Life is as unpredictable as a butterfly’s path. Do you often feel like you take two steps forward only to be thrown one or three steps back? I do.

If you’ve been following my blog you know that I’m learning how to deal with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis and Alopecia Areata. I developed these after the third Covid vaccine, aka the booster. If you haven’t read about it before today, I urge you to scroll back to my previous posts. If you’re dealing with similar situations, I urge you to go back to my posts starting in September 2022.

What has changed for me recently? I was doing very well on Olumiant for the hair loss. I has 90% of my hair back. This past September though, I found a small bald patch at the back of my head. It only measured about the size of a pencil eraser. It grew bigger by the week and now, just about 6 weeks later, it’s the size of a golf ball. I also have a few other small spots starting. I don’t want to increase the Olumiant due to side effects. In all honesty, it’s really just a band-aid for what is actually going on inside my body. My dermatologist agrees.

As far as the Hashimoto’s goes, my symptoms are minimal. I have learned that it worsens over the years but I stay positive. The minimal side effects are hoarse voice from time-to-time, poor sleep and fatigue. I feel like those three things are related to each other. I press on; who’s not tired these days?!

This week I saw my GP for a yearly physical. She is so good. She listens and cares about what is said. She has ordered an ultrasound on my thyroid because she said it feels harder than it did a year ago. I will also see an endocrinologist and an ENT (ear, nose, throat specialist). She wants me to consider HRT, (hormone replacement therapy) as well.

I feel and pray that these next steps will help get to the core issue inside my body. I want to feel confident about my hair, it’s awkward being a hairstylist and having alopecia. In my forty-two years of doing hair, I have never had a client with alopecia. It’s certainly a new learning curve for me. I fear losing ALL of my hair where I cannot hide the bald patches anymore. I need to come to a place of being at peace with it, but I’m not even close yet.

As I continue this new journey of wonky health, I have joined support groups on social media. In these groups, I’m shocked at the amount of new cases of both Hashimoto’s and Alopecia. If you dig deep, you will find that these are likely linked to Covid and/or Covid vaccines. I linked nih.gov sites in previous posts.

Whatever journey, good or bad, that you’re dealing with, you’re never alone. That can be both comforting and upsetting. We need to make better decisions and choices about our body. We need to care what goes in it, what and who we are surrounded by, and our environment. Start at home. Make your home chemical free, your food wholesome and surroundings peaceful.

Be your best self-advocate. No one will care about you more than you so stop putting yourself at the end of the list.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12

Until next time, do something today that brings you peace and cleanses your soul.