Finally found a doctor with a brain! (and a heart...)

[Guest guest]

Too bad he isn't a rheumatologist. I was desperate to find a

dermatologist who could see me on short notice. I called, and this

guy happened to have a cancellation the next day at 4:30. I was a

little apprehensive, partly because the ad in the paper seemed to

emphasize cosmetic surgery, and partly because of my luck with

doctors lately, and the fact that no one recommended him. I didn't

care, though. He was a memeber of the Board of Dermatology and an

associate professor at UCLA. Good enough for me.

I actually had an appointment with the ad's partner. HE specializes

in skin disease, and lets the other guy do most of the surgery .

He came in, listened to me, told me what he thought it was, what it

also could be, what the prognosis was for each, what the treatment

options were, and what to expect from each (how successful they

tended to be, what they did, etc.) He wrote down names of various

conditions (I was already familiar with all but one, which he

thought I had), and ENCOURAGED me to research them on the internet!

WOW!

He was also sympathetic, and genuinely concerned about how I was

going to handle looking like Fire Marshal Bob at a new job. By that

time I was pretty much resigned to my fate, and have accepted that

I'm not going to have the full head of curly auburn hair I've taken

for granted (and not always appreciated).

In any case, his first guess was telogen efflusium, which is,

essentially, stress-induced hair loss. When you have some form of

severe stress, either physical or psychological, all the follicles

shut down at once and the hair sheds 3-6 months later. I HAVE been

under a lot of stress, but not any worse than I have been for the

last 6-7 years. Also, I couldn't figure out why I didn't find it on

the internet. After researching it when I got home, the pattern of

hair loss does not match TE. In fact, two of the websites geared

towards practitioners clearly state that TE is diffuse, NOT patchy.

I'm definitely patchy.

His second guess is alopecia areata, which is an autoimmune

disorder. The hair grows back with this condition, as well, but it

can be years, and it usually will fall out again...in other words,

it is a chronic condition, and TE is acute. The pattern better

matches what I'm experiencing, too...generally round or oval patches

that grow and often combine with each other, if you have more than

one patch. There is a biopsy which is pretty accurate in diagnosing

AA, which we agreed we will do if I'm still losing hair, or it isn't

growing back, in three weeks.

In any case, he put me BACK on prednisone and plaquenil, saying

neither would cause this kind of hair loss, and that the prednisone

is the best thing I could be on at this point. He was also a little

alarmed that my rheumy took me off the meds just because of my hair

loss.

I ordered a super cute hat from Doma Designs, a company that

specializes in hats for chemo patients. They were very kind, and

are rushing it out so I should have it today...in time for work

tomorrow. I also called the American Cancer Society, and they

invited me to their office, and will give me a hat to wear over the

weekend. I have a new spot at my temple that grew to bigger than

silver-dollar size within a few hours yesterday, and my baseball cap

no longer covers it. I'm working the Orange Co. fair this weekend,

and need something to hide the chrome dome. They also offered me a

wig, but I'm not sure I want one, with all the cute hats I

found . If I can get there before they close today, I'm going to

see what they have.

After getting really upset Tuesday, I realized that things could be

a lot worse, especially after talking to the people at ACS. This is

just hair, after all...it will grow back, and in the meantime I just

need to be creative about my " style " . I was just starting to like

my hair, too. It can be frizzy on top, but I finally got it long

enough to weight down the frizzies and let the curly layers

underneath show. It also changed color after my pregnancy, and

turned a really deep copper auburn color from the golden brown it

used to be. Since auburn has always been my favorite hair color, I

was pretty happy about it . Oh, well. Maybe when it grows back,

it will all be curly, and no more frizz.

[Guest guest]

, this doctor sounds like a keeper. I hope your hair problem

will soon resolve, but I bet you look cute with a hat on. Sue

On Friday, July 15, 2005, at 05:58 PM, tandarat wrote:

> Too bad he isn't a rheumatologist. I was desperate to find a

> dermatologist who could see me on short notice. I called, and this

> guy happened to have a cancellation the next day at 4:30.

