June 3 2016
I had my hair cut at my usual place - Supercuts. I had a hairdresser that I had not had before but she was doing a good job and I was having it cut quite short. After she had worked on my hair for a while, she turned to me and said "I love the birthmark in your hair!". I was confused and asked what she meant. "Oh, this area with white hair!" I asked her to show me. I was stunned. The area was behind my left ear, about a palm-size area wiht just a few white hairs poking out. I don't quite remember the end of the session. I made my way outside to where my husband was sitting in our car wiating for me. I showed him what she had found and he took a picture with his phone so I could see it better.
On this picture you can see there are actually 2 spots. There is a smaller round area to the right.
With my hair down, all you can see is a few white tufts sticking out!
June 10, 2016
After a week of searching the internet and coming up with a possible diagnosis of poliosis and alopecia areata, I went to the nurse practitioner that we see in town (small town, no doctor). She had the same ideas I had and told me I needed to visit a dermatologist. I was able to get in to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN close to where we live. I considered myself very fortunate to get in so early - I only had to wait a week.
June 17, 2016
My appointment with the dermatologist went as well as can be expected I guess. He confirmed the diagnosis and showed the younger dermatologist there the "explamation mark hairs" at the edge of my balding areas. Then he proceeded to tell me worst case scenerio including finding a support group! Again, I was stunned. I could lose all my hair! The doctor told me that where I was having hair loss was not an encouraging sign. Often hair loss in the ocipital region - behind the head and between the ears, meant hair loss could be complete. Also the fact that I had been losing body hair and didn't realize it, was another bad sign of things to come. Before I left the exam room, the doctor took pictures of my balding areas along side a ruler. I think one area was 4" by 5" mm and the other 3" by 3" mm. I thought this would be a good idea to continue at home. One very helpful pamphlet was given to me that showed me a website and talked about support.
June 21, 2016
Started taking pictures at home for comparison. I realized after the third time we did this that our pictures needed to be a little more standardized. But you have to start somewhere!
I can see here that we need to NOT cover up the area with the ruler...lol
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