Growing up I had long, wavy hair, (which was attached to a very hard head if you were to ask my Mom).

At age 8, my Aunt Vanessa took me for a haircut, and the stylist noticed a small bald patch on my head; that was the first time I had ever heard the word "Alopecia Areata".

My mother took me to a dermatologist who explained what it was, but the spot did not get bigger, and I had a lot of hair, so it wasn't noticeable. We soon forgot about it and I didn't have any more spots appear until years later.

( Photo: Me with my own hair )

When I was 11 years old, I lost my Dad. He died in his sleep unexpectedly, he was 49 years old. I had a difficult time grieving and accepting that he was really gone, for a very long time. I still miss him very much. I believe the shock of this traumatic time in my life may have triggered my auto-immune response with alopecia.

( Photo: Me, my Mom & my Dad in 2008, 6 months before my Dad passed)

In March 2012, at fourteen and a freshmen in high school, my hair line began receding. By May, the end of my first year of high school, my hair severely thinned and was full of bald spots, and I did my best to disguise them with headbands and powdered hair fibers. Meanwhile, I began receiving corticosteroid injections from the dermatologist.

(Photo: (Jr.-Sr. Prom)

In the spring of 2013, I decided to shave my head and discontinue the corticosteroid shots. I began wearing a lace-front wig, it did not look as natural as I wanted.

(Photo: Me and my Great Aunt Alyce before going to the Homecoming Dance )

My Mom spent a lot of money to try to find a decent wig, but we soon realized that "regular" wigs were not made for everyday wear so they didn't last long. Regular wigs were very, hot, itchy and uncomfortable, especially if you are bald!

( Photo: Me and my horse Gilligan)

For the next few months I clipped extensions to the few strands of hair that were left and wore scarfs and hats in an effort to avoid wearing a wig again.

( Photo: Me and my cousin Dylan one Christmas morning).

This time I not only lost my hair, but I also lost my eyebrows, eyelashes, and all my body hair. I learned that this was called Alopecia Universalis, the rarest form of Alopecia.

My confidence was at an all time low. I didn’t feel pretty, all my wigs would move and shift, and I thought about it constantly.

I had a lot of anxiety every time I went out in public, my biggest fear was that someone would pull my wig off, or it would move if someone touched it.

( Photo: Me and my best friend Spencer)

I had done some research on wigs before I had lost all my hair, and I remembered seeing an ad for a silicone vacuum wig that was intriguing.

I returned to my research and found Freedom Vacuum Wigs (aka Cranial Prosthesis). I brought the research to my mom, finally a wig made for bald people who wear a wig everyday, not for fun! We called our local Freedom agent Ginny who also had alopecia universals, to make an appointment. It was great to meet Ginny, she really "got me" and understood what I was going through. I had ever met anyone who could really understand the way I felt about my hair loss. When Ginny retired, my Mom and we thrilled when we were asked to be in the Freedom Agents in the Southeast,

I was so excited to be able to order the hair color, wave, density, etc. that would be used for MY FREEDOM vacuum wig!

Fast forward to the fall of 2013, I received my first Freedom Wig! The hair was long, beautiful, so soft and the cap was so comfortable; but best of all, it was completely secure. After I had it cut and styled, my mom and I both cried tears of joy. This wig was a "game-changer" .

When I say it changed my life, I do not say it lightly; I was able to do the things I loved to do without all the anxiety I had about wearing a wig.

( Photo: This was the moment I saw myself after the stylist had finished cutting and styling my first Freedom wig)

My Freedom Wig was secure and looked more like my natural hair than I could have ever imagined, I felt confident again. I was always strong-willed, and was never too concerned about what others thought. I didn't like to wear the things everyone else was wearing, I was a bit of a rebel. Losing my hair had made me so self-conscience.

I've always known that my confidence should come from inside...not from my outer appearance...but before I found Freedom Wigs, people would stare and ask questions like "do you have cancer?" I just wanted to run and hide. Fear destroyed my confidence.

The security and beauty of my Freedom Wig restored my confidence. Best of all, I realized that I didn't think about my baldness, every minute of every day the way I did before I found Freedom.

(Photo: A car selfie, the day I got my first Freedom Wig styled.)

My Freedom vacuum hair piece, allowed me to keep being active. I wasn't afraid to swim, ride horses, drive my convertible, go to Six Flags and ride the roller-coasters, go out on a speed boat or even zip-line through the trees in the mountains. This is a picture of a Zip-Lining trip with my family. Before I had my Freedom Wig, I would have dreaded having a hot sweaty, stinky wig plastered to my head when I took the helmet off a few hours later!

With my Freedom Wig, sweat doesn't soak into the hair like it does with a regular wig. The Freedom Wig, vacuums to my head with air-permeable silicone which covers the entire inside of the wig, no part of my scalp touches the hair on the wig.

(Photo: Joe ( brother), Joey (fiancé'), Me , Carla & Keith ( my parents).

I was married to my husband Joey the week the week the world shut down. We were notified 3 days before the wedding that our venue was cancelling our wedding for 165 guest due to Covid-19. We were all completely devastated, but were determined to have a wedding in order to get married own our day!

We only 48 hours to pull off a wedding with 25 total people, but we did it! We had 6 guest outside of the wedding party, the pastor, and the musician. It was a magical day and everyone had so much fun!

2019

As a Police Officer we are suppose to wear our hair short or in a bun so a perpetrator couldn't use a ponytail to their advantage in a fight.

My Freedom wig probably wouldn't even come off even in a tussle,

but wouldn't it be fun to see the look on their face if it did!! (-;

Stay Safe,

Gillian

Career 2022 Update:

I am a detective now, and I am now working days. On a busy day, I sometimes have to attend court in the mornings, then in the afternoon work a crime scene (in the extreme Georgia heat) then head back inside and try to look professional while interviewing someone.

Fortunately, the heat doesn't destroy me the way it used to when I had to wear cloth,wefted, or lace-front wigs. When they got hot, itchy and sweaty,they stayed hot itchy and sweaty all day!

This isn't a problem with my Freedom Hair.. Due to the silicone vacuum I can pop it off, wipe my head off, or swish a little water around the inside of my cap and I'm cool again!

With no tapes or glues to deal with, it takes about 3 seconds to put my wig back on. Wearing a Freedom Wig realy has improved the quality of my life! Stay Safe!

Gillian