Here we go again

There are many body parts that we give absolutely no thought to, none whatsoever. Nails, fingers, skin, organs etc. We only spend any amount of time thinking about them, when they are not working or when they hurt. Take the pancreas for example, I have no idea where that even is inside my body, however any of you who have come into contact with a pancreatic illness know exactly where it is and what it does!  I think the more we know about a body part, the more we have had to face difficulties with it.

Another example, pertinent to me, are those little hairs on the eyelid, the eyelashes.  Before I got alopecia the only thought I ever gave to my eyelashes was what colour mascara to wear and even that dilemma stopped after the 1980’s (blue mascara I mean what an invention!!)

For the record, my eyelashes did not fall out at the same time as my hair. That happened only a few years later. Bizarrely enough they did not fall out gradually, but rather over night, I woke up one morning and realised that there was nothing there and there was no longer a use for that fancy Chanel Mascara my friend treated me to for my birthday. Then I suddenly realised that I could barely leave the house without my sunglasses on. Have you ever given any thought to what a great sun visor our eye lashes are, they protect our eyes from the bright glare of the sun very effectively, and without them it is often impossible to be outside.  Sunglasses have become an absolute requirement for survival for me and I never leave home without them now - whatever the weather.

With alopecia, hair can grow back at any time. For me that has not really happened, however about 6 months ago, I woke up with a full set of eyelashes. Wooowwwww, I tell you when I noticed I could not contain my excitement. Over the past few years I had missed my eyelashes and had begun to realise how beautiful they were on other people. I did try false eyelashes a few times, but I kid you not, I actually stuck my eyes together one evening. This was infact mildly amusing, but hugely frustrating. Luckily the eyelash glue (I bet you didn’t know there was such a thing) is very much like kiddie white glue, you just peel off, but believe me it is not a pleasant thing to do when your dress and make-up are perfect and you are about to leave for a posh night out, only to find yourself temporarily blinded in the bathroom with eyebrows stuck to your fingers!! Aggggggggggh!

Anyway so there I was a few months ago with a full set of eyelashes, they were glorious. Not too long and not very thick but perfect for coating in mascara to finish off my look. I was very happy. People even began noticing them, which I really enjoyed. It made my eyes look normal again and even the redness around the eyes began to fade into the background. I have never been fond of the red eye look, it gives off a look of a sick patient, but having real eyelashes took all that away and gave me back some of my natural beauty. I was thrilled.

So as thrilled as I was at their regrowth, as sad as I was this morning as I noticed their disappearance. Once again I find myself putting the mascara back in the drawer, with a sigh and wishing that it was different. The sadness is not a devastating or deep one, the sadness is an accepting one, of course I wish it hadn’t happened, but I do know that I have the knowledge and skills to change the way I do my make up to ensure that the redness is once again covered up and for nobody to notice that I have no eyelashes.

So the thought I leave you with today is to consider what helpful, but not critical body part you have, that you have not given much thought to. When you have found one, whisper a word of thanks to yourself about its function and then like everyone else continue ignoring its existence.

For me, I will give my thanks to my pancreas, I have no idea where it is and what it does so I will now go and find out and give my personal thanks to it, for functioning and keeping up the good work. Quietly and silently in the background.