Brigette’s Story.

My name is Brigette Lucas, I am 34 years young and I have an autoimmune condition called Alopecia Areata.

My friend in High School noticed that I always had hair collecting on my jumper, like the way a cat or dog’s hair always sticks to your clothes, but in my case, it was my human bio hair sticking to my school jumper. I didn’t think much of it at the time; I had so much hair that a little shedding was okay.

It wasn’t until I was 19 years old, after completing High School and when I’d moved from Rural NSW to Sydney, that my hair rapidly started to thin on my head. I found it hard to cover the hair loss and although social media existed, we didn’t have these little pockets of life where women with hairloss existed and shared their wig reviews, or head scarf tutorials, or just someone else existed with Alopecia. I had no friends losing hair, I talked with my Doc and we got a consultation booked with a Dermatologist.

I was diagnosed with Alopecia Areata.

At the time I didn’t even know what that meant… I was, or felt, very alone, scared and confused. I remember asking the doctor to write the word down because I thought he was using Dr lingo or Latin.

My journey has been long and it hasn’t been a quick, “I’m okay now” not for me, or for anyone just joining this community. I’ve grown with Alopecia. I used to feel that it took my identity and that it defined me… but now I think it’s just an aspect of me.

I like to remind myself that I am more than my hair loss; I’m more than my wig, or my turban, or my balding head and you are too.

So with years of learning, the hurt, the anger, the sadness, the why me?… I’ve decided to let it all go. It crops up every now and then and catches me off guard. I cry about it. Talk to friends about it and then return to letting it go as best as I can.

I’ve found that with my body getting older, it hurts in places… I know I’m only 34 years young, remember? But I’ve decided to take up physical activity to alleviate some of the pain. I’ve started pilates. It has so many elements of dance, which is something I did as a young girl. My body is really excited for the challenge and to be moving again.

I can’t wait to feel good in my bones.

Talk to you all soon about it

Brigette Lucas Xx