I whipped my "chemo-cap" (seen above) off my head and said, "I would like you to shave my head."
The lady stared at my head rather askance. I'm sure I'm the first foreign woman she's ever had to make that request! "I can see your hair looks bad, but why do you want me to shave your head?"
"See this?" I reached up and pulled out a hunk of my hair . . . it didn't hurt to do so. "I have breast cancer and I'm receiving chemotherapy. The drugs are making my hair fall out and it's really a lot of trouble right now."
There were several other people in the shop, one of whom I knew by acquaintance. I smiled at her and chatted a minute with her. There was a bevy of activity and everyone left among cheery goodbyes.
I sat down in the chair and the lady placed a cape around my shoulders. "So, your hair is falling out. Why is that?"
I repeated what I said about chemotherapy and this time, in the absence of other people, she understood what I was saying. She wished me well in my treatments and proceeded to shave my head. She was quick and had a light touch. It took her about five minutes or so and I happily paid her the eight yuan . . . about $1.25 US.
I went home and took a shower to get rid of all the loose hairs. Rachel wanted to touch my head to see how it felt (like sandpaper), but Michael kept his distance from it. It's going to take a bit of time for them to get used to it. Believe it or not, I'll need to "de-fuzz" my head with duct tape in order to get rid of the stubble over the next week or so. The next photo should see me with an absolute "Kojak" look!
In the meantime? People say I look more Chinese than ever! On top of that, I got a decent night's sleep since there were no more hairs to irritate my follicles. No more headache!