Losing Your Hair Due To Chemo Or Other Serious Health Condition And Need A Wig? Start Here!

Hey everyone. Thank you so much for being here today. My name is denise, i'm also known as heywig sister on instagram and facebook. Today, i want to talk with you about a pretty sensitive subject, and that is uh women, who are just finding out that they have to go through chemotherapy or some sort of treatment and that they should expect to lose their hair and all of the emotions that Go along with that and what advice can i give as you're starting your search to find some alternative hair to help you through this very challenging season of life? This question comes to me at least once a week, some weeks more, i get asked a lot uh for my advice on where to purchase a wig. Do i sell wigs? Where should i get a wig and it's just so much more complicated than just giving you a referral to a retailer, and i want to talk about some of those complications. Some of those challenges in this video to help you, as you start to formulate your game plan on how you're going to attack this. What are you going to do you have so much to worry about right now, hair really should be one of the least of your worries. So let me see if i can help you along that journey, just a little bit in this video so stick around. If, if you'd like to hear my thoughts multiple times every single week, people reach out to me and ask me if i can help them or more often, a friend who was just diagnosed with cancer and they're, going to be going through chemotherapy. And they would like help finding a wig for that friend and i've been thinking a lot about all of these requests and, first of all, my heart goes out to all of you who are struggling right now with either a cancer diagnosis or some health issue. That has you preparing to lose your hair. I am sure that, right now you are overwhelmed with everything that's going on and if i can add you to my prayer list, i would be honored, please let me know either in the comments below or you can follow me on facebook instagram. I have both of those down in the description below you can message me there or you can send me an email and my email is also in the description below. But please allow me to pray for you or your friend or family member, because it is a very difficult time, but it got me thinking about these requests because, whenever somebody reaches out to me, my first instinct is: i want to help. But it's so much more complicated than just providing a resource to purchase a wig, and so it got me thinking about. Can i make a video about this that might help others who are going through a similar situation, because, in my opinion, there are certain things to consider and sort of certain steps to take. If you're dealing with this in your life or someone that you love is dealing with this and when that's the case, a video is always an excellent solution. So let me to give you some tips, some things to think about. If this is something that you're facing in your own life, that will help you focus your attention and get the most out of the time that you spend coming up with the solution for your anticipated hair loss. So the first thing, i'd like to say, is be patient with yourself or if it isn't you, if it's a friend or a family, please help them to be patient with themselves. To understand that this is a very emotional time and that's okay acknowledge that this is going to be a difficult time and there are going to be a lot of challenges that come with it. I think sometimes we're in such shock when we're first diagnosed with cancer or a serious health condition that we just go into survival mode and our adrenaline is going and we're just trying to think. Okay, either we're panicking or we're thinking. Okay, fine, i'm gon na deal with this, i'm gon na i'm just gon na do it, but, as time goes by, you start to realize all of the nuances and the facets of the struggles that are gon na come along with this. So, specifically, this video is about hair loss and i think it's going to be very important, that you acknowledge that the knowledge of your potential hair loss is going to be a roller coaster, for you and you'll have ups and downs when it comes to this. In some cases, you actually may be more concerned about your hair loss than about your cancer and that's okay. These are all normal human emotions, and i cannot tell you how many women i've spoken with, who have survived cancer and said the hair loss was the hardest part or in the beginning they were more anxious about the hair loss than they were about their treatment and They felt guilty about that, and i want to try to help you to not go through that guilty about that part, that it is okay, whatever you're feeling right now, whatever your focus is right. Now it's all okay, it's it's your journey and we cannot help sometimes what we go through when we go through an emotional journey. So for you right now, the thought of losing your hair is worse than anything. That'S, okay! You are going to come across insensitive people who don't understand that and again that's okay. Nobody is going through your particular journey, so you can't let somebody else's reaction to your journey influence. You it hurt you and that's sometimes the first thing that happens when if we share with someone that we're worried