The Big Chop

So there I was at the salon waiting to get my hair done.  Now remember, I had literal bald areas in my head so I was nervous this new stylist would take one look at my hair and send me packing.  As she walked into the room and greeted me with a wide smile, I warned her about the sorry state of affairs hiding under my ball cap.  She smiled and said, "don't worry, not much scares me".  Then I took of my cap.  I must admit, she was a PROFESSIONAL, she did not say a word about what she saw, how bad it looked.  She said simply, "I've seen worse."

Then she asked me what my goal for my hair was, so I told her I just wanted my hair to be as healthy as possible, that I planned to transition.  No more relaxer for me, I needed to have my hair bounce back to it's healthy state...a natural state.  Then she made a CRAZY suggestion...to cut it all off!  What???!!!  Cut it all off???  As in ALL OFF??!!!  Now I really liked this stylist, she was cool as a cucumber.  She explained that my hair had been so overprocessed for so long there was nothing that could save it but to cut it off.  She throughly examined my head and stated there were no "bald" spots but rather areas that had broken off to the scalp.  What's the difference you might ask?  It means the follicles were not damaged...yet.  So long as the follicles were not damaged, I could re-grow my hair.  She further explained that cutting off the damaged, over-processed ends would give me a better chance at re-growing stronger, healthier hair.  Then she let me marinate on this information for a bit.

So I made the decision to cut off my hair, to the roots as in all of it.  I cried like a baby....tears of anger, frustration.  My one lingering question as she took her shears to my hair...what will my hubby say??  When it was all over...I was left with less than an inch of hair on my head, and so a new adventure begins...