Judy's 60th Birthday

My alopecia journey began when I was 24 although I did not know it at the time. I went to my hairdresser and asked her to cut my hair very short and spiky. She told me that she wouldn’t be able to cut it too short because of my bald spot to which I replied “What bald spot?’ She proceeded to give me a mirror and to my surprise, I saw a 15mm bald patch on the back of my scalp. Over the next couple of months, the hair grew back and I didn’t think about it again.

At the same time, my mother was in hospital having a major operation and contracted a golden staff infection. She was transferred into isolation and remained in hospital for over 6 months on various types of medication. Upon her release from hospital, her hair started to fall out and within a couple of months it was all gone, including her eyebrows, eyelashes and all body hair. We were told it was alopecia universalis and that it more than likely was caused from the stress and medications she had been taking and that there was nothing that could be done to re-grow her hair.

Over the next couple of decades, my “bald patch” would come and go but I never even thought to link it to Mum’s alopecia. I was 48 when I lost all my hair. Just prior to Christmas I found another bald patch and by the end of February all my hair was gone. It was falling out in clumps, on my pillow, in the shower and I was afraid to brush it because I ended up with more in the brush than on my head. I went to work with a scarf on to try and hide the fact and a couple of young girls made some rude remarks about it so I went into the city and bought my first wig, I wasn’t happy with the style but the lady that sold it to me assured me it suited.

I tried a number of different treatments stopping short of injections, I had been doing a bit of research and had drawn my own conclusion that it was not curable and that I would probably never re-grow my hair either. It was at this point that I started to wonder if it was hereditary and worried if my own daughter would also be a sufferer.

I really missed my eyebrows and eyelashes much more than I missed my hair, it's easy to put a wig on but it was much harder for me to do my eyebrows and lashes. 

Telling people about my condition was hard at first as I really didn’t want them to know I was bald, but when you wear a wig, it’s hard to do some of the things you used to do, like swimming, running and even going out on a windy day.

One of the highlights of my journey has been being involved in a project to raise public awareness and acceptance of alopecia. The project was called The Turning Heads Art Crown Project and was the idea of Helen Beasley from Rainbow Face Painting and Body Art in collaboration with Lina Hayes -a local photographer.  Helen was inspired by the very moving portraits of Canadian henna artist and photographer Frances Rhodes Darwin, to embark on an art project capturing empowering and positive images of women suffering hair loss.

My husband has been very supportive throughout my journey and he loves me just the way I am. At first, I found it hard to believe that he could still love me looking the way I do, but his reassurances sank in and I also began to love myself again.

I decided to get involved supporting others with the condition and in January 2014 I took on the position of Branch Manager in Queensland for the Australian Alopecia Areata Foundation.  I enjoy being able to help those with the condition learn to believe that they can still achieve whatever they set their mind too. Alopecia does not prevent us from leading a normal healthy life.

I now look at all the positives that Alopecia has given me - No more waxing, no more shaving my legs, no more hairdressers and I save heaps of money every year. Having the latest hair style can make you feel pretty but you don't need hair to be beautiful, as a friend once told me, that comes from within.