A decade after her diagnosis, Laura Price found that writing her novel, Single Bald Female, not only helped her to process her grief, but also provided her legacy. Right before I was diagnosed with cancer, I’d been admiring a colleague’s pixie cut. Her face was a similar shape to mine, and I found myself wondering what I’d look like if I ever had the guts to cut my hair like that. But I didn’t have the guts, partly because of the beauty standards I’d been held to in Brazil and by the glossy magazines I’d grown up reading. I was also influenced by what men thought of me – when I cut my hair into a Lily Allen-inspired bob circa 2010, my girlfriends loved it, but a male friend said he preferred it long. I was single and naively figured I might not find a boyfriend if I kept my hair short. ‘I found myself wondering what I’d look like if I ever had the guts to cut my hair like that. But I didn’t have the guts, partly because of the beauty standards I’d been held to . . .’

The novel isn’t about my own life, but writing it helped me to process my grief through my characters and everything they represent.The British Association of Dermatologists (BAD) has produced a Patient Information Leaflet for Alopecia Areata. When a blog I wrote about my dating experience went viral, I realised how little information there was about young women and cancer, and that I could use my voice to help others. I created characters, friendships and love stories to escape my world With Telogen Effluvium more hairs than usual move into the telogen (resting) phase and shed, so you may notice more hair falling out than usual. Telogen Effluvium is often caused by a physical or psychological trigger and often resolves itself spontaneously.

Alopecia Areata is thought to be an autoimmune condition, which often starts with isolated patches of hair loss, commonly in one or more coin-sized (usually round or oval) patches on the scalp and/or across the body including the beard, eyebrows, eyelashes or body hair, including pubic hair.Read, read, read. Read everything you can get your hands on, within your own genre and outside it. This will feed your brain while helping you to hone your own writing style. I’ve written a diary since I was a little girl, but for some reason, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer at 29, I stopped. There’s an entry from June 2012 where I told myself I’d be just fine, then nothing, until I finished treatment eight months later. Alopecia Universalis is characterised by hair loss across the entire scalp, face (including eyebrows and eyelashes), and the rest of the body (including pubic hair).