I have a “beautifully shaped head.” I have this on very good authority — my mom (who, I have to acknowledge, is most likely biased, since she had a hand in creating that head), my stylist, and a few of my quilting buddies have all told me that my bald head is a lovely shape.

I’m not quite ready to debut that bald head, although it has made a few public appearances in recent weeks. But once the warm weather arrives…well, lookout South Carolina! In the meantime, I’m wearing a variety of hats to keep warm and to maintain a bit of mystery.

I wasn’t going to get a wig. It’s just too bloody hot in SC in the summer to walk around with something like that on your head. But after I landed a client right around the time of my cancer diagnosis, a client who used videochats rather than traditional conference calls to communicate, I reconsidered that decision.

Here’s some things I learned about wigs:

1. My insurance doesn’t cover them. Of course.
2. There are wigs made from human hair and wigs made from synthetic hair.
3. Human hair wigs can be styled, colored, curled, etc. They also run around $500.
4. Synthetic wigs are pre-styled and can be trimmed, but can NOT be exposed to heat…like when you open the oven. These wigs generally cost $50 – $150.

If you aren’t real particular, you can get a free wig at your local American Cancer Society office. These are donated by wig makers and local wig shops and are brand-new, quality, synthetic wigs. There isn’t much variety in color, style, etc., but hey, they are free. And the lady at the ACS office in Greenville could not have been nicer when we stopped in to pick one up.

One more thing about my head: While it may be beautifully shaped, it’s also HUGE. Not former Redskins OL great (and should-be-in-the-Hall-of-Fame-already!) Joe Jacoby huge, but larger than average. I learned this when I had to try on about six wigs before I got one that would actually sit on my head. Oh, and they gave me this little stocking cap to put on first (like those nylon “footies” they give you in shoe stores), but it kept popping off my huge head.

But despite all that, I was able to find a wig at the ACS office that both fit my gigantic cranium AND kinda looked nice, color-wise. One problem: I have NO idea what that cut was supposed to be, but when I put it on, I looked like Cousin It from the Addams Family:

Once again, my wonderful stylist Erica came to the rescue.  She was able to fit me in late last week and after consulting with me for a few minutes, picked up her magic scissors and started snipping away. Twenty or so minutes later (and after several applications of heavy-duty hairspray), I was ready for my close-up:

It looks pretty natural, and I think I’ll be able to pull it off when I wear it out in public. Plus, it was free. Bonus.

You know, when I first started losing my hair a month ago, I thought it was going to be a lot more traumatic than this. But several weeks have passed, I’m a lot more comfortable with my new appearance, and I can see some advantages to being bald.

For example, it takes me one-third the amount of time to shower and dress than when I had to worry about shampooing, conditioning, blow-drying, straightening, moussing and styling. I don’t worry about humidity making me look like Chaka Khan. And I’m saving a ton of money on hair products.

I guess this is just one more thing about cancer that seems a lot scarier when you don’t know what to expect. From this point on, I know that what little hair I have will continue to fall out…and about six months from now, I’ll start seeing new hair sprout from my scalp.

And that will be one more reason to celebrate the end of this journey.