One side effect of bariatric surgery is a period of temporary hair loss,I knew this going in, but have been hoping it would not happen (okay some of you folks KNOW how I am about my hair... but not WHY... more on that in a bit). The loss happens due to the trauma of major surgery and the rapid weight loss. Basically your body freaks out and thinks is starving to death, so focuses on vital organs and processes, and not so much on providing nutrition to your hair. I did some looking and found a great article on this here.
I have been noticing progressively more shedding lately. Jen mentioned how my hair was thinner in spots. Tonight when I brushed my hair out after washing there was a lot of hair in the brush. I always collect my hair, and take it outside, or put in a little muslin bag that I saved for this purpose, and take it out later... your hair contains everything about you... never send it to the landfill!
I know this is temporary, but it unsettles me a bit. In 2000, I had VERY short hair, at that point I made the decision to stop cutting, stop coloring, stop perming and just let it grow as it will. I didn't want to restrict myself in that way [by cutting], wanted to stop polluting my hair with chemicals. This was not as a fashion choice, but a spiritual growth piece. My Native heritage carries many teachings, here is some information about the spirituality of hair.
Hair is the physical manifestation of our thoughts and an extension of ourselves. So pure and sacred are the thoughts of Our Mother, the Earth, that her hair grows long and fragrant. Sweetgrass, one of the 4 sacred medicines to Native American people... represents the hair of Mother Earth. On the Medicine Wheel Sweetgrass sits in the North, the place of consciousness. The cutting of hair by oppressors has long represented the submission and defeat of a People, through humiliation. This occurred in the Indian Boarding Schools when the white culture was intent on "killing the Indian, to save the [person]."
I know that this is not a crisis of global proportions, but it will be another growth piece for me... literally and figuratively. So I'll give my hair all of the nutritional support that I can, my nutrient levels are all right where they need to be... and I'll baby my hair through this time of change. One thing is for certain... come spring there will be many a bird's nest on our farm... built and fortified by that which I am now losing. So yeah.. Mno Ganuh (sp???) "It's All good."
