Bald Confidence Isn't Free

Who doesn’t love free stuff? Free drinks, buy-one-get-one-free, free flights, free advice, and my personal favorite - FREE WIGS - worn by who knows who, for who knows how long, and under who knows what circumstances. I collect them and they make me feel so much better about being bald.

Fooled ya. I like the idea of putting a pre-owned, pre-worn, donated wig on my bare head about as much as I like the idea of wearing pre-worn socks or underwear. Wigs are hard enough to embrace, false and foreign as they are, but just imagine the wig of unknown origins and owners. Would wearing such a wig help you to feel better about losing your hair to chemotherapy? Or might it make you feel worse? With cancer robbing of us of so much, I think maintaining our dignity matters to our quality of life. Don’t you?

I can only speak for myself. I wouldn’t for even a split of a split-second judge anyone for embracing one of those generously donated wigs offered to you at your cancer care center as a better-than-nothing option. Call me biased but I am of the very strong opinion that women who lose their hair during chemotherapy both want and deserve something better than the better-than-nothing option. Free stuff is great when we’re talking yard deco, plant pots, and car racks care of craig’s list, not so great when we’re talking about head coverings for sick and emotionally devastated bald women.

If you think I’m making the obvious of obvious points here, I wish you were right. I cannot tell you the number of oncology office and cancer treatment center staff that have told me they’re not in need of information about head coverings for their female patients because they have a box of donated wigs on hand for distribution. I am so glad that someone is going to the trouble to make free wigs available to women facing chemo-induced hair loss. Someone somewhere will truly appreciate such an option. As for the rest, they need options too.

Susan Beausang, 4Women.com

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