When my hair was just coming in, I had to go into a department store to pay a bill. The two male employees were giggling and one of them asked to see my military ID. I was not offended to be associated with the military, just that these two employees knew I wasn't and thought they were being funny. In retrospect, I wish I would have said something to the management, but at that point I just wanted to pay the bill and get out of there. That was the first time I had breast cancer and wore wigs and tried to hide the fact I was going through chemo. The second time, I said to heck with it, why should I be uncomfortable when I am the one going through treatment? So, I wore bandanas the entire time. I knew other people were uncomfortable having to face the fact that I was sick, but, in my opinion, that was their problem, not mine. Sorry for such a long post, just had to get that out! :-)

I was sitting the vehicle waiting for my sister to finish little bit of shopping. While seated in the vehicle, I was bald from my chemo (thus no hat/scarf) and a young girl and one of her friends (maybe about 10) started laughing when she looked at me. I was soooooo annoyed, and waited for an adult to come to the vehicle that she was in. When an adult finally approached the vehicle, my sister had returned at the same time and saw I was a little vexed and asked me what was wrong. I got out the vehicle and explained to my sister that the girls in the vehicle next to us had the audacity to laugh at me, probably because I didn't have any hair, wasn't wearing a scarf/hat. My sister told the adult of those children that they needed to be more sensitive, and that I was a cancer survivor and still in active treatment. Those girls got in sooooo much trouble and I left smiling at them.

I'm sorry for all the rudeness of people!I was lucky and never had anyone ever say anything rude to me. I did wear my wig all the time when i was bald. I would put it on when i got dressed and wore it till i went to bed. it was tough at first because it was itchy and hot. But I soon got use to it, it was a real cute wig which made it easier!!I just didn't want to look sick and draw attention to myself. Which is a personal choice of each one going through it..Many people I know, but only see here and there didn't even know I went through it. My husband and I ran into a man and his family shopping one night that my husband works with, commented on how I had gotten my hair cut but liked it a lot and said how good I looked! Then at work he mentioned to my husband about it again and he told him my/our story. He was so embarrassed and apologized over and over again! Then one time I was shopping and saw a women with a pink scarf on standing there with her little girl looking so so sad! (Now I had a nice head of hair again)and was feeling a little gutsy. I walked over to her and said may I give you a hug because I was you 2 years ago, and she teared up and hugged me. We talked a little and shared a small amount of our stories and when we parted she was smiling ear to ear! I felt so good inside and I believe I gave her just a little bit of light at the end of her tunnel! I will never forget her! This journey we go through forever changes us all! Big Hugs to everyone!!!

Because my port is so prominent and then I had one on the opposite side, I get comments all the time.
A man asked me if I had been shot. He was looking at my port. I was more shocked than angry though because I was wondering where in the (expletive) did he get that from?
Then one of my friends keep asking me about my ports everytime she see me. The last time she asked me what was I going to do about it. Needless to say, I did not say anything nice but I did tell her I don't give a "bleep" about how my port areas look. They are my lifeline and if you don't like it, too freaking bad!!!!
Survivors, take up for yourself. We don't need to justify anything to anyone.

Carol, I left my dentist because his wife/office manager asked how I felt to have the big C then started to examine herself then ran to the bathroom to do it. I brushed it off as stupidity but when she did it again the next time I came back a few weeks later that was it. Amazing how insensitive people are!!