In honor of National Alopecia Awareness Month, one of our Mom’s is sharing her and her daughter’s path over the last 10 years since diagnosis. Thank you Stacy for sharing your family and your faith with us!
Our daughter Alex was diagnosed with Alopecia Areata, an autoimmune disease that causes rapid hair loss, when she was in Kindergarten. A decade has passed since then, she’s now thriving in High School and it has a been a blessing to watch her emerge into adulthood with the confidence and joy that every parent hopes to witness in their child. She is gregarious, an outspoken leader among her peers, and intelligent sprite of a human that fancies herself to be quite the athlete.
I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on why her diagnosis and her hair loss was so hard for me to accept in those early months. I can only imagine that every parent of a child facing a life altering diagnosis goes through similar emotions. The classic stages of grief are denial, anger, depression, bargaining, and acceptance– and I had all of those. I felt guilty. I questioned what role my genetics or her environment had played into her disease. I felt guilty that it was her hair, and not mine that was falling out. I was angry. I was scared. I had a carefully constructed picture of what her future could be in my mind, and being bald was not part of it. Most importantly, I worried that this disease would steal her joy. Would being bald alter her self-image and how? Would she be a pariah in her own school? We had worked so hard as parents up until that point to create this happy, self-assured, well-adjusted child and we could not imagine how this disease could be a part of that construct. If felt unfair, an undeserved punishment for such a beautiful child. We turned to our faith, and our doctors for guidance and I thank God, quite literally, every day for the grace that flowed through both.
I searched for a greater meaning in this time and found myself reflecting on this: “And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus responded: ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but it was so that the works of God would be made manifest in him.” –John 9:2. I tried to excuse myself from any guilt that I had assigned myself regarding her disease, and instead focused on allowing Him to lead us to His plan for her, not mine.
While I doubted that any good could come from a disease that was to leave my daughter bald, I took comfort in this verse frequently. It became a very clarifying event for me as a parent to relinquish the control I thought I had over her life to a God that had a different, much greater plan.
Ten years have come and gone, and I can say without a doubt Alex is a stronger, more resilient, more self-assured teenager because OF her disease, not in spite of it. She’s gone through having hair and not having hair twice since then. She is currently is a “regrowth” phase of her disease, so about 70% of her hair is about 1.5 inches long which is exciting. She chooses not to curse the “babies” (her name for the baby hairs) when they don’t lay down flat in her pony tail, and instead tells them to “do their own thang”. I praise God for her eternal optimism, and I aspire to it.
If I had advice to other parents currently enduring their child’s diagnosis it would be to be open to the possibility that His plan for your child is even bigger, and better than what you planned. “And we know that, for those who love God, all things work together unto good, for those who, in accordance with his purpose, are called to be Saints.” Romans 8:28
SHARE IT!
Related Posts
Skin Discovery Box – Film Premiere
We had an amazing time celebrating the launch of our brand new SKIN DISCOVERY BOXES, a very special collaboration with our friends at CeraVe! CeraVe’s tireless pursuit of therapeutic skincare for all is truly more than skin deep and we couldn’t be more thankful. We celebrated in style thanks to our friends at Star Cinema …
Texas Children’s Vascular Anomalies Program
A Children’s House for the Soul believes that it takes a village to support a child and family impacted by skin disease and birthmarks and that we are all better together.
Open House – Ribbon cutting to bring a children’s house home
Open House and Ribbon Cutting/Bring A Children’s House Home: On June 5th we began a very exciting new chapter of our A Children’s House story in the form of opening up our new beautiful space to serve children and teenagers with skin conditions and birthmarks and their families. This space includes a salon, a library & craft space, a teen room, and more! We also debuted our incredible new custom mural from up and coming local artist Eli Pallaert.
Trivia Night – Event Recap
Our Family Trivia night was oh so much fun, and a huge success! We had so much fun getting to reconnect with all our friends and enjoy some laughs while snacking out on pizza and snowcones!
growing up with a vascular birthmark
In honor of Vascular Birthmark Awareness Month, our childlife specialist Lindsay O’Sullivan had a great conversation with Jose about growing up with his special masterpiece skin!
