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Chemo Caps

Isn't she lovely? This mannequin is sporting a chemo cap to hide her hair loss. Luckily she still has her luscious eyebrows and eyelashes. Her makeup adds much to the look. :D Truth be told, most women wearing such a cap have lost not only the hair on their heads, but also the hair all over their bodies--eyebrows and eyelashes included. Some women wear falsies; some sketch on brows. (I have done the latter a couple of times.)

In this post I will talk about chemo headwear, and even though I am on medical leave because of my chemotherapy, I am having a day where I feel like a professor. I ordered textbooks for my spring classes, sent a few emails, and plan to read some scholarship today for an article I am trying to write. It's a good day because I'm not having chemo this week (due to unforeseen complications with chemo drugs and insurance). It's a good day because I won't be poked. I won't be injected. I won't have side effects. I can do whatever the heck I want today.

One of the things I want to do is show you some pictures of my chemo headwear. I also want to show you some of the silly headwear out there that I will NEVER be wearing.

Here's the one I am wearing as I type this blog; it's similar to the pic above:

Here are a few looks that are...not for me. Feel free to laugh.

First up, the soft cap visor look. This cap has a hard visor with soft cap and extra fabric hanging down the neck. It screams, I'm so old and I love to play tennis! I belong to a country club!

Then there's the turban look. As you can see from the first, it's like a 1940s movie diva in her dressing room. From the second, Aladdin. The third says, gosh, I'm so cute with my big ass bow.

Then there's this: let's just put some fabric on the side.

And this: I don't know what the heck it is.

Finally, there's the look my mom wore a few times: the denim hat.

Nope, nope, nope.

I have to admit that some of my chemo headwear is not exactly stylish. I have a couple of buffs that fit tight on the head and then have extra fabric that has no place to go. I have an off-white night cap that I would never leave the house wearing. My chemo cap sometimes accentuates my very round head. But I also have some bandanas that I really like and a cap that feels like a regular hat and not a chemo hat.

Take a look.

Here is my bandana collection. I actually found the animal print ones at Michaels for 75 cents each!

Here is a pic of the (in)famous gold bandini and the pink, polka-dotted buff. In the foreground, that's a Coach scarf my mom gave me years ago. To the right are brushed cotton caps someone made and donated to the Dempsey cancer center.

Finally, here's my favorite cap, which was given to me by one of Adam's co-workers. It's a really soft jersey knit. I can wear it all kinds of ways and not feel like I look like a cancer patient.

So now you know what materials I have been wearing on my head. Maybe in another post I'll write about the two wigs I got.


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