TIS THE SEASON TO BE GIVING...
The best gift that anyone can
give is life. As you are shopping this
season for the latest toy or the newest pair of shoes or whatever the “In
Thing” is now”, there is someone who only wants to live to see the next
Christmas and many more. If you could give someone life, would you?
African Americans make up less than 10% of people on the
national/international registration.
Kayla, being of African descent, would be more likely to receive a
marrow donation from someone of the same race.
Did you know that
individuals with sickle cell disease who are always in crisis can be cured from
sickle cell disease if they receive a bone marrow transplant?
I encourage that you register on www.deletebloodcancer.org or attend local donor drives in your area. You don’t have to be local to donate your
bone marrow. If you aren’t a match for
Kayla, you may be a match for someone else.
The most selfless
gift you can give someone is a second chance of a full life. The Wiggins family has had 3 donor
registration drives and has registered 334 people and counting. They have 6
more drives scheduled in the next few months. December 28, 2013- St. Mark
Baptist Church North Little Rock Bone Marrow Registration Drive 10am to 3pm
January 10, 2014- Philander Smith College Body, Mind, and Soul Health Fair 9am
to 4pm, January 20, 2014 Martin Luther King Jr. Commission Pine Bluff
Convention Center Time-TBA, February 20, 2014 Junior League of Little Rock at
the Women's City Club 5:30pm til 8pm, Arkansas Baptist College Annual Health
Fair in February date and time TBA.
Once again I encourage you to give a gift that no amount
of money can buy. “LIFE”.
Donating process
may surprise you. Facts about Bone marrow donation:
•doesn't cost you anything
•can be given 1of 2 ways
(1) donate like blood or
(2) extracted from lower part of back
•both are outpatient procedures
•doesn't cost you anything
•can be given 1of 2 ways
(1) donate like blood or
(2) extracted from lower part of back
•both are outpatient procedures
If you are a
match, the recipient’s insurance will cover the expenses
Mrs. Wiggins is hoping to get the state legislation to
mandate hospitals to have cord blood kits readily available for mothers in
labor who want to donate cord blood and mandate health care providers to talk
with expecting mothers about donating cord blood. She is currently working with
a 2nd year resident on writing an informative flyer concerning cord blood and
how it can save the lives of individuals suffering from blood disorders. Individuals with sickle cell disease who are
always in crisis can be cured from sickle cell disease if they receive a bone
marrow transplant. Children who need a bone marrow transplant can possibly be
cured of the disease from just one donated cord blood.
 |
| Kayla's Sister |
If you’d like to
help Mrs. Wiggins in her quest to get this into legislation or if you would
like to make monetary donations as well to help this family cover their medical
bills, you may call Toshua Wiggins at 501-551-6130.
 |
| Kayla before AML |
 | ||||||
| Founder of SLWA, Stacie Tucker & Kayla |
BALD & FIERCE
Many young girls aspire to be a model
one day. They flip through magazines. Practice their poses and their fierce
walk for the run way. The models in the magazines typically do not look like
our little sisters with alopecia. Perhaps the bald movement will encourage our
bald young ladies to inspire to be the next top alopecia model on the run way
or high fashion and couture magazines.
Our founder, Stacie Ferrell-Tucker had an
opportunity to interview an Arkansas native, who is now a fashion model, Nell
Coleman. Nell, who once did not believe she was beautiful, is the founder of the
“Bald Movement”. She experienced childhood bullying and low self-esteem. Please check out the interview below.
SFT: Do you have Alopecia?
NC:
I do not have Alopecia. I have
been BALD by choice for 3 years.
SFT:
What prompted you to start the “Bald Movement”?
NC: Years ago I hated myself do to the bullying
and torture that came from peers. They didn't accept me for me therefore I
didn't accept me either. Regardless of how kindhearted and sweet I was, or how
much I tried to dress up or change my hair, I wasn’t accepted. Overtime as this
began to weigh down on me I thought, why is the
acceptance of others necessary for me to accept myself First?? I stopped trying to fit in and decided I
wanted to define true beauty within myself, I wanted a new start. I was scared at first but I cut my hair off
and embraced the new me. I began to learn the importance of self-love
and self-acceptance and I began to learn to accept my imperfections just as
much as my perfections which is by far the best thing one can do for
themselves. I never in my life heard the word Beautiful until I was BALD. As I began to gain confidence with my new hair
cut I created The BALD Movement to teach women how to love and accept
themselves BALD and all and teach them the importance of self-acceptance and
embracing their baldness which is the mission of The BALD Movement.
The Bald Movement has a small clothing line
called BALD Apparel which is designed to embrace our Baldness and rock your
BALD with style. We take great pride in being
BALDIES and we embrace it by wearing Bald Apparel to show it.
SFT: How can others join the
Bald Movement?
