My Cranial Prosthesis

Out of all the various styles and colors of wigs, I picked this synthetic wig from the “Noriko Collection.” The wig is called the "Ryan” and the color is toasted brown. It was made in Thailand. The wig is perky bob that reminds me of a hairstyle that a morning newscaster would wear…so not me. (I just miss my old "no particular style" hair.) I feel like I am wearing a mop on my head when I have the wig on. I look at pictures of me in the wig and I wonder, “Who is this person?” I will wear this wig when I don’t want to be cancer identified. For example, I wore the wig for the first time when I went to Emma’s school yesterday to volunteer in the library. One of Emma’s little friends didn’t recognize me and asked Emma if I was the babysitter. Emma whispered back that I was wearing a wig because my hair had fallen out.

Little known fact: Wigs that are purchased because of chemotherapy are covered in part by some health insurances. In the insurance business, a wig is called a “cranial prosthesis.”




Here I am with my wig on next to my stylist friend, Bonnie. In the world of chemo wigs, Bonnie is well known as the "blue hair lady" that many chemo patients in Austin go to when they need wig help.

Wig Shop Photo Essay

One of the odd, fun things of this hair loss has been the experience of shopping for a wig. When I walked into the shop, I was mesmerized by the rows and rows of female heads with assorted hairstyles. The older heads are made of white Styrofoam with bright red lips. The short grey wigs are on these older heads.



The newer heads look almost life-like with long swan necks, heavy eye makeup and pouty, red lips. None of the faces on the models have a smile. They all have a distant, vacant look like real models in magazines often do.











I am attracted to these heads yet repulsed and a little scared of them at the same time. The collection of heads seems campy and fun….something that you would find in an art director’s cubicle of an ad agency. Then I start thinking of the scary movies I have seen where real looking dolls come to life. Or I see these heads like disembodied versions of the women from the mid 70’s movie, The Stepford Wives. In any case, I enjoyed taking pictures and choosing my wig from the following collection of styles. ( I am having trouble posting pictures. I could only upload these few pics.)