[Guest guest]

,

Just want you to know I'm thinking about you, and your in my prayers,

Tawny

> Too bad he isn't a rheumatologist. I was desperate to find a

> dermatologist who could see me on short notice. I called, and this

> guy happened to have a cancellation the next day at 4:30. I was a

> little apprehensive, partly because the ad in the paper seemed to

> emphasize cosmetic surgery, and partly because of my luck with

> doctors lately, and the fact that no one recommended him. I didn't

> care, though. He was a memeber of the Board of Dermatology and an

> associate professor at UCLA. Good enough for me.

>

> I actually had an appointment with the ad's partner. HE

specializes

> in skin disease, and lets the other guy do most of the surgery .

> He came in, listened to me, told me what he thought it was, what it

> also could be, what the prognosis was for each, what the treatment

> options were, and what to expect from each (how successful they

> tended to be, what they did, etc.) He wrote down names of various

> conditions (I was already familiar with all but one, which he

> thought I had), and ENCOURAGED me to research them on the internet!

> WOW!

>

> He was also sympathetic, and genuinely concerned about how I was

> going to handle looking like Fire Marshal Bob at a new job. By

that

> time I was pretty much resigned to my fate, and have accepted that

> I'm not going to have the full head of curly auburn hair I've taken

> for granted (and not always appreciated).

>

> In any case, his first guess was telogen efflusium, which is,

> essentially, stress-induced hair loss. When you have some form of

> severe stress, either physical or psychological, all the follicles

> shut down at once and the hair sheds 3-6 months later. I HAVE been

> under a lot of stress, but not any worse than I have been for the

> last 6-7 years. Also, I couldn't figure out why I didn't find it

on

> the internet. After researching it when I got home, the pattern of

> hair loss does not match TE. In fact, two of the websites geared

> towards practitioners clearly state that TE is diffuse, NOT

patchy.

> I'm definitely patchy.

>

> His second guess is alopecia areata, which is an autoimmune

> disorder. The hair grows back with this condition, as well, but it

> can be years, and it usually will fall out again...in other words,

> it is a chronic condition, and TE is acute. The pattern better

> matches what I'm experiencing, too...generally round or oval

patches

> that grow and often combine with each other, if you have more than

> one patch. There is a biopsy which is pretty accurate in diagnosing

> AA, which we agreed we will do if I'm still losing hair, or it

isn't

> growing back, in three weeks.

>

> In any case, he put me BACK on prednisone and plaquenil, saying

> neither would cause this kind of hair loss, and that the prednisone

> is the best thing I could be on at this point. He was also a little

> alarmed that my rheumy took me off the meds just because of my hair

> loss.

>

> I ordered a super cute hat from Doma Designs, a company that

> specializes in hats for chemo patients. They were very kind, and

> are rushing it out so I should have it today...in time for work

> tomorrow. I also called the American Cancer Society, and they

> invited me to their office, and will give me a hat to wear over the

> weekend. I have a new spot at my temple that grew to bigger than

> silver-dollar size within a few hours yesterday, and my baseball

cap

> no longer covers it. I'm working the Orange Co. fair this weekend,

> and need something to hide the chrome dome. They also offered me a

> wig, but I'm not sure I want one, with all the cute hats I

> found . If I can get there before they close today, I'm going to

> see what they have.

>

> After getting really upset Tuesday, I realized that things could be

> a lot worse, especially after talking to the people at ACS. This is

> just hair, after all...it will grow back, and in the meantime I

just

> need to be creative about my " style " . I was just starting to like

> my hair, too. It can be frizzy on top, but I finally got it long

> enough to weight down the frizzies and let the curly layers

> underneath show. It also changed color after my pregnancy, and

> turned a really deep copper auburn color from the golden brown it

> used to be. Since auburn has always been my favorite hair color, I

> was pretty happy about it . Oh, well. Maybe when it grows back,

> it will all be curly, and no more frizz.

>

>