More About Nicole / Alopecia Treatment
My budding friendship with Nicole is headed to amazing places; I can feel it. Even with my warped working schedule and 12-hour shifts taking up the best days of the week, her and I still get together for at least two nights every week. In fact, looking at my calendar, I've had her over for a visit every single Monday afternoon and evening for all of July. Her and I actually look forward to Mondays because that's the first chance we have to be together after my crazy work week.
Our relationship status is a little complicated at this moment. I'll try to explain without giving out too many details. Like I mentioned when I introduced her a month ago, Nicole is freshly graduated from college and is currently unemployed. She came to Portland from northern California with her boyfriend from that time. Very recently, she ended a long and tumultuous relationship with a man who kinda micro-managed her life and treated her like a piece of furniture to be lorded over and looked down upon and stifled. Unfortunately, because of how some long relationships are, they have a few mutual assets and loose ends to tie up. Being unemployed with zero income and nowhere to go doesn't exactly help. Now that college is over, she's got to find a place to live, and thankfully her best friend-a woman I've met and already trust-will be taking her in rent-free (I think) and that will make it easier for her to find a job.
I know what you're thinking. I know. Those are some big red flags. Unemployed, fresh out of a crappy relationship, I'll be in danger of being the rebound boyfriend, her living situation being up in the air... Those things sound bad. I understand. People I've talked to about Nicole are scared I'll be used. But hey, two years ago, I was just as unemployed as her and up until nine months ago, I still lived at home with my parents. I believed then what I believe now: Regardless of my situation, I am still a great catch, and all that nonsense was temporary. I see the potential in Nicole and I'm confident that in due time, she'll find a job, get her own place and at that point her and I will consider dating. Right now, we'll work on being supportive friends, which is something she really needs at this time. So yea, even though we're seeing a lot of each other and things are looking wonderful, it's not official and things are moving kinda slow. Which is perfect.
As the weeks and months roll by, I'll give you more details about Nicole. I will say this, however: There are those around me who worry that I'm making a potential mistake or that I'm being used or that I need to reconsider even thinking of dating someone so fresh out of a committed relationship. My response to that is that I've lived my life without chancing much. For decades, I've made safe, modest, calculated life decisions. I hardly ever do something crazy and I never risk anything. Let me risk my heart for this. Let this new girl and I find out what lies in store for us. If it turns out badly, at least I'll have had this experience which has so far been absolutely heavenly and worth every moment. If there's even a chance that this could end up turning out to be a lifetime relationship, then I'm happy to be taking this risk. So here we go. I'm more excited about Nicole than I've been about anything in years.
The other headline for me at the moment is the situation with my recently diagnosed alopecia. I was scheduled to visit with a dermatologist in August but a cancellation allowed me to jump ahead and be seen a week ago. I went in not really knowing what to expect. I've read around and there aren't many treatments for alopecia except like steroids or Botox. The worst part of the office visit was how long they made me wait to be seen. It was a crime, really. Thirty minutes in the waiting room then another hour in a patient room. It was ridiculous. When the doctor finally did show up, she had a young apprentice in tow and they were combing all over my head, checking things out and answering my questions. I do admit, it got kind of fun at that point and I asked a bunch of thoughtful questions. I learned a lot about how I was pretty much destined to get this condition and I even learned that alopecia even affected my fingernails as evidenced by a series of natural pit mark-like notches in the nail. Fascinating. There was only good news, too, as the doctor explained that not only had my immune system stopped killing off hair, but that some had begun growing back already.
Anyway, her suggested treatment was actually callagen, which isn't all that crazy compared to steroids or Botox. Without treatment, it could take a year or longer if ever to wait for the hair to naturally grow back. With treatment, it would be a matter of months. I figured it would take me another month to get in to actually get the injections, but she surprised me by having them on her, ready to go. I got the injections right then and there and now we wait. It's been ten days so far and those who have seen the spots claim there are a few tiny little hairs appearing. I've got to give it a month or two, so we'll see. Finally one aspect of my life is going to return to normal soon.
Our relationship status is a little complicated at this moment. I'll try to explain without giving out too many details. Like I mentioned when I introduced her a month ago, Nicole is freshly graduated from college and is currently unemployed. She came to Portland from northern California with her boyfriend from that time. Very recently, she ended a long and tumultuous relationship with a man who kinda micro-managed her life and treated her like a piece of furniture to be lorded over and looked down upon and stifled. Unfortunately, because of how some long relationships are, they have a few mutual assets and loose ends to tie up. Being unemployed with zero income and nowhere to go doesn't exactly help. Now that college is over, she's got to find a place to live, and thankfully her best friend-a woman I've met and already trust-will be taking her in rent-free (I think) and that will make it easier for her to find a job.
I know what you're thinking. I know. Those are some big red flags. Unemployed, fresh out of a crappy relationship, I'll be in danger of being the rebound boyfriend, her living situation being up in the air... Those things sound bad. I understand. People I've talked to about Nicole are scared I'll be used. But hey, two years ago, I was just as unemployed as her and up until nine months ago, I still lived at home with my parents. I believed then what I believe now: Regardless of my situation, I am still a great catch, and all that nonsense was temporary. I see the potential in Nicole and I'm confident that in due time, she'll find a job, get her own place and at that point her and I will consider dating. Right now, we'll work on being supportive friends, which is something she really needs at this time. So yea, even though we're seeing a lot of each other and things are looking wonderful, it's not official and things are moving kinda slow. Which is perfect.
As the weeks and months roll by, I'll give you more details about Nicole. I will say this, however: There are those around me who worry that I'm making a potential mistake or that I'm being used or that I need to reconsider even thinking of dating someone so fresh out of a committed relationship. My response to that is that I've lived my life without chancing much. For decades, I've made safe, modest, calculated life decisions. I hardly ever do something crazy and I never risk anything. Let me risk my heart for this. Let this new girl and I find out what lies in store for us. If it turns out badly, at least I'll have had this experience which has so far been absolutely heavenly and worth every moment. If there's even a chance that this could end up turning out to be a lifetime relationship, then I'm happy to be taking this risk. So here we go. I'm more excited about Nicole than I've been about anything in years.
The other headline for me at the moment is the situation with my recently diagnosed alopecia. I was scheduled to visit with a dermatologist in August but a cancellation allowed me to jump ahead and be seen a week ago. I went in not really knowing what to expect. I've read around and there aren't many treatments for alopecia except like steroids or Botox. The worst part of the office visit was how long they made me wait to be seen. It was a crime, really. Thirty minutes in the waiting room then another hour in a patient room. It was ridiculous. When the doctor finally did show up, she had a young apprentice in tow and they were combing all over my head, checking things out and answering my questions. I do admit, it got kind of fun at that point and I asked a bunch of thoughtful questions. I learned a lot about how I was pretty much destined to get this condition and I even learned that alopecia even affected my fingernails as evidenced by a series of natural pit mark-like notches in the nail. Fascinating. There was only good news, too, as the doctor explained that not only had my immune system stopped killing off hair, but that some had begun growing back already.
Anyway, her suggested treatment was actually callagen, which isn't all that crazy compared to steroids or Botox. Without treatment, it could take a year or longer if ever to wait for the hair to naturally grow back. With treatment, it would be a matter of months. I figured it would take me another month to get in to actually get the injections, but she surprised me by having them on her, ready to go. I got the injections right then and there and now we wait. It's been ten days so far and those who have seen the spots claim there are a few tiny little hairs appearing. I've got to give it a month or two, so we'll see. Finally one aspect of my life is going to return to normal soon.