about our hair loss, we can get some really insensitive comments. People can say to us: oh it's, just hair it'll grow back or you know they may even go so far as to say that that's a pretty vain way to deal with it. I would just try to encourage you to move aside from people who are are actually going to make this harder for you for the time being, but understand that people don't always understand when people haven't experienced something. They really can't fully understand, and i think people who are at a loss for words who don't understand are insensitive, and so i want to encourage you to be um gracious, but protect yourself in any way that you can so that you can manage this journey. The best way possible hair loss is hard for women. It is devastating for women, and so just because you're dealing with cancer does not change the fact that hair loss can be devastating so acknowledge that you're going to have emotions about this they're going to be potentially very strong emotions. But i'm here to help and a lot of people are here to help so you're, not alone, and it's okay, to feel what you're feeling we're going to get through this. However, we can - and i will help any way i can, if you reach out to me outside of this video i'll, do whatever i can to help you i'll pray for you i'll talk with you i'll direct you to resources you're, not alone in this. So that's the first thing. The second thing i want to say in the in kind of the topic of being patient with yourself is enlist the help of a friend or family member, at least on the maybe the research part of your wig wearing journey. I know because i most of the time the people who reach out to me are friends and family they're, not the person who was just diagnosed with cancer, and so i know from first-hand experience. There are probably people in your life who desperately want to help you, but they don't know how please let them have them watch this video have them watch some of the other videos that i'm going to direct you to in this video and in the description to Help you understand uh kind of educate you on wigs. Have them help you do the research. Let them do some of the leg work. I'Ve got like random hair fibers blowing in my face. That'S why i keep doing this. This is a wig by the way um. You know don't feel like you have to go through this alone, you're, not alone, and people want to help. I know that a lot of people when something like this happens. You tend to go inside yourself, you you, you don't want to acknowledge that it's true and so you're minimizing it you're trying to keep some of it to yourself. It'S almost like. If i talk about it, then it's true and i don't want it to be true or you don't want to seem weak or you don't want to be vulnerable or you don't want to burden somebody. I can tell you as a person who is a helper. I feel a greater burden wanting to help in not knowing how than if you give me a job, and you tell me what i can do so give someone a job tell them what they can do and what they can do is help you do the research On the front end, they can help you do the legwork. They can help you learn, they can be a sounding board. They can be someone that you talk through both of you watch a video and then talk about it. Okay, how do we approach it now? We just learned this about wigs. What do we do next? Give someone a job, it will help you and it will help the person who loves you and just wants to help and be there for you. So that's my first kind of tip. My second is, this is more about wig wearing now. What is your goal with wig wearing think about? What are you trying to accomplish? Are you try because everybody's going to approach this a little bit differently, and you may not know fully how you want to approach this so think about the questions, i'm about to ask you and help that have that help starting help? You start formulating your game plan here, so are: is a wig going to be a one-to-one replacement for your current hair? Are you looking for something that matches your current bio hair? Color cut all of it? You don't want anybody to know that you're going through this and so you're going to try to disguise your hair loss by wearing a wig that looks just like your hair, that's very different than if you're saying gosh. You know what, if i'm going to be, losing my hair and going through this i'm going to have fun with this. I don't care i'm going to wear blonde, but i'm a brunette, i'm going to wear curly wigs. I'Ve always had straight hair. I'M going to wear different wigs, i'm just going to have fun with wigs. It is possible to have fun with wigs and since you're going through such a difficult time. I want to encourage you to think about whether or not you can use this as an opportunity to make lemonade out of lemons turn lemons into lemonade and have fun with hair. That is something a lot of us. Wig wearers who've been wearing wigs for a long time, eventually gravitate toward i'd, say a lot of the women i come across and i'm included in this group. I don't. I suffer from long-term hair loss, alopecia, not um, like cancer hair loss, but a lot of women. I talk to, they start off their journey, wanting to disguise their hair loss and have nobody know, and eventually they get to the place where they don't care. They just want to have fun. If i'm going to wear