04/21/2009 Tue

I went to see a dermatologist today about both the scab on my head that will not go away and my hair loss. Positive news about both, although we can't do much of anything about the hair loss until the sores actually finish healing on my head. As I was telling him how I had been trying to get the scab to loosen on the top of my head without actually forcing it, he took some tweezers and very slowly and gently started pulling on the scab and it peeled right out!!! He says the skin underneath looks like it is healing quite well and to use a shampoo which he had there in the office and some vaseline on the sores until they do heal. They need to be kept moist but not oily and vaseline will do that. As for the hair loss, he says that frequently women who have been through a physical trauma (often childbirth), have exaggerated hair loss for a period of time. He is hoping that this is what my trouble is. He said everyone goes through periodic shedding and after something like what I went through, the body just overdoes it at the next shedding cycle. If that does not turn out to be what it is, then we will try some other ideas but he wants to give the sores a chance to heal without the huge scab that was holding back the healing process. I sure hope he is right and that this will fix itself but if not, I have an appointment exactly one month from today to revisit the whole thing and make sure he thinks the sores are now finally healing appropriately. The sores are on top of my head and on the right side (which has been sore ever since surgery). I thought the sores on the side of my head might have come from the fall I had in December but he thinks not. They appear to be from the surgery and he thinks they stay more sore because I lay on my right side quite often when I sleep.

Anyway, I am so happy to have that huge scab gone, I don't know what to do except rejoice. Assuming the skin underneath heals now, I won't have to worry with another surgery. I am thinking that the healing is already underway and I sure did put vaseline on it tonight and will start washing my hair every day in the new shampoo.

Don also had a doctor's appointment today and everything looks good. Of course, there are blood tests that we need to wait for but there is no reason to think anything other than good about his results either.

A really good day.