You’ve received a diagnosis: you have cancer. You’ve been told your treatment regime, and it’s going to include chemotherapy. You have a date for your first chemotherapy treatment. How do you possibly prepare for this?
Besides the research and reading about your condition and likely coping with huge doses of anxiety, you might want to consider an unconventional approach to your first and subsequent chemotherapy treatments: don some “battle armor.”
Preparing for “War”
In my case, I was told my treatment would demand 16 doses of chemotherapy – the first 12 of which would be weekly – and I was likely to lose my hair within the first month. Like you probably are – more than half of all Headcovers’ customers who are battling cancer say that they are extremely concerned about hair loss – of course I was pretty freaked out about the prospect of losing all my hair. So, one of the ways in which I prepared was to gather up a variety of headcovers early on. I bought at least one wig (that turned into a whole debacle and a good story!) and ultimately acquired several others. I accepted a huge bag of 1960s and 70s scarves my mother had saved and added them to my own personal collection that I had gathered over the years. And, as a hat lover, I bought a few more.
As my first day of treatment approached, I deliberately planned my outfit: a shirt that made it easy to access my chemo port, comfy jeans, socks with BEAT CANCER messaging, my butt-kicking boots, and I did my hair and makeup. I made a playlist of warrior music (every song with the word B*TCH in it made the cut) to play during my infusion session. I was determined to not let this cancer dampen my spirits…or lower my fashion standards, lol.
I gotta say, this plan worked! I was in a war for my life. I had my battle armor, and it made me feel empowered, emboldened, and confident. As time went by, and I did start to lose my hair, I felt I needed to even further embrace my battle armor. In addition to always dressing for port access and long hours in the infusion center chair, I decided to always wear a stylish headcover. I wore scarves tied in numerous ways, pre-tied scarves, baseball caps with hair, scarf and hat combos.
"I was in a war for my life. I had my battle armor, and it made me feel empowered, emboldened, and confident."
External Me = Internal Me
As time went by and I was still bald, though, there were days that I just stayed at home with nothing more on my head than a chemo cap or a bandana. But whenever I might be going out in public, I began further upping my battle armor game. I took risks. I wore big earrings, chunky jewelry, funky glasses, and bold-colored clothing. I played around with make-up. I figured if I felt badass and put together, I would also radiate that outward. It would become my reality: I am badass, and I’m beating this cancer!
With every new look, I felt a little more fabulous! I was actually having fun in the midst of what could otherwise be a pretty cruddy situation. I joked with people, saying that I looked “Absolutely Fabulous,” which was a hilarious 90’s British sitcom or the line, “You look absolutely mahvelous,” delivered by Billy Crystal in an even older Saturday Night Live parody. (By the way, when you’re going through chemo, I highly recommend watching as many comedies as you can. Comedies will lighten your mood and raise you from despair on your dark days.)
With my varied headcover looks, I was so certain that I was onto something, I decided to document and compile them all in case doing so would someday help and inspire other women in treatment after me. You can find many of my headcover looks here. In sharing my album, I hope I accomplish this goal!
You Do Have Control
All the great outfits and headcover looks, however, can’t ensure treatment outcome. Many factors other than clothing influence that, but I do feel that a healthy mindset is a factor. I am 100% certain it played a role in my outcome.
If you find yourself lost or struggling to balance your negative thinking with positive thoughts, read this post I wrote last year. Couple this advice with some great battle armor of your own and forge ahead. Home in on the things you can control.
You CAN do this!!