NC:
The BALD Movement is open to everyone, we simply ask for you to submit a
photograph along with your story to help us to improve the lives of those who
have trouble with self-acceptance do to their baldness. Proceeds will be donated towards cancer research and relative disease
foundations to in helping to find a cure for a Healthier, Happier, YOU. Bald
Apparel is currently on sale now which can be found on our website www.TheBaldMovement.com.
For More information on
Nell Coleman, visit our website www.sisterslivingwithalopecia.com
- Stacie Tucker
Community Service In Action
Sisters Living With Alopecia helping put smiles on boys and
girls faces this Holiday Season.
We need you to make our doll drive a big success!
For more information, go to our website at http://www.sisterslivingwithalopecia.com/news
We need you to make our doll drive a big success!
For more information, go to our website at http://www.sisterslivingwithalopecia.com/news
This year when birthdays, anniversaries and other gift-giving occasions come around make it meaningful with a donation to SLWA INC in their honor. Show your support for Alopecia Awareness! Forget gift cards, coffee table books and fruit baskets - our acknowledgment of your gift will make them feel truly loved and thought of. Who needs another thing when the opportunity to make a difference is at your fingertips. Make sure to note on our donation section that the gift is made in someone’s honor and leave the contact information in the comments section, or call email us at sisterslivingwithalopecia@yahoo.com
You may make a donation in honor of a love one. We will send them a certificate with their name and we notify them of your donation. Certificates for sponsorships or donations in honor of a love one will be mailed in time for the Christmas holiday for any donations received by December 19th. Certificates can be emailed to you or to your honoree for donations received through PayPal by December 21st.
Complete the form. Upon receipt of donations, we will mail or email the certificate.
-Angela Whitaker
Jamie
Washington Receives Hair Loss Certification
Jamie
Washington attended a hair loss certification class at the Atlanta Airport
Marriot on Tuesday, August 20. She was certified as a hair loss specialist
which allows her to work with dermatologist and oncologist. She was encouraged
to participate with “Look Good, Feel Better” through the American Cancer
Society to assist women suffering from hair loss, as they undergo chemotherapy.
Recently, she partnered with Stacie Ferrell Tucker, founder of Sisters Living with
Alopecia, at the 1st Annual Alopecia Awareness 2k Walk, held
September 28, 2013 at Dupree Park in Jacksonville, AR.
Jamie was trained to
service men, women and children by learning to measure and fit a client for a
hair loss system and/or unit. If you or
someone you know is suffering from hair loss issues, Jamie Washington can be
reached at J’Nicole Salounge & Hair Loss Boutique located at 7006 Col.
Glenn, Little Rock, AR 72204, 501-247-3150.
-Angela Whitaker
I ROCK ALOPECIA SPOTLIGHT
Our “I Rock Alopecia” of the month
is Claire Elizabeth Green of North Little Rock, AR. Clair is 9 years old. She
is in the fourth grade and attends Indian Hills Elementary.
About the
time Claire started to walk, she developed a head full of blond curly ringlets
that would have made Shirley Temple jealous. Almost every store clerk or older
lady in town complimented her on her curls or asked her where she got those.
Sometimes people asked to touch them. Even before she could talk she learned to
pat her head and smile back at the fans of her curls. At one point when she was
about 2, she and her mom were looking at photos of her as a newborn. Claire
could not believe that she was ever bald: "But where are me curls?"
Yet when her Mom and Dad first spotted the bald spot on the upper left quadrant of her head when she was 2 1/2, Claire was not too bothered at least not about that. Her brother was having more serious health issues of his own at the time and he was in and out of the hospital including at Christmas time. Toddler Claire was much more concerned about her missing brother and about Santa finding the two of them than about her growing bald spot. At first her pediatrician diagnosed the bald spot as a fungus infection, thinking it might have been something she picked up in the hospital waiting room visiting her brother. After a few weeks on the medication for that, she met with a dermatologist specialist who changed the diagnosis to Alopecia Areata {Alopecia Totalis}. Claire was too little to understand much and was mostly just glad to be able to stop taking the anti-fungal medicine, which tasted awful. It took about a year for her hair to fall completely out, but her preschool friends didn't seem to care and Claire didn't really notice at first. Then one day she was at the playground with her Mom on a particularly windy day. Her mom's hair was blowing crazily with every gust. Claire, then 3 almost 4, noticed first by pointing and laughing at her Mom but then also by pointing and laughing at her mom's shadow on the ground. She laughed and laughed at how silly her Mom and the shadow looked. Then she looked at her shadow and she noticed there was no hair to blow. She stopped laughing and looked puzzled. She asked her Mom why that was. Her Mom gently reminded her about her alopecia and that her hair had mostly fallen out. She got quiet and said "oh," but then went back to laughing and playing at other things rather quickly.
