Connecting with CANAAF: Ana-Laura’s Story

Ana-Laura joined the CANAAF family back in 2017 as CANAAF’s Teens and Kids Support Coordinator. Since then, she has dedicated her time to hosting creative support events, improving CANAAF’s outreach, and increasing alopecia awareness. Ana-Laura has made a positive impact on numerous lives within the alopecia community.

Below, she shares her reasons for getting involved and what she’s learned along the way.

At what age were you diagnosed with alopecia areata? 

It was a month before my 13th birthday when I began to notice large bald spots. It took two months and I had completely lost all the hair on my head. After about three years I experienced complete hair regrowth. Fast forward 10 years and I began to slowly discover more and more bald spots. Within a year I had developed alopecia universalis. It’s now been another 10 years and I seem to be experiencing yet another cycle. We’ll see what happens! It’s always a guessing game with alopecia. 

At what point in your journey did you find CANAAF?

I discovered CANAAF as an adult while experiencing my second bout of hairloss. After attending several support sessions and being inspired by the volunteers, I knew I wanted to be involved in whatever capacity, so as to be able to assist others facing the same predicaments. Knowing that CANAAF is a volunteer run organization, I wanted to volunteer to ensure its continued success.

How has meeting other people with alopecia impacted your self-confidence?

I distinctly remember one of the first support sessions I attended. I had just begun wearing a hairpiece after shaving the last remnants of my hair and I wasn’t very comfortable wearing the piece as I felt it didn’t suit me. A woman walked into the meeting sporting a bald head and I was immediately taken by her confidence! I vowed to strive to embody her and be able to show my true self. That was one of the first steps in my process of self-acceptance. A few weeks later I made my first trip outside the house without my hair and envisioned myself as that woman, confidently strutting into that support session!

What does being a CANAAF Support Leader mean to you?

As a CANAAF Support Leader, I am given the opportunity to provide a space in which someone is confident in knowing there are no judgements. It means being a good listener and using my decades of experience to help someone navigate a very difficult condition. Being a Support Leader allows me to help someone journey through their own unique process, whatever that may look like.

What is the biggest thing you’ve learned as a volunteer with CANAAF?

One of the most significant things I’ve learned is that we are all going through our own unique process. Our journey to self-acceptance and to healing is uniquely ours and we should never compare ourselves to others. Where we are in our process is perfectly fine as there is no ultimate end – it’s an ever-evolving process.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone just diagnosed with alopecia areata, what would it be?

As challenging as it may be to adjust to this new diagnosis, know that alopecia will reveal an inner strength in you that you may not have ever known. It will get better.