Out with the old and in with the...natural?

Hello.  My name is Elisa and I am/was hooked on weaves! 

For my wedding, I really wanted to have long beautiful curls. I should have known I would get hooked and keep weaving it up for months. Well last night I was finally sick of it and took it out *snip snip* (well actually my mom did). 

Messy poof.  Post weave removal.  Pre wash.

My hair is in pretty good shape. It's not dry at all. My ends look great because I just got a trim before my last install. But I freaked when I got all the weave was out. Why, you ask?  You know the saying "out of sight, out of mind"? Well this saying truly applies to my alopecia situation. I stopped taking my medicine back in September (that is another blog post in itself) and figured that letting my hair rest would hopefully keep my hair loss to a minimum. I don't know if my alopecia has worsened or if I am in shock because I haven't really seen my hair since June, but I am definitely feeling some kind of way. I do have some edge breakage but I am pretty confident that I can get them back on track. 

All in all, I really missed my natural hair and I am so happy to see it. I have been lusting after beautiful 'fros, twists, and poofs and now I can have all of that again.

Cleanser: Wen Sweet Almond Mint Cleansing Conditioner
Deep Conditioner: Wen Sweet Almond Mint Re Moist Intensive Hair Treatment
Detangler: Kinky Curly Knot Today
Twisting Agent: Organic Root Stimulator Lock & Twist Gel

Follow me on Instagram: @kabobbell

Post Weave Routine

So first off let me say that my hair was sooooo tangled and I don't think that I managed to get all of the tangles out -- such a nightmare.  I think my Alopecia is under control for the most part.  I'm still taking my antibiotics.  As far as I can tell, no hair is growing back.  So below is what I did yesterday after I took my weave out.

1. Washed with Suave Rosemary + Mint shampoo (shout out to my summer employer).
2. Quick conditioned with Suave Rosemary + Mint conditioner and started to detangle.  I tried to divide my hair into sections and comb out all of the dead hair.  It was hard and like I said above, I don't think that I got all of the tangles out.
3. Mixed my favorite deep conditioner, Redken Butter Treat conditioner, with extra-virgin coconut oil.  I let this marinate on my hair for about 5 minutes.  I probably should have sat under the dryer, but I didn't have time.
4. While my hair was still damp, I put a few drops of Moroccan Oil through my hair.  This stuff smells AMAZING.  Moroccan Oil has been on my wish list for a while now, so I purchased the very small bottle at my local beauty supply store for about $12 and I am not disappointed at all!
5. I used what little bit that I had left of the Kinky Curly Knot Today to try to finish detangling my hair.  
6. Using no additional product, I did very big 2-strand twists, sealed the ends with more Moroccan Oil, and let my hair air dry.

I'm just amazed at how long my hair is now.  I'm sure that I need a good trim.  I'm thinking of attempting to do this myself, little by little, as I continue to do my hair each week.  It shouldn't be too hard to clip my ends when my hair is twisted.  More to come!

Closure

So I got the results back from my doctor a few weeks ago.  I do in fact have Central Scarring Alopecia.  I am happy to finally have closure on this but now it is definitely real.  


She put me on antibiotics twice a day, which is good.  The downside is that they make me nauseous and I have be very careful about what I eat before and after I take the medicine.  I have been on them for almost a month I wasn't sure if they were "working" or not since I am still wearing a weave.  I just got home for break and it was time to get my weave redone.  I was dreading taking out my braids and combing through my hair.  But to my surprise, I didn't lose that much hair and I really think that the medicine is working. My scalp hasn't been sore or itchy either, so I am feeling good about the prospect of not losing anymore hair.


So my plan is to keep wearing this protective style in hopes of giving my natural hair a rest.  It has grown a lot and I hope to continue keeping it "safe" for a little longer.  I figure the longer my hair is, the easier it will be to hide my bald spots.


Once again, the Marcella Ellis Salon did a fantastic job and I opted for something a little shorter this time.  All in all things are well and I will keep you all updated on my hair health.

The Waiting Game...

So things with me are pretty good.  I go home for Thanksgiving Break next week and I have been doing well with my coursework.  But my hair woes still continue.  Last week I finally got to see the dermatologist.  I had to wait months to get an appointment; literally months - I called to make an appointment when I got to school in August, and they couldn't see me until November.  I'm not sure if it's because I have crappy student health insurance, or if there is just one dermatologist in Ithaca, or a combination of the two.

