Health and Fitness : Laugh With Kathy - Meet Raquel

Wearing the knitted cap provided by Benton County Survivors. *In recognition of October being Breast Cancer Awareness month, Dean and Val have asked me to share some stories from my book Laugh With Kathy, Finding humor in the journey through breast cancer. Each week day during October, I will post an excerpt from my book on Vinton Today. Our hope it that these articles will give you a glimpse into what it takes to beat breast cancer. Proceeds from books sold in October on Amazon and from my website will benefit the Survivors of Benton County. Please note that I was diagnosed with breast cancer four years ago, had two years of treatment and I am now living cancer free. www.laughwithkathy.com Wednesday, November 14, 2012: On Monday, I went wig shopping with Gene, Danielle, and Shawn (my amazing hairstylist), and it wasn't as fun as I had anticipated. I thought we would go to a wig shop where there would be lots of wigs, and I would try them on and then maybe have to order a different color. Not so much. There were five wigs on the wall, and all looked a bit"�sad. The lady handed us about six catalogues to look through and dozens of hair samples to match to my hair. I readjusted my thinking and started flipping through the books, and then I froze. My brain said, "This is too hard."� I whispered to Shawn, "Help me."� I could tell by his face that he knew I wasn't joking around. I kept a smile on my face and tried to make jokes, but everything was falling flat. Thank God Gene was there. While the rest of us were looking a little lost, Gene promptly picked out two styles of wigs, and Shawn loved them and agreed that they were similar to my current cut. I simply couldn't process the idea. Part of the problem in picking out a style for me is that the model for all of the wigs in the catalogue was Raquel Welch. On my best day, I don't resemble Raquel, and I don't have auburn hair. So putting my face under her auburn hair just didn't click for me. I'm pretty sure she looks good in anything. I just couldn't visualize myself in any of the wigs. Shawn and Danielle were able to color-match my hair pretty well, so that part was easy. Danielle and Gene were great at deciding on the fine details and ordering the wig for me. I had a great team with me. I did manage to get out of there without crying but had tears streaming down my face when we got in the car. Fortunately, only Gene was with me at that point. He gets all the awful jobs. On the upside, we decided to turn this appointment around and do something truly fun. For the past ten or so years, I have admired a glass head in Shawn's hair salon. It makes me smile every time I see it. I figure, why buy a Styrofoam wig stand at forty-five dollars or more when I can get a decorator piece for nineteen dollars! So we went to Pier 1 and purchased a glass head to use as a wig stand. It is a bottle-green glass head that is hollow. It has the advantage of being heavy, so it won't fall over in the night. Can you imagine how freaked Dolly Dog would be if my head fell over and the wig hit the floor next to her? She might never recover! My glass wig stand with a knitted cap (gift from benton county survivors) The saleslady carefully wrapped the glass head in tissue paper, and we left with our purchase. I smiled as Gene walked through the parking lot swinging the bag. He gently placed it in the backseat, and I snickered. As soon as he turned the first corner, it started rolling around the backseat. Gene said, "Don't lose your head,"� and we laughed. It continued to roll until I reached around and tossed my purse on top of it. When we got home, Gene said, "I've got your head."� If only it were true! I told Gene that we needed to name it if it was going to be sleeping in the same room with us. When the Benton County Breast Cancer Survivors group dropped off a care package that included a stocking cap, I couldn't resist putting it on the glass head. And then it came to me. From that moment on, she would be known as Raquel.