From: Jessica Alvarez <jalvarez24@...>
Subject: Re: [Alopecia Areata Support Group] The Irony
To: alopeciaareatasupportgroup@yahoogroups.com
Date: Monday, June 1, 2009, 7:31 PM

Do you ever worry that even though it looks like you have a full head of hair, that in reality the person standing behind you can see your hair loss despite the lengths you go to hide it? Or do you fear the day when you get that "gust of wind" that will out you?  I can get so paranoid with this and so sick and tired of it that I just want to come clean (which I have decided to by the way).  It sucks being a girl sometimes because other girls see that I have long hair and they want to play with it or suggest different styles and then get put off when I don't let them touch my hair.

On Fri, May 29, 2009 at 1:12 AM, richard mckenna <richardjmckenna@ yahoo.com> wrote:

in the same boat,  i am a guy and i shave one eye brow to match the other to appear less noticeable. also  i feel like i have to much hair to fit in with you guys,ffom a distance i appear to have a full head of hair until the wind blows. --- On Thu, 5/28/09, jessica_xa5628 <jalvarez24@horizon. csueastbay. edu> wrote: From: jessica_xa5628 <jalvarez24@horizon. csueastbay. edu> Subject: [Alopecia Areata Support Group] The Irony To: alopeciaareatasuppo rtgroup@yahoogro ups.com Date: Thursday, May 28, 2009, 4:53 PM Hey Everyone! This is just another case of me talking about something that is on my mind that it seems only people in this group can understand. *Disclaimer: This is kind of a rant/ self pity thing and I know that I don't have it as bad as others and usually I don't make a big deal out of this, but today I just felt like venting. I mean no disrespect. So the subject of this message is "The Irony." There is a really simple explanation to this: I think its ironic how women (and some men) go through this daily routine of REMOVING HAIR... or at least I do. I've had alopecia Areata for 21 years now; meaning my whole life. It's ironic to me that I continue to go through these beauty rituals such as shaving my legs and underarms, and tweezing/ waxing the hair on my face. It's so tedious! Sometimes I wish the hair would stop growing on my legs and underarms and grow on my head instead. So many times I get so annoyed with having alopecia. For example, since I am on the subject of shaving, tweezing, etc., having alopecia areata is the reason I began shaving my legs in the first place! I was 11 years old and I heard some girls talking about me behind my back! Literally! They were walking behind me and I heard them talking about my legs saying things like how I messed up shaving my legs and why did I even bother doing such a poor job and laughing about it. In reality I had never shaved before but because of of AA I had a few bare spots on my legs which were really noticable since I am mexican with dark brown hair and fair skin. That night I stole my dad's razor and made my first attempt to shave my legs. My older sister wasn't even shaving yet and I was too ashamed (and too shy) to talk to my mom about it. Well that is the main thing on my mind. This came up because I decided to try to get rid of my "peach fuzz" on my upper lip. My older sister who is a cosmotologist is constantly begging me to let her wax my lip which I hate because its so painful! But I decided to try this Nair face cream on a whim and asides from a little tingling it worked really well and this made me think of the irony of deliberate hair removal for a person with unavoidable hair loss at the same time. Have a nice day/night! If you actually read through this I congratulate you because I know listening to other people rant can be annoying so thank you for putting up with me! -Jessica