Ichthyosis Awareness month with Ally
In this interview, Ally shares about her experiences growing up with Ichthyosis. Ally shares how: Meeting other kids with special skin can help kids to feel less isolated and give them a very special sense of comradery and understanding. Parents don’t have to do everything perfectly to be the perfect parent for their child and …
Mother’s Tea – Event recap
What a wonderful time to relax, enjoy friendly company, and share their hearts on being a mama to a kiddo or teen with special skin. It was truly so special! These mamas were made a masterpiece!
A Message about Vascular Birthmarks
Vascular birthmarks are very common in children. These birthmarks are made of blood vessels in the skin and can occur anywhere on the body. They may be pink or red in color, blue or purplish, flat or raised. Since they are vascular, sometimes they will feel warm to touch and may change in color with …
2021 Capital Campaign Update
We have some exciting updates about our Capital Campaign! Learn about our short and long term plans for our own space.
You Can’t Teach What has no history
You Can’t Teach What Has No History “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of …
Ectodermal Dysplasia Awareness
In honor of Ectodermal Dysplasia Awareness month in February, we sat down with two of our dearest friends Zach and his mama Susan! Zach is an avid golfer, an Aggie, and is affected by Ectodermal Dysplasia. Susan and Zach teach us about ED and the importance of finding community. They also had helpful tips and …
How to Conquer Alopecia Universalis
Join us for a fun and inspiring interview with this incredible lady Ana Maria! Ana Maria Triana is 15 years old and the author of How to Conquer Alopecia Universalis. Ana Maria gives heartfelt advice, shares wisdom beyond her years, and will leave you feeling full of compassion and confidence. A Children’s House for the …
THANK YOU, MOM! By Rachael Wrobel
In honor of the upcoming National Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) Awareness week, we wanted to share this great piece from our friend, Rachael Wrobel about how her mama mothered her well, even despite the challenges of EB.
Alopecia Areata – A Mother’s Journey
I am fortunate enough to be Mama to three little girls. Shortly after my eldest daughter’s first birthday (about 4 years ago) I noticed her hair was thinning. I was told by many it was just typical baby hair loss until it just couldn’t be described at “typical” any longer.
Hand-washing causing dry, cracked skin? Here are some tips from our Friend, Dr. Meena!
After the last several months of this pandemic, I think we are all well-versed in how important it is to wash our hands so that we don’t spread germs. But with all this hand washing and sanitizing, dry skin, eczema breakouts, and contact dermatitis have become even more troublesome. What can we do about it?
Back to School? Think Balance. Doctor’s Orders.
Join us for a quick and very insightful video interview with Dr. Alana Kennedy-Nasser as she shares with us how to keep kids safe as they go back to school in-person and how to keep kids developmentally “on track” as they attend school virtually.
Tips From A Teacher: Parents as partners, online enrichment and more!
What questions do you have for back to school content experts? Read on for some brilliant questions and answers from this super smart teacher mama, Lacy Cunningham, M.A.Ed.
Mental Health Matters In Our New Abnormal World – Back To School Boot Camp
Online learning can be a fun experience filled with lots of great experiences; but as humans, we were meant to interact with one another and have companionship. How can we develop ways to ensure kids stay engaged while learning in a different setting?
Preparing families who are returning to in-person learning
This year, the normal first day of school jitters will likely be accompanied by some new concerns that we have not encountered before. Lindsey O’Sullivan, Child Life Specialist, provides guidance on how to navigate these conversations with your child.
How to Talk to Children about COVID-19 and School – Back To School Bootcamp
As we prepare for school to begin, those of us that are sending our kiddos slowly back out into the world may find ourselves explaining what has changed (again) in the last few months. Dr. Chad Brandt, a therapist who specializes in anxiety in children and teens, offers us a few guideposts for talking about the coronavirus with children.