“Chemo hats for women.”

I never thought I’d be typing that into a search box.

A friend who went through chemo for breast cancer had great advice. She told me I need to make plans for when I’m going to lose my hair before I lose it. If I want a wig, it’s easier to get one while I have my natural hair so I can find the best match.

However, I haven’t really heard many positive things about wigs. The real hair version is expensive. Some places have free wigs for chemo patients, but the old adage might be true – you get what you pay for.

I would imagine wigs are also itchy and hot. It would be fun to try out different hairstyles and colors. Maybe I’ll go at least once to a local place. I definitely want at least one wig for fun – maybe in pink or blue?

My friend warned me that if I wear a hat or scarf, it will look different because the shape of your head without hair isn’t the same. Aaron actually pointed out the other day that my cochlear implant scar will be visible. We’ve never seen it fully healed!

Apparently there are accessories like shapers (to give the head more shape under scarves) and cap liners (to help the coverings stay on).

She pointed me towards a cool site called Wrapunzel (love the name!), which is a community that celebrates the art of hair coverings. They specialize in hair wrapping and have tutorials. The look with a shaper is cool but looks heavy!

There’s also another issue when it comes to hair loss. As my friend said, “You have no idea how cold your head gets without hair. It’s not all beauty…it truly keeps you warm.” Ok, sleep caps, check.

So now I’m compiling a list of possible head coverings from Wrapunzel, “tlc” from the American Cancer Society, and Google searches. Then I’ll try to narrow it down and try a bunch. Thankfully tlc has a generous return policy. I’m hoping I can find options that are comfortable with my CI.

When I’m done with treatment, many people have told me that if anything, my hair will come back curlier! And it should start growing within two weeks of completing chemo.

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