One of my suggestions for coping with cancer is, "Find silver linings. Don't look at this as losing your hair, but as an opportunity to get new hats!" Early in the course of treatment, I went on-line with my daughter and found the website of a milliner named Christine A. Moore who makes fabulous hats. We went to her Manhattan studio, where I proceeded to buy 15 beautiful hats to prepare for losing my hair.
The hats did everything I wanted them to do, and more. It can be hard to feel beautiful when you're going through cancer treatment; the hats made me feel beautiful. Getting up every morning was exciting, because each day, I had to decide which hat to wear! Hats are a welcome distraction from chemo. They don't have to be fancy--baseball caps are fun too.
Surprisingly, the hats were a terrific way to communicate with friends. When people asked what they could do to help, if the answer "Pray for me" wasn't sufficient, I could always ask them to get me a new hat. As a result, I have a cool collection of baseball caps, including one that a friend wore when participating in an Ironman Triathlon (his card said "Wear it and be victorious.") The hats set people at ease. You know how some people care about you, but when they see you with cancer, they feel awkward and just don't know what to say? In those instances, I could always ask, "Do you like my hat?" and invariably they would reply, "Yes, I love your hat!" and we could talk about the hats.
On the Hat Board, I'm posting pictures of some of my favorite hats. I hope you'll post yours too!
