Susan Beausang's Blog (134)

For the second time since first losing my hair over a decade ago, I have hair.  Not a lot of hair, not long hair, not normally textured hair, but hair.  What I mean is that the total area of my head with hair growth is greater than the total area without hair.  I’m still losing hair, not all over all-at-once, but in roving bald spots.  So I have to be creative, moving…

I’ve been a fan of the Bald Barbie idea since I first heard about it.  I followed the debate that grew out of it and initially kept my voice of support to myself as I understand the voices of support and dissent.  Prior to knowing much of anything about the movement, I assumed the person behind Bald Barbie was…

As an Alopecian, the hardest part of hair loss for me is that I am assumed to be sick, or more specifically, to have cancer.  Not only don’t I have cancer, but beyond my immune system’s assault on my hair follicles, I am absolutely healthy.  Bummer?  Yes, but life goes on and I choose to move on with it.

A couple of years ago, I…

I might be in the minority, but I am okay with Facebook’s decision to censor The Scar Project’s photos of topless women exposing the scars they’ve accumulated in their battles with breast cancer.  Here’s why:

1) Just because I have mastectomy…

If I told you there was an online “hair loss support” site dedicated to supporting those of us (men, women, and children) with hair loss, maybe you’d think, “That’s great!”

If I told you that among the topics covered there was “What Your Hairstyle Says About You,” and that under that topic, we are told exactly which hairstyles we need to don in order to communicate that we…

Sounds like Bald Barbie is in the works and she’ll have company.  MGA’s Bratz and Moxie Girlz are losing their locs as well in solidarity with Bald Barbie and all the doll-loving young girls out there coming to terms with hair loss.  One small step for bald girl-kind.  Top her off with a beaubeau® and we’re talking one giant step for Bald Barbie fashion.…

More and more studies are telling us that breast cancer screens lead to unnecessary treatment.  I think it all boils down to your focal point, population vs. individual.  Medical recommendations based upon population-level outcomes differ from those based upon individual outcomes.  The numbers tell us that the…

Not so fast Myriad Genetics.  Back to court with you so the judicial system can reconsider the decision to uphold your patents on OUR BRCA genes.  Good news for we BRCA mutation carriers, bad news for you.  Or is it?

Myriad’s stock rose 56 cents on Monday, following the Supreme Court ruling that their right to patent our genes needs to be…

I’ve wasted so much time wishing my hair would grow back.  I’m done with it.  I don’t even want it to grow back because it just falls out again and I have to ride the same old roller coaster.  So I have a new wish.  Here it is: I wish I had male pattern baldness.

No, it’s not because I’d prefer to be a bald man.  Male pattern baldness (also known…

I want hair.  I so want hair.  I want it to grow thick and long and luscious and to never stop growing.

Careful what I wish for.  While I so miss a normal head of hair, I’ve never mourned the loss of the hair on my legs and armpits.  The loss of eyebrows and eyelashes is the icing on the alopecia cake, but there is an upside down version of this hair loss cake that would be equally…

Alopecia made the list!  Of “My Extreme Afflictions” that is.  It’s a series on ABC’s news show, 20/20, in which they are covering some truly bizarre health inflictions.  It was emotionally difficult to watch the alopecia segment, but as it was sandwiched between Extreme Hoarders and children suffering from…

What does a woman do when she wakes up and discovers half of her eyebrow missing?  No, it was not one of those college pranks in which mischievous things happen while sleeping.  This is alopecia rearing it’s ugly head again.  My 11-year battle with this disease has provided tears, joy, disappointment, embarrassment, resignation, strength, growth, wisdom and…

Cancer stuns us, often to the point it is hard to think straight, hard to turn off the thoughts, and especially hard to organize our thoughts (especially once the chemo fog rolls in).  Suddenly, we are thrust into the life of a cancer patient - facing tests, appointments, treatment, so much that is new to us, and all at once.  Last year, I was at my mother’s side at every step…

The dust has settled ever so slightly on the Komen-Planned Parenthood eruption.  It seems everyone and their cousin has weighed in on the issue.  Meanwhile, I’ve listened.  My overall perception and opinion of Komen hasn’t changed at all, but I think the depth of my understanding of has.

According to Karen Handel, the emails that Komen was getting in…

Screening Saves Lives.  We’re bombarded with the message.  Colon cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, bowel cancer, cervical cancer, you name it cancer, heart tests, blood cholesterol tests, on and on… so long as we screen we catch it early and we survive.  For better or worse, that is the message seared into my cells.

With so much cancer in our…

(The following is a 4women guest blog from Liz Belilovskaya, of I Had Cancer.)

When you or someone you love is diagnosed with cancer, your natural reaction may be to want to find out as much as possible about the disease, from available treatment options, to likely side effects, to the day-to-day…

How many surrendered body parts does it take to truly cheat cancer by BRCA mutation?  4 and counting….

A majority of women who test positive for a BRCA mutation view prophylactic mastectomy as the most effective strategy for reducing breast cancer risk.  Take out the ovaries too and we…

Who would’ve thought Barbie could rise to the pinnacle of cancer politics?  And still climbing.  In a country in which approximately 12,400 children are diagnosed with cancer each year (and the number keeps climbing), I can see why the topic of childhood cancer could and would touch on raw emotions.  It’s taken me…

Could hair tests someday provide a viable alternative to mammograms?  An Australian research consortium is exploring the possibility after discovering that hair from women with breast cancer had a different cell structure to hair from women without the disease.

The technology being tested is a…