wigs every day, i'm going to wear a different wig every day, i'm gon na have fun with it and that's where i'm at and i know a lot of people will get there. You kind of have a built-in excuse to get there. People will understand that a lot more from you than they will from someone like me, who's been losing their hair for 20 years. I think people um they're a little bit more gracious if you're losing your hair suddenly to health reasons and more people can comprehend that than they can long-term hair loss. But just think about that it could be such a a light in your day. It could be a good distraction for you to have fun with hair and wear red one day and blonde one day and short one day and long one day and curly one day, and you could have a lot of fun with this. So just think about that. But think about what your goal is with the wig wearing journey, that's going to help you as you do your research, because what we're trying to do is we're trying to start up here. Wig wearing is super challenging because the sky's the limit there's every possible wig under the sun, every color, every fiber, every um style, there's tons of cap constructions. It'S too much to take in all at once, especially if you're dealing with it in a sudden hairless situation where you're on a timeline you've got to get yourself a wig, so you've got to start somewhere, so we're narrowing it in to say what type? What are you trying to accomplish with your hair wearing with the wig that you buy? What'S the goal of it? The next thing, then, is to try to determine what your budget is. So i don't start with budget, because wigs run from anywhere from twenty dollars. For a super cheap amazon wig, that's basically for cosplay and not really for everyday wear to four or five thousand dollars for one of the highest end: human hair, wigs. That is like a wig. Most of us can't afford um, but that's sort of the range, and so you need to know what you want to do with your wig to be able to determine um kind of where what the cost will be, and so the budget that you come up with Is going to help you narrow in even more what you're going to look at now? I want to encourage you to find out if your insurance will cover the cost of a wig. If you're going through chemotherapy, i've heard quite a few insurance companies will cover the cost. I have also heard that they will cover it only if you're a squeaky wheel. If i think i have a resource that i can put in the description of someone who knows how to navigate the insurance world to get reimbursement for wigs, if i'm right about that, then there will be a resource in the description that you can reach out to. But what i have seen and what i have heard, i don't qualify for any kind of, even though i have alopecia it's not the kind that i get any help with insurance. But i have heard that for some things, if you write letters and you push and you you know, push and push and a lot of insurance companies will cover the cost. They just may not say yes, the first time so. Keep that in mind. Try to get that reimbursement, it can be so helpful, um, and that will help you also maybe to buy a more expensive wig than you could normally afford. I have some notes because i want to keep myself on track so expect to pay roughly 250 to 500. For a realistic synthetic wig, a realistic, looking synthetic wig that will last you two to four months of daily wear if you're, not gon na, wear the wig every day, you'll get more longevity out of it. Synthetic wigs don't last a super long time, and it all depends on how you wear it. What conditions you wear it in how you care for it. There is a variation here, but in general synthetic wigs last two to four months of daily wear, and so you can expect to pay about 250 to 500. For one of those you can get cheaper, wigs for sure um. There are resources like paula young, wigs. They are, they tend to be more budget friendly and they're, actually pretty good wigs. So i'm starting to have the sun encroach on me here. I know that can be hard on video um. So just but just keep that in mind that that's roughly the range and there's variation you can spend more. You can spend less expect to pay about uh 700 to 2500 for a human hair wig again that will vary depending on the quality if it's remy or non-remy. All of these things are things. You'Ll have to learn once you narrow in on what you're going to research the wig i have on my head right now is a human hair wig. It'S a budget friendly human hair um. I think it it runs about 500, and so, but i also have a human hair wig. That was almost 1900. I mean there's just a wide range and i've got super cheap synthetic. So just trying to give you a sense because they're new to this and you've never looked at this before you have no idea at all anything about wigs whatsoever. I'M trying to give you some realistic idea of you know, what's involved with this and what it might cost you, so you can start to figure out. What'S going to be the best approach for you now, a little while ago, we talked about what is your the purpose of wigs? What do you want them to accomplish for you? Some of that is going to dictate your budget, and your budget may dictate what you can realistically do with a wig. If you can afford no more than a hundred dollars toward a wig, then you're going to have to change your