I am having trouble sleeping lately. It’s because I am balding. Is that not the weirdest thing you have ever heard? It’s not because I am worried about balding, it’s because my forehead itches like crazy, especially just after I wake up and right before I go to bed. It looks as if I have dandruff with no hair, it’s dry and flaky and it itches more than any contraction of poison ivy I have ever had. I look like I have leprosy and even worse is that people don’t want to come near me, maybe they are afraid that baldness is contagious. I wanted help because although no one has said anything, I knew it was just a matter of time before it was brought up. I met with my girlfriend’s stylist, Rimerna. She did my girlfriend’s hair from her house in one of the weirdest neighborhoods in Chicago. She actually lived in the upstairs portion of the building, renting out whatever was left after the salon to whoever was weird enough to rent property in such an area. It took me a while to actually make an appointment with Rimerna. I tried looking into other options but I was too embarrassed. Rimerna was the epitome of a hippy. She looked Bohemian with a huge head of dreaded hair. Who would want someone with dreads, which are basically knots, to do their hair? Her eyes were always glossed over and it seemed as if it took a lot of concentration on her part to hold a minute long conversation. I finally got up the nerve to call her and made an appointment. The day I went in I told her my problem. She looked at my head for what seemed like forever. I seriously thought she was going to sprinkle some dust on my head and do a dance and say that I was cured. She finally broke the silence by suggesting I use a cream. I had been through this, I told her, I want something that will make my hair grow back. She look surprised and suggested a hair loss treatment. She then decided to call in the big dogs. She gave me a number for a hair loss treatment program in the West Loop and I was on my way.