By the time she started kindergarten Claire's hair had all grown back except for one spot, the same spot where the hair loss had begun when she was 2. This time though her hair was much straighter and darker. Claire learned to comb over the bald spot, but it was easier to camouflage with shorter hair. Even though Claire would have liked to have grown her hair longer like many of her friends, she made do with shorter styles. The bald spot slowly grew bigger, but Claire just became more skillful at combing her hair a certain way. She was fairly successful except when the wind blew or her hair was wet. As spring approached, Claire's mom knew there would be a lot of windy days on the playground and she arranged with Claire's first grade teacher to give Claire special permission to wear a hat at recess if she wanted even though the school dress codes forbid hats. Claire tried that, but after a few days Claire found the hat drew more attention than the bald spot. She decided to pull up her hood on her jacket or not to worry about it depending upon her mood.
Then a T.V. news weatherman came to her school to interview students and celebrate that the student body at her school had collected the highest number of cereal boxes to give to the hungry of any school in the region. The teachers picked 100 students in the school of 600 to attend a celebration breakfast with the weatherman who would be conducting live interviews. Claire, who had used her own money to buy boxes of cereal to donate, was one of the first students the weatherman picked to interview. She had just had her hair cut particularly short to help hide the bald spots. She had on her school spirit shirt and shorts, which were gender neutral. The weatherman asked her what she planned to do to stay cool during the summer, but in asking her the question he mistook her for a boy. Then when she tried to correct him, he misunderstood and mistook her for a boy a second time calling her "sir" repeatedly. A teacher standing nearby finally corrected him. Claire handled it OK in the moment, answering the question and sitting back down, but when her Mom asked her about it later in the day she said she was really mad at the weatherman. After that interview, which many of the students at the school who were not at the breakfast also watched, some of the kids on the playground not in her class began teasing her repeatedly asking her if she was a boy or a girl. Later when discussing it with fans on his Facebook page the weatherman said he regretted his mistake but said "wow her hair was short." When Claire's parents contacted the weatherman to explain the situation (and note that she had on pink glasses and tennis shoes), he apologized more profusely and removed the discussion from his Facebook page. Claire was able to put the whole incident mostly behind her although she insisted on wearing skirts and dresses more regularly at school for a long time even though she said they got in the way at P.E.
Her bald spot didn't improve but didn't get much worse until third grade when her hair began to fall out from front to back. Her teacher said she could have special permission to wear hats even though the dress code still forbid them, but remembering how much attention the hats had drawn during recess in first grade Claire was reluctant. Finally it got to the point where the hair loss was impossible to cover up and was also drawing attention. So Claire teamed up with her school counselor and they took some of the counselor's regular bi-weekly meeting time to explain alopecia to her class. Claire brought in pictures of when she had hair and when she was bald. Together she and the counselor read part of a book about alopecia and then the counselor lead a discussion about how everyone is different in some way. Once they understood, Claire's classmates were supportive and easily accepted why she was allowed to wear hats even though they weren't. Still Claire was nervous that a substitute or lunch aide would insist she was breaking a rule and couldn't have one. She and her principal worked out a solution. The principal signed a "hat pass" which Claire designed using a badge making kit from Hobby Lobby. The pass said the bearer was entitled to wear a hat. Claire kept the pass in her pocket and could show it to anyone who asked her to remove her hat. The pass brought her a lot of comfort although she found she never needed it and by the end of the year she decided it was too bulky to carry around and began leaving it at her desk or at home.
In fact, these days Claire is almost completely bald. She is much more comfortable about skipping the hats (which during the warmer months are particularly uncomfortable). She thinks sometimes it is just easier to explain alopecia to curious onlookers than to try to cover up her bald head even though she doesn't always like having to stop what she is doing and answer questions. She does try to be a good sport about it and remember that mostly people asking the questions are just concerned for her.
Yet when her Mom and Dad first spotted the bald spot on the upper left quadrant of her head when she was 2 1/2, Claire was not too bothered at least not about that. Her brother was having more serious health issues of his own at the time and he was in and out of the hospital including at Christmas time. Toddler Claire was much more concerned about her missing brother and about Santa finding the two of them than about her growing bald spot. At first her pediatrician diagnosed the bald spot as a fungus infection, thinking it might have been something she picked up in the hospital waiting room visiting her brother. After a few weeks on the medication for that, she met with a dermatologist specialist who changed the diagnosis to Alopecia Areata {Alopecia Totalis}. Claire was too little to understand much and was mostly just glad to be able to stop taking the anti-fungal medicine, which tasted awful. It took about a year for her hair to fall completely out, but her preschool friends didn't seem to care and Claire didn't really notice at first. Then one day she was at the playground with her Mom on a particularly windy day. Her mom's hair was blowing crazily with every gust. Claire, then 3 almost 4, noticed first by pointing and laughing at her Mom but then also by pointing and laughing at her mom's shadow on the ground. She laughed and laughed at how silly her Mom and the shadow looked. Then she looked at her shadow and she noticed there was no hair to blow. She stopped laughing and looked puzzled. She asked her Mom why that was. Her Mom gently reminded her about her alopecia and that her hair had mostly fallen out. She got quiet and said "oh," but then went back to laughing and playing at other things rather quickly.
