions such as alopecia. What does it feel like to lose some, or all of your hair?

“Horrible. I hated the fact that I always had to have a hat on when I went out in public. Radiotherapy meant that big clumps would fall out, that was horrible. So was having to have parts of it shaved for surgery. It takes so long to grow back, and you know, it doesn’t grow back the same. I loved my hair. Losing it is like losing a part of your previous self.”

I am incredibly lucky to have a full head of healthy hair. Hair that has never been dyed. I have been growing it for the last 18 months, ready for the chop. Yesterday was the day. My lovely hairdresser cut off 30cm of my hair. We tied it at both ends, put it in a sandwich bag to be donated to make wigs. My hair has made me very happy. I really hope it makes someone else happy too, and it was such a small thing to do.

It is more difficult these days to donate your hair. But the charity Variety still accept hair donations.

http://www.variety.org.au/