Going Bald is not Funny.... Or is it?

For all of us who have lost our hair to nasty chemo, we know it can be a very traumatic and depressing experience. Does anyone have an amusing story about the process? Here's mine:

The first time I lost my hair was in April 2005. It was coming out by the handfuls and absolutely had to go. I asked my mother if she would shave the rest of it for me and she agreed. My plan was to have her do it, don my new wig (which was very similar to my hair pre-chemo), and hopefully my 4yo son would never know the difference. My 9yo daughter knew about it, but I did not think my son could handle it.

My mother and I locked ourselves in the bathroom to do the deed. She first cut my hair very short with scissors and then proceeded to shave it. My son kept coming to the door (as little ones often do when we want privacy) to say, "Why can't I come in?" We told him several times that we would be out in a few minutes. Unfortunately, I forgot that my little boy knew how to unlock the door by poking a skewer from the kitchen into a tiny hole in the center of the doorknob. He had seen me do this before when other doors had been accidentally locked.

So... here I was with a rather butchered-looking hair cut and half of my head shaved slick, shiny bald. My son freaked out and yelled, "Grandma! You can NEVER come here again!"

It took a great deal of consoling to get him over that and now, 5 years later, he doesn't even remember the incident or that I was bald before. I am hairless again at the moment, but this time both of the kids had a blast cutting and buzzing it off for me. (In fact, I think they had a little too much fun.)

We laugh now about what happened back then and remind my son, but it really wasn't too funny on that day.