By the time she started kindergarten Claire's hair had all grown back except for one spot, the same spot where the hair loss had begun when she was 2. This time though her hair was much straighter and darker. Claire learned to comb over the bald spot, but it was easier to camouflage with shorter hair. Even though Claire would have liked to have grown her hair longer like many of her friends, she made do with shorter styles. The bald spot slowly grew bigger, but Claire just became more skillful at combing her hair a certain way. She was fairly successful except when the wind blew or her hair was wet. As spring approached, Claire's mom knew there would be a lot of windy days on the playground and she arranged with Claire's first grade teacher to give Claire special permission to wear a hat at recess if she wanted even though the school dress codes forbid hats. Claire tried that, but after a few days Claire found the hat drew more attention than the bald spot. She decided to pull up her hood on her jacket or not to worry about it depending upon her mood.
Then a T.V. news weatherman came to her school to interview students and celebrate that the student body at her school had collected the highest number of cereal boxes to give to the hungry of any school in the region. The teachers picked 100 students in the school of 600 to attend a celebration breakfast with the weatherman who would be conducting live interviews. Claire, who had used her own money to buy boxes of cereal to donate, was one of the first students the weatherman picked to interview. She had just had her hair cut particularly short to help hide the bald spots. She had on her school spirit shirt and shorts, which were gender neutral. The weatherman asked her what she planned to do to stay cool during the summer, but in asking her the question he mistook her for a boy. Then when she tried to correct him, he misunderstood and mistook her for a boy a second time calling her "sir" repeatedly. A teacher standing nearby finally corrected him. Claire handled it OK in the moment, answering the question and sitting back down, but when her Mom asked her about it later in the day she said she was really mad at the weatherman. After that interview, which many of the students at the school who were not at the breakfast also watched, some of the kids on the playground not in her class began teasing her repeatedly asking her if she was a boy or a girl. Later when discussing it with fans on his Facebook page the weatherman said he regretted his mistake but said "wow her hair was short." When Claire's parents contacted the weatherman to explain the situation (and note that she had on pink glasses and tennis shoes), he apologized more profusely and removed the discussion from his Facebook page. Claire was able to put the whole incident mostly behind her although she insisted on wearing skirts and dresses more regularly at school for a long time even though she said they got in the way at P.E.
Her bald spot didn't improve but didn't get much worse until third grade when her hair began to fall out from front to back. Her teacher said she could have special permission to wear hats even though the dress code still forbid them, but remembering how much attention the hats had drawn during recess in first grade Claire was reluctant. Finally it got to the point where the hair loss was impossible to cover up and was also drawing attention. So Claire teamed up with her school counselor and they took some of the counselor's regular bi-weekly meeting time to explain alopecia to her class. Claire brought in pictures of when she had hair and when she was bald. Together she and the counselor read part of a book about alopecia and then the counselor lead a discussion about how everyone is different in some way. Once they understood, Claire's classmates were supportive and easily accepted why she was allowed to wear hats even though they weren't. Still Claire was nervous that a substitute or lunch aide would insist she was breaking a rule and couldn't have one. She and her principal worked out a solution. The principal signed a "hat pass" which Claire designed using a badge making kit from Hobby Lobby. The pass said the bearer was entitled to wear a hat. Claire kept the pass in her pocket and could show it to anyone who asked her to remove her hat. The pass brought her a lot of comfort although she found she never needed it and by the end of the year she decided it was too bulky to carry around and began leaving it at her desk or at home.
In fact, these days Claire is almost completely bald. She is much more comfortable about skipping the hats (which during the warmer months are particularly uncomfortable). She thinks sometimes it is just easier to explain alopecia to curious onlookers than to try to cover up her bald head even though she doesn't always like having to stop what she is doing and answer questions. She does try to be a good sport about it and remember that mostly people asking the questions are just concerned for her.
-
Stacie Tucker
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| Happy Holidays From SLWA INC. |
 |
| 2014 Alopecia Beauties Calendar On Sale Now!!! |
Purchase one TODAY!!!
www.sisterslivingwithalopecia.com
Upcoming Events:
 |
| The Bald The Bold The Beautiful Alopecia Fashion Show |
 | |||
| 2nd Annual "Accept Me As I Am" Women's Summit |
Quote of the Month: Don't be the "door stopper" to the door God is trying to close.
- Trent Shelton
Take a
at These Ads...
Enter SLWA to receive a discount
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