expectations around what the wig is going to be able to accomplish, for you you're, probably not going to be able to find one. That looks just like your bio hair you're, not probably not going to find one. That'S going to last a super long time. You'Re, probably not going to find one with great cap features like a lace front, so that you see how this looks like it's growing out of my head. That'S called a cap feature and both human hair and synthetic wigs have that the cheaper synthetic wigs don't tend to have these or they they look really fake. So keep that in mind it will depend on your budget. If you want a wig to match your bio hair, you only want to own one wig and you want to be able to style it and do everything with it. Then maybe a human hair wig will be the wig that you will need, because you can curl them. You can straighten them. You can style them. You can color them. You can do everything with them and then you're going to expect to spend to pay a little bit more. If you're intrigued by the idea of wigs being a light in your journey and just having fun with the wig process. Because if you're gon na have to go through this, then let me just have fun with it. Then you might want to own five or six wigs and then maybe you buy a little bit of cheaper synthetics or mid-range synthetics, depending on your financial situation, as opposed to owning five super expensive human hair. Wigs, maybe you go the synthetic route, that's why i say think about your goals. Then, let's talk about budget and then marry the two and then kind of that helps. You now narrow your focus on now you're going to educate yourself on whatever it is that you landed on so the next step step number four. The first step was to acknowledge the struggles you're going through. This is gon na be hard. It'S gon na be emotional. It'S tacked on top of all the emotions of your health diagnosis. It'S a difficult time. Step number two is figure out what the purpose of the wig will be for you, so that, then you can determine kind of what kind of wigs you need step. Three. The budget now step four now we're gon na educate ourselves, i'm going to link a couple of resources in the description. I have a new wig wearer series. It is eight episodes long. It walks you through the entire wig wearing journey. It is mainly focused on synthetic wigs, because that's where i was in my journey when i made the series, i mainly wore synthetic wigs for three years, because that fit my budget better and i'm super challenged when it comes to styling hair and i didn't want human Hair because it does require some measure of styling, but now i'm getting into human hair, because i want to round out my education and i want to learn more, so i will be sharing more information on human hair as i go forward. But just note, if you look back at a lot of my old videos, it's going to be mainly focused on synthetic. So if you land in the spot, where you're going to be focusing on human hair for you, i probably won't have a lot of content right now for you, although on instagram, i'm posting a lot more about human hair, but you'll find other resources. There'S lots of women sharing about human hair. So just keep that in mind. So now you got to educate yourself, so my new wig wears series is going to be super helpful for you, and so i recommend the first three videos episodes one two and three they're. Actually, not the first three videos but they say episode. One episode, two episode three in the title start with episode, one that one is on all about fibers and cap construction. That'S where you're gon na learn. What'S a synthetic fiber, what's a heat friendly synthetic fiber? What'S a human hair, what's the difference, what are the blend wigs? You want to learn about the different fibers. It'S going to be really important as you're trying to make educated decisions you're going to learn about cap construction. How are wig caps made? What'S a what's wefting? What'S a top versus a mono part, what's a lace front, what's a double mono top? What'S you know, um a fully hand tied cap versus a wefted cap, and i show you an example of all of those in that video. So that's going to be a really important video. As you start to figure out. Okay, i'm going to start i'm going to get closer to making a purchase. I want to make sure i make the right purchase episode. 2. I cover where to buy and how i talk about brick and mortar stores, physical locations, you may live in a place that has some great physical wig shops. You may live in a location that has no physical wake shops and you may live in a place that has them but they're, not very good. It runs the gamut. So i talk about that. I talk about online retailers. Online wig shopping is probably going to be one of the better options for you. If you're going through health issues, you're, not maybe wanting to be out in public, exposing yourself to a lot of germs, you may not be feeling well, and prices can be a lot better. Online online retailers can offer a lot bigger discounts on wigs than physical locations. Can because they've got a lot more overhead, but a physical location. You can try some things on and start to get to you used to how wigs fit you that can be really helpful. I cover all that in that video and then episode three, how to measure your head and how to um determine what