When I first detected that my hair was falling out, I decided to go for "all or nothing". My doctor had correctly predicted when the fall out would begin so I was not surprised. I can't say that I was happy about it, but I had a plan. I was determined to shave my hair off before it came out in huge clumps and left me looking like a half-plucked chicken.

I had been sporting a short hairstyle for several weeks so that my family, friends, clients and I could get used to the new look. I had decided to embrace this drastic change since I would have no power to stop it!

When the going gets tough, the tough have a party.

I called in three of my very close girlfriends for the event. They came armed with cameras and a will to help me in whatever way I deemed possible. After a nice dinner we got right to the goal of the evening.

I put a sheet down on my bed and onto the floor in front of me. I sat on the edge of bed while my brave friends began. With one on each side, and scissors in hand, they started to cut off my hair. It was harder than we expected. We didn’t use the best scissors and that made it even trickier. We were all nervous at first but we just kept talking ourselves through it. 

My friends kept cutting away until we thought it was time to shave the rest. We all trundled into the bathroom and realized we needed to continue with the scissors to get it as short as possible. We tried an electric razor and found we hadn’t cut the hair short enough for the razor to be effective. We had to bring in the heavy artillery: my husband's razor! It took guts and lots of new blades (it helps to change them often) but we eventually got it all off.

I was grateful and relieved to find that I had a well-shaped head, for which I immediately thanked my parents. My chick friends were grateful that I was taking it all so well. I decided to leave a Mohawk on the top so my husband Tobin could be part of the process.  Some husbands might not be interested but mine enjoys being included, don’t push.