Introductions and Alopecia

Let me introduce myself, I am 'Gamecock Mama', happily married to Gamecock Dad since May 5, 2001, mom of 3, Cockette also known as Abby who is 7 years old, Little Miss Cocky or Molly as we call her, 2 years old and Little Spur my Zach who is 1 1/2. So we have a very busy little household. My family has been after me to start blogging for awhile now so I will give it a shot and see what happens. I am by no means a great writer, but do have a lot of opinions and funny things that happen so I will join the blogging community and see if it takes.



A little about Cockette, my Abby. She was diagnosed with Alopecia in November of 2006 and it crushed me. Alopecia is an autoimmune disorder in which the body attacks the hair follicles as if they were disease. Therefore my little angel is mostly bald. She had the most beautiful blonde hair that slowly began falling out. We tried all kinds of treatments with no luck. Finally it grew back. Then it fell out again. All of it. Eyebrows, Eyelashes everything. I had to mourn the entire process. No hairbows. No ponytails. No curling irons. The teasing she would endure the difficult road ahead of her. Now, don't get me wrong, I know there are a lot worse things out there and if this is the worst thing dealt to us with regards to my kids health well, then we are blessed aren't we? However it is still difficult. While it isn't a life threatening illness, it is life altering.



This past August we took her to Alopeciapalooza in Philadelphia and it was wonderful and heartbreaking all at the same time. Abby is truly amazing. I am not the only one to say this, so it has to be true! She is courageous and wise beyond her years. She handles it like a mature person, telling ME, "mom it's only hair!" This child started the school year without a wig, swam on her swim team with "eat my bubbles" written on her head and makes no apologies for her appearance. She knows if someone has a problem it's their problem, not hers. I don't think I have her courage. I don't think I'd leave the house without hair. Now, she does wear a wig most of the time, but we have to purchase them pretty regularly and they can be very expensive, so if the one she currently is wearing starts to wear out she doesn't want to wear it as much. Which is what we are going through now. But I just want to protect her. I know if she goes to school bald she will get teased, right?? I know I can't protect her from everything so I just do my best to build her up as much as I can and prepare her for the world. That's what all parents do, isn't it?



Ok, so now you know a little about me. Hope I will be able to entertain you and that you will enjoy reading my thoughts...