Annie's Blog

A little freaked out here…

This morning I sat down to eat breakfast with the kids and noticed that Hannah had a bald spot starting right at her hairline, right at the top of her forehead. It was about an inch across and an inch and a half deep toward the back of her head. I thought at first she might have gotten frustrated with hair falling in her eyes and tried one of Eric’s razors, but then I realized that there was a. no stubble, and b. there were some smaller, shorter hairs in the middle of the patch. It was very sudden–no bald spot yesterday; I know, because I put her hair in a ponytail.

I called the pediatrician and brought her in this afternoon, and he took one look and referred us right to a dermatologist (with whom we have an appointment tomorrow morning). He mentioned that he thought it might be alopecia areata, but that the dermatologist would have to examine her, do a biopsy, and look more closely.

I know this isn’t directly life-threatening, but Hannah already has huge self-image insecurities. She’s very proud of her hair, and won’t let me cut it in spite of the daily hair-brushing battles we have.

My head is filled with all kinds of hair-loss worst scenarios…both the pediatrician and I tried to minimize things in his office this afternoon, but geez….if that’s what’s going on with her, it’s going to be devastating for a while.

So I could use some good thoughts if you’ve got them to spare. I’m not jumping to any conclusions until we get more information from the dermatologist, but I can’t stop my mind from racing.

Ironically, I’m at work now. Got to go home for a few hours to eat dinner and catch up with Eric and the kids, but had to come back to babysit a massive postscript file (This thing is over 45 gigs, and it’s a royal pain in the patootie if it blows in the middle, because it means it has to be done all over again. The problem is that no one else can be in the 72 main files while it’s running, which means a total stop work for the entire team until it’s finised).

Anyway, I’m trying to ensure that I am a “key” employee, since all the talk lately is of budget cuts and the like. So I’m really taking it upon myself to learn new skill sets. And they’re noticing….

Although now I’m kind of kicking myself for not bringing my knitting with me. I’ve turned the corner to decreasing on my second Clapotis, which means that things should move more quickly from here on out. Can’t move more slowly, right? And then I’ve also got a pair of Lighthouse Gansey socks (from this winter’s Knitty) that I’m working on as well. It’s a cool project, because it makes me want to keep knitting just one more round.

I indulged myself with 8 skeins of sock yarn from KnitPicks this week. If I can ever get my sh** together to have the camera and the cardreader and everything together all at once I’ll post some picks. I hit a spot where I had finished a pair of socks and then realized in a panic that I did not have a single skein of sock yarn anywhere. It was terrible.

Actually, I don’t say that lightly. Knitting has become a very soothing activity for me, and one that I depend on to get back on an even keep. So the panic I felt when I realized I didn’t have any sock yarn was just like the panic I feel when I wake up in the morning and realize that my glasses aren’t exactly where I left them…the “ican’tseeican’tseeican’tsee” hyperventilating is no exaggeration. I don’t know what I’d do if I ever lost my glasses for real. I have nightmares about being in an accident and ending up in the hospital without my glasses. Not having them makes me paranoid and anxious…so does not having knitting (although not on as dramatic a scale).

Anyway, I think I’m past the danger point in the file, so I’m going to turn around and head out. Y’all have a good night.

tap tap

This thing on?

I think perhaps I’ve forgotten how to write…but maybe not. Gotta say that I love the new (?) wordpress interface–much nicer.

Spent some time over on Ravelry and realized–holy crap–no one wants to see an empty blog. So maybe I can fill it up again. Perhaps on lunch breaks at work.

And now I leave you with a pic from one of our adventures in Nevada…

Ta for now.