Well the doctor was definitely worth the wait.  She was fantastic and I immediately felt more comfortable under her care than I have previously with my doctor back in DC.  To my surprise, she wanted to do a scalp biopsy.  Mind you... I just put this weave in and it cost a pretty penny.  To my surprise, she was hip on her weave knowledge and she promised me that she wouldn't completely destroy my masterpiece :).  She cut about a 1/2 inch square of the net, so my scalp was exposed and the rest...I wasn't prepared for.

Next she whips out a needle and then asks me, "Are you good with needles?"  I mean I am but I wasn't prepared for all of this!  I thought she was just going to look at my scalp and go from there.  So she numbs the area of my scalp and literally takes a piece of my scalp and prepares it for the lab.  A hair specialist is as we speak analyzing my scalp and trying to figure out if indeed have Central Scarring Alopecia.  The doctor thinks that I do and she asked me how aggressively I want to try and treat this, if this is in fact the case.  I told her I am willing to try anything within reason.  There are some oral medications that we may be able to try, but I am waiting to hear back from her, before I think about that.

I miss my natural poof.

I'm sorry that I don't have more to say on "natural hair" at the moment, but I hope sharing my story helps others.  More to come soon.

Still going strong... I think

So Ithaca is treating me well, I am just busy beyond belief.  And for that reason, I haven't really experimented with any new styles or products.  I have been sticking to my "go to" look - the wet twist out using KCC. The summer weather has been beautiful up here - nice dry air.  But summer will soon be gone and the horrid winter weather will be moving in.

I have done two henna treatments since I have been here and I hope that I can keep doing them once every few weeks.  The problem is finding the time to devote to doing the treatments.

I can't tell if I am still losing my hair due to the Alopecia.  Some days I am super paranoid and think that I am, and other days I feel like it looks the same.  So I am trying to keep up with my vitamins and using my ointments.  Getting an appointment with a dermatologist is ridiculously hard up here (I think there is only one lol).

Chocolate Coils + Dermatologist Visit

Since I got more of a cut, rather than a trim last weekend, I was nervous to wash my hair and wear it curly, but I was too excited to care.  In my last post, I mentioned my current issue with central scarring alopecia.  Well I am happy to report that while I was combing my deep conditioner through my hair last night, I literally only lost a few strands of hair.  Months ago, I was losing clumps of hair, and was honestly scared to wash my hair, let alone come through it.  I attribute the minimized hair loss keeping the faith, the regimen and scalp injections my dermatologist prescribed, and the great trim I got last week.

I had an appointment with my dermatologist this morning.  Nothing good or bad to report.  I received 7 more Kenalog scalp injections.  I am scheduled to go back in June for another round.

My hair is definitely shorter, but my curl pattern is much more defined since I lost the raggedy ends and I love my new rich, chocolate brown color.  The first picture shows the length in the back; you can definitely tell it's shorter.  And hopefully in the second picture you can see the curl definition some.  I am still using the Kinky Curly product line and don't plan on straying from my current routine.

 

Central Cicatricial Alopecia

On February 22, I was diagnosed with central cicatricial alopecia. This type of alopecia is also known as scarring alopecia because inflammation destroys the hair follicle causing a “scarring” below the scalp’s surface. "Central" refers to the area in which the alopecia starts (the center top of the head) and the fact that the alopecia spreads out.  At first, I was devastated – I cried for days. The dermatologist said that the likelihood of my hair growing back was slim but that she would do her best to stop the hair loss from spreading. So my doctor immediately started me on rigorous regimen of creams (some twice a day) and scalp shots (every six weeks).

 


I waited a while to share this because I was still coping with the news.  But now I am in attack mode! :).  I think the hair loss has stopped (for the time being) but I am prayerful that my hair will grow back in the affected areas.


So part of the reason I wanted a darker hair color, was to help my hair to look thicker (because of all the hair I lost at the top/front of my head) and to just give my hair that healthy look that darker hair usually has.  And as I would like to eventually go back to my natural hair color, so dying my hair darker will allow me to grow out my color without the extreme differences in color.


So today, I went to see Nicole and we talked about my situation.  She agreed that going with a darker, richer color would be a good idea and a great change.  She used a demi-permanent chocolate color and I am beyond happy with the results.  She trimmed a LOT of my hair but it looks so healthy and I feel like I have a new head of hair.  Wearing my hair straight is a challenge because I have to hide the thin top section, so I am still not completely comfortable wearing my hair blown out.  I will be sure to keep everyone updated on the situation.