Single Bald Female

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Chemotherapy-Induced Alopecia (CIA) is when the hair falls out following chemotherapy. It is one of the most visibly distressing side effects of commonly administered chemotherapeutic drugs. Alopecia Universalis is characterised by hair loss across the entire scalp, face (including eyebrows and eyelashes), and the rest of the body (including pubic hair). Please note, many people experience forms of Alopecia Areata that are somewhere between Alopecia Totalis and Alopecia Universalis, so can lose some but not all body hair, or some but not all facial hair. Diffuse Alopecia Areata (Alopecia Areata Incognita)

Around her, her friends’ lives continue to follow the script, with the big white weddings and the baby scans. With her own future so uncertain, the only thing Jess is sure of is that she’s being left behind. Author Laura Price (Spanish, Portuguese & Latin American Studies, 2005) and literary agent Sophie Lambert (English & German, 1999) are proud to have published Laura’s debut novel, Single Bald Female. Laura writes about her experience of publishing a novel here… Primary scarring alopecias (also known as cicatricial alopecias or scarring hair loss) are a group of conditions that destroy the hair follicle, replace it with scar tissue, and cause permanent hair loss. In Central Centrifugal Cicatricial Alopecia, hair loss starts in the centre of the scalp and slowly spreads outwards. Read, read, read. Read everything you can get your hands on, within your own genre and outside it. This will feed your brain while helping you to hone your own writing style. In about 20% of cases, Alopecia Areata is inherited. Alopecia areata is a 'polygenic condition', so there are several genes involved. As well as a specific set of genes, your environment also contributes to developing Alopecia Areata. Most children with Alopecia Areata do not have a parent with the disease, so most people with the condition do not pass it down to their children. Additional Information:I’ve written a diary since I was a little girl, but for some reason, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer at 29, I stopped. There’s an entry from June 2012 where I told myself I’d be just fine, then nothing, until I finished treatment eight months later. Single Bald Female was published in April 2022, and seeing it in the window of Waterstones was one of the proudest moments of my life. Cancer may have taken away my chance of future motherhood, but I had created my own legacy. Don’t put off your dreams for a distant day that might never come Witty and charming characters, twists and turns, and quietly devastating moments' Justin Myers, The Guyliner By the time active treatment ended, I wanted to meet someone, but was unsure what to write on my dating profile. I settled on the truth, listing myself as a ‘single, bald (possibly infertile) female’. Then, just three months after my book launch, after suffering from pain in my sternum, I found out the cancer had spread to my bones and was now incurable. A whole 10 years had passed since my primary diagnosis. I was distraught – I had only just met the love of my life – but I also found myself filled with gratitude. I had a whole decade of being cancer-free, and I stuffed it full with life. I wrote the book I’d wanted to write since I was that little girl scribbling in her diary every day.

But there’s a difference between a shaved head for fashion, and hair loss from cancer. With the former, you have a thin layer of hair and you often have your eyebrows and lashes. With the latter, you lose your sideburns, your brows, your lashes and even the thin layer of downy hair on your face. For me, it was the loss of my sideburns, brows and lashes that really hit me. I felt naked and vulnerable. Without those things to frame my face, I looked like a cancer patient, and sadly no amount of make-up could make me look normal. ‘Hair loss is never like it is in the films. ’ Between 10–50% of people with alopecia areata also experience nail complications: the most common symptoms are pitting and ridging of the nails. What are the symptoms of Alopecia Areata? In the midst of it all, she meets Annabel, an enigmatic twenty-seven year old with incurable cancer. But while Annabel may not have long left, she understands much more about living than anyone Jess has ever met. And she’s determined to show Jess how to make every day count . . . Diffuse Alopecia Areata is characterised by sudden thinning of the hair all over the scalp rather than patches of hair loss. This condition is sometimes also referred to as ‘Alopecia Areata Incognita’. This condition can be hard to diagnose because it looks very similar to other types of hair loss, namely Telogen Effluvium and Androgenetic Alopecia (male or female pattern hair loss). Alopecia Areata Ophiasis

Frank, funny and poignant, Single Bald Female by Laura Price is a completely unforgettable story of love and friendship.

So when I lost my long hair during chemotherapy after I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 29, it didn’t feel like the end of the world. In some ways, it was an opportunity. I didn’t stop writing entirely – I blogged my way through surgery, chemo and radiotherapy – but my upbeat, humour-laden articles didn’t reflect the real fear and sadness I felt. I’m sad that I can’t read my journals from that time, but I made up for it with my novel, Single Bald Female. I listed myself on my dating profile as a ‘single, bald (possibly infertile) female’ Simply put, I think bald women are beautiful. Jada Pinkett-Smith at the Oscars? Stunning. Megan Fox and Natalie Portman with shaved heads? Gorgeous. This blog post from Professor Kevin McElwee explains in greater detail about the causes of alopecia areata. How is Alopecia Areata diagnosed?

Thuli Madonsela speaks about the importance of SA's political future in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Alopecia Areata is thought to be an autoimmune condition, which often starts with isolated patches of hair loss, commonly in one or more coin-sized (usually round or oval) patches on the scalp and/or across the body including the beard, eyebrows, eyelashes or body hair, including pubic hair. Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia (FFA) is a type of Scarring Alopecia, where the hair follicle is destroyed and replaced with scar tissue. In Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia, hair falls out across the front of the scalp. Hair loss can also affect the eyebrows. Many people do not experience pain or other symptoms from Alopecia Areata. However, in some people, hair loss can be accompanied by tingling, itching, burning, headaches or even pain in the skin. What causes Alopecia Areata? As every cancer patient knows, life is short, and there’s no point putting off your dreams for some distant future day that might never come. I fulfilled my childhood dream to write a novel and I’m so proud of it. When will you write yours?Breast Cancer Now is a company limited by guarantee registered in England (9347608) and a charity registered Do your research. To have a book published, you’ll need an agent. The Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook is a brilliant resource to help you figure out how it works. When a blog I wrote about my dating experience went viral, I realised how little information there was about young women and cancer, and that I could use my voice to help others. I created characters, friendships and love stories to escape my world