size will fit. That'S going to be really important. Everybody'S head is different and we've got you know: petite heads average size, heads, we've, got large heads and not all wigs fit all people so you're going to want to understand your measurements so that you can then narrow your focus. You may have some special needs when it comes to wig wearing. You may have a super super petite head uh. You may have a super large head circumference. If you're outside, i thought it was a bee. I almost freaked out it's just a fly if you're outside the sort of average head shape and circumference, that will also dictate what wigs you'll need to focus on, and you may need to do some customization human hair. Wig suppliers will be a little bit better able to customize the cap than synthetic which are more mass-produced, but anyway i covered that in episode. Three, i have a bunch of other episodes like i said i had eight episodes, but those are the three to focus on right now, as you're learning and educating the other ones will come once you've made a decision and you've purchased, a wig and and so on, And so forth and the last thing i'm going to recommend join some social media groups for support. I know a lot of people are not on facebook and instagram. I completely understand why you may not want to be there, but this is a unique time in your life and you may need to enlist support from others who understand, even if you have the best support system, wonderful friends, loving family, surrounded by people willing to walk This journey with you, they may not be able to support you fully because they don't understand if they don't wear wigs or they haven't experienced this there's only so much they can do for you, a woman who has lost her hair and wears wigs is going to Support you differently than someone who's, just imagining what that may be like. There are tons of facebook groups out there that are wig wearing specific, where you're going to get so much support from women who know what you're going through and as an added bonus, you may get make friends with people who've actually suffered from the exact same health Condition you're suffering from, and that is a huge bonus. I i don't suffer from cancer. I have long term hair loss. I'Ve been suffering from hair loss, since i was in my 20s and i'm 50 now i just turned 50 this past november, and i have met more amazing women in the past four years of my wig wearing than in all 45 six years prior to my wig. Wearing - and i am a christian - i am a believer and i have met some unbelievable sisters in christ who have strengthened and deepened my walk with christ because of their own faith, and the only reason why we got connected was because of our hair loss and wigs. So i cannot recommend more the online support that you can get from others who are going through this. So i'll link some facebook groups that are really wonderful in the description and then, if you're on instagram follow me. But then you'll start to find. If you start to follow some people that are following me, look at the people who comment on my posts. A lot of them are also people who post about the wig journey. You will start to get support like you, never imagined, uh from this community. It'S an amazing community. I think it's one of the best out there actually for support, and so don't underestimate the power of social media to support you through this social media gets a bad name and it deserves it. But there are some great benefits to it and i've personally experienced them through my own journey because of hair loss. So i encourage you to do that, so that was kind of five-ish ideas for you on how to approach this you've received this diagnosis you're facing the unknown, you're scared, you're, anxious, you're, worried you're, not alone, you're, not alone, and you can do this. You will find the support that you need. Wig sisters will walk alongside you, you'll probably find someone understand your cancer or health journey as well. This is going to be something. I truly believe that things like this can be a blessing that we never imagined. We would have because of how it strengthens us, how it connects us with others. So i'm not trying to minimize what you're going through at all, i'm just trying to share with you that there's generally a bright side to everything, i'm trying to help you get there on this. Okay, you can do this. You won't be alone reach out to me. If you need any additional support again, all the ways you can contact me are below in the description. I tell people all the time. I'M grateful for my hair loss because it has given me a purpose that i never imagined and i'm so grateful to be able to be here, making this video today and just walking alongside you. So i hope this helped. You please subscribe like this. Video leave a comment: whatever you can do to boost this video, so others will find it. The youtube algorithm is tricky and if it doesn't receive engagement, then youtube won't think it's valuable and then people won't find it, and you know i see a bee over here. I keep looking, i really really don't like bees, you guys, you know that if you were looking for this, someone else is looking for it as well. So help me out get some engagement going on this video. I love you guys. My prayers are with you. I'Ll talk to you soon,