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Robbie Matthews

Alopecia Artist & Full of Life.

Read her words:

I was diagnosed with Alopecia Universalis in June of 2004. I began finding a few strands of hair here and there on my clothing. My head would tingle and itch like a bad case of dandruff. Every time I washed my hair it would end with me holding handfuls of hair in my hands (to this date I have a bag with all of my strands of hair). Within a month or two I was completely bald and quite scared. I tried to take it as a grain of salt mixed with many tears. But, one can only cry for so long. I learned that early in life.

I was born missing a couple of fingers due to a drug called bendectin which was given to pregnant women in the 60’s to relieve morning sickness. They say (whoever “they” are) that God does everything for a reason. Those same “theys” also say that whatever doesn’t kill you will make you stronger. I guess to be missing fingers was God’s way of preparing me to be stronger later on. That was my first assignment in life. My wonderful mother never allowed pity parties about my fingers. There was no sympathy or stories about life having dealt me a bad hand. (No pun intended). My mother always told me, “You can do anything anyone else can do”. So even with missing fingers, I learned to play the piano and type. The word handicap did not exist in our household. Often, kid’s would be cruel and tease me about my fingers, but God knew that overcoming this obstacle would help me 4 decades later to get through the Alopecia.

The Bible says that a woman’s hair is her covering. We women spend tons of money and time defining who we are by the way we look. The way our hair looks -- whether long or short, coarse or fine, curly or straight -- is a huge part of our personality. So, what should you do when your covering, your personality, and a part of your beauty is no longer there? You HOPE (Hold On, Pray Effectively) -- and that’s what I did. Mustard seed faith is sometimes hard to come by. But if planted in nutritious soil, and firmly rooted, the mustard seed tree has the potential to become a very large and even massive tree.

My mother is an interior designer and a college Professor who also teaches interior design. What’s amazing about her is that she has glaucoma. I don’t know if you know much about glaucoma, but if you can, imagine cutting the top off a pen cover and try looking at the world through the very small hole in that top. That’s what it’s like to have glaucoma. There is no such thing as peripheral vision. It is very humbling to know what limited vision people with glaucoma actually possess. But, forever an optimist, when I lost all of my hair, my mother had only words of encouragement. If she can design (and doing her best work ever) under these conditions, surely I could make it.

The first year with Alopecia was very difficult. When I noticed that I was losing my hair after every wash, I stopped washing it. I then retreated to wearing scarfs wrapped around my head. I think the most devastating moment was coming home from exercising only to wipe away my eyebrows along with every drop of sweat. I lost the hair on my entire body. It was a great transition for my husband who at times was more devastated than me. But I had choices. Do you lie down and die and never leave the house or pray and hope? I chose the latter.

Every step of the way, God has been a great companion. He made sure I had help in every endeavor. When it was time to wear wigs he led me to a woman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that would sew my wigs (I have a small head). There was not a day that went by that I didn’t look in the mirror praying for a small sign that life still existed on my scalp. I remember this one particular day as though it was yesterday. I noticed a small patch of hair was growing in the center of my head. I was overjoyed at the thought that my hair could possibly grow back. A doctor told me that the possibility of me getting my hair back was slim to none. I kept telling him that I believed in a miracle. Unfortunately, I lost that patch, but not my hope.

Patience is very important. One day I once again noticed hair sprouting up right in the front of my forehead. As each passing day, year and now two years passed I received a new covering. I received my miracle. I now have almost a full head of hair and what seems to me a new start. I shed my wigs like a moth sheds its cocoon. That’s what started the Pins of Hope.

In the beginning I wore cotton knitted caps with costume jewelry pins for adornment. I was taking a trip and mentioned to my husband that I was tired of wearing the same pins. And out of the same breath I said “I’m going to make some pins”, and that’s what I did. I now have my glass jewelry displayed in Goggle Works (Reading, PA) Pieces of You Boutique (Easton, PA) and most recently, Alchemy (Silver Spring, MD). I have always wanted to work with glass (I was once told that glass is very fragile through the firing stage but if it doesn’t crack it has the potential to become a BEAUTIFUL piece.

The name of my newly inspired business is called ‘N His Time (Ecclesiastes 3:11 - God makes everything beautiful in his time). I have made it. I have almost all of my hair back; it actually curls from under my head bands. This adversity has turned into something WONDERFUL. I hope I can now give the same HOPE to someone else that my mother gave me.

A quote of HOPE that was given to me from my Mommy- Change will happen to everyone….But adaptability is a CHOICE…OOPHS….I forgot I now have eyebrows and eyelashes.