It has occurred to me on many occasions that when a client is having a battle with their health, the last thing they need to worry about is their hair. On the other hand they don’t want to bother their consultant with questions about their hair when the consultant is talking about their serious medical condition.
Mary came in with her husband having been recommended by several other patients at the hospital where she was having treatment. She was extremely anxious and agitated due to not really knowing enough about her situation and although it was early in her treatment, she had already begun to lose her hair. I explained to her how chemotherapy affects the hair and how the effect is not the same for everyone. Because women react differently to treatment it doesn’t necessarily follow that your hair will fall out completely for example. My recommendation for all clients is not to be brutal and shave your hair off, but have a cropped ‘urchin’ style instead. As with a lot of women in their 60’s Mary had her hair cut and styled in a certain way and she had a very firm idea as to the colour of her hair as well. Her husband was very supportive but was reluctant to make any definite decisions on wig choice. However in all honesty, like most people in their situation, they had so much going on in their lives that it was hard to ‘see the wood for the trees’.