hairy thoughts

those of you who know me in real life and through this blog
are aware that i have thick, curly hair. (in case you didnt know this, now you do!) that said, it may seem odd that im sharing with you the following bit of information that is meant for women with thinning hair. but it really is not odd at all. i have a friend who has lupus who has experienced hair loss. she heard from a pregnant friend of hers that prenatal vitamins promote hair growth. after getting the okay from her physician she began taking them for her hair loss and it worked! her hair has grown back. she still has bald patches, but she does have hair!! its amazing.
before my friend was diagnosed with lupus she had beautiful hair. when she began losing her hair it was devastating. it is disheartening for a man to lose his hair, but for a young, single woman it is far worse.
i dont think that pre-natal vitamins work for male hair loss. sorry guys. for all of you ladies out their who may be experiencing hair loss , try using pre-natal vitamins. they work!

would you rather?

would you rather have cancer than aids? would you rather be single than divorced with 3 special needs children? would you rather get married at forty and be childless and happily married for fifty years or marry at twenty, have four kids but be widowed at fifty? would you rather have psoriasis and no wrinkles or clear skin and wrinkles? would you rather have noisy neighbors and live in a safe neighborhood or would you rather live on a farm in new mexico? would your rather be single than married to tiger woods?
i really don't know the answers to any of these questions, nor do i want to. these are the types of incoherent things people like to ask singles when they kvetch about being single. when i kvetch i don't want a would you rather diatribe, id like someone to suggest someone appropriate for me to go out with or just just listen and not say anything. i would rather not be asked would i rather.

race for the cure

for years i had wanted to participate in one of the walk for the cure for a disease, but i wouldnt hear about them in advance. or they would be held on shabbos so i couldnt attend. or i would always see people walking about town with t-shirts commemorating the event and by then the event was over.
last year i happend to walk by a pre-registration booth for the susan g komen race for the cure for breast cancer. the walk was to be held on a sunday which meant i would be able to join in if i so desired. despite the fact the event was called for the ungodly hour of 9:00am, i still opted to attend. as i had anticipated it was a highly inspirational and life affirming experience.
though many wore signs commemorating the passing of their loved ones, many others wore signs honoring those who have survived. of course there was the myriad of little old ladies and younger ladies who had survived breast cancer who participated.
last year a 16 year old yeshiva high school girl,whose mother died of breast cancer, organized a group of classmates , teachers , etc to walk and managed to be one of the largest donors . since there isnt an age requirement for this walk/run, the teenagers were able to participate.
unfortunately i know quite a few people who have been ravaged by this horrible disease. and as the susan g komen organization's slogan goes, i would like to run breast cancer out of town.
i plan on participating in the this years race for the cure which will be in central park on september 14.

sunscreen queen

in the days before sun protection consciousness, when i was fourteen, i got one of the worst sunburns of my young life. the kind that blisters and peels. it was a nightmare. it itched, it hurt, it looked contagious. shortly after i became the sunscreen queen.
though it was a slightly before the days of global sunblock awareness, there still was sunblock and sunscreen. yes, even then. my dad is a pharmacist and he would get tons of sun protection samples. i was the only fourteen year old around slapping on the stuff. at school and at summer camp everyone would mock me. they'd say"dont you want to tan" and of course id say" no, i just dont want to burn." and i would also say, " trust me, i will still tan, i just wont burn. "
and so it would go. i went women's day at the separate beach in tel aviv and put on tons of sunblock. my friends donned baby oil. they couldnt believe i wanted to block the sun. i said my mantra" trust me, i will still tan, i just wont burn." and burn they did. i had a slight tan. they were scratching their sunburns. i was not.
what really strengthened my resolve to wear sunblock was something that happened to my friend leora. leora fell asleep on the beach. when she got home her body was burnt and swollen. it was scary looking. it looked quite painful and worthwhile to avoid such an experience.
my mom, who is not as fair skinned as i am shuns the sun as well. she doesnt want wrinkles.
though skin cancer may be more prevalent amongst fair skinned snow whites, darker complected individuals need to be careful of the sun. when they have skin cancer sometimes it is only caught in the later stages because it was harder to see on their skin.
in short, we all need to be careful to wear sun block, and wear protective clothing. this is where ultra tznius clothing come in handy...
my favorite sunblocks are clinique spf 50 and neutragena heathy defense daily moisturizer with heliplex spf 45. neutragena has several higher spfs but i find them a little too chalky.
its also important to wear sunglasses in the sun because doing so can prevent cataracts.
go ahead, become a sun shunner like me. you will still have fun in the sun, just fewer sunburns , wrinkles and age spots.

that little itch...

psoriasis is no fun. as far as afflictions go, its not the worst one to have, but its no bed of roses either. apparently, the word psoriasis comes from the hebrew word tzara'as which means leprosy. it also gives one alot of tzar.

i have a mild case, mostly concentrated in my scalp. when it acts up it itches beyond belief. luckily, after many years of incompetent dermatologists i found an excellent one to whom i am eternally grateful. now its under control.

there are alot of morons out there as well. once i got my hair cut and the stylist tried to tell me i had head lice. which i did not. it was just a bad case of psoriasis. apparently she knew nothing about scalps.

an afflicted scalp can be quite embarrassing, as well as humbling. whenever i see people with a sprinkling of snowflakes on their shoulders, i feel bad for them. its not bad hygiene. they really cant help it. ive been there. it takes alot of work and patience to get rid of it.
ive been told psoriasis is stress related. thats probably true. i know that whenever i have a flare up i must slow down.
ive heard that fish oil and flax seed oil help keep psoriasis in check. it helped me for a little while, until it didnt.
im afraid to cover my hair when i get married. im afraid it will increase my psoriasis symptoms.
my friends tell me that they dont notice my psoriasis , even when i have a bad flare up. im not always sure if they are just trying to be nice or if this is really what they think.