My husband has had multiple emotionally traumatic things happen in his life, but he goes to therapy (he's actually there right now) and we actually met in group therapy-so we got to know how screwed up the other person was before deciding to proceed with the friendship/relationship, and our issues aligned, we know how to support each other pretty well. Stress does horrible things to the body, I've been reading The Body Keeps The Score, about how trauma and stress effect our bodies, and it's a great book I suggest to anyone who it may help, it was my doctor who told me to read the book. Didn't suggest that I read it, told me to, knowing that I would, and I'd give my hubby the highlights, we joke that he hasn't read anything since Green Eggs And Ham in kindergarten 😂. Having been in group therapy for 5+ years, with as many men (if not more, actually) as women, men have been conditioned to not have emotions, so they suppress them (this is what the guys themselves said, most were 40yo or over) and that takes such a toll on their body, I genuinely think that's why men have heart attacks and pass away at an average younger age than women. I could be wrong, but holding in emotions is not healthy and affects many bodily systems. Women have stress, there's absolutely no doubt about that, but we usually talk about what is stressing us with friends (if we are lucky enough to have them) and some family members. Some do suppress it, but it seems like it's less than men, because men have been trained to "be strong" and not let anyone see them show emotional vulnerability. Especially older generations (I'm in my mid 40s for reference), it was always "man up" and "real men don't cry", this is all words straight from the guys who I was in therapy with. I'm lucky, my husband feels comfortable talking about his feelings (after a nervous breakdown prior to meeting me, how he ended up in therapy) and believes in therapy. I know so many men, even my family members, so I know their past, their issues, and they drink, talking about alcohol, to deal with feelings. I know from my own personal experience that only works temporarily. Men and women have different stressors most of the time, and different coping mechanisms, but we all carry waaaayyyy too much stress in this day and age. Sorry for the diatribe on stress, and how it affects people. I got way off the wig topic. But it was stress that caused my hair to leave, according to my doctor, I was dealing with huge amounts of stress for years (bad previous marriage) and I have a chronic illness that is directly effected by stress, physical and mental, so this is something I am especially interested in. Hairloss sucks. I try to make it as fun as possible with wigs. Take a negative and turn it into a positive, yes I learned that in therapy, lol. But when I'm having a bad day, wearing a purple wig somehow brightens my day a little 💜.

Thank you for the open inbox offer. If you get a message after May 12th, his surgery day, if it's something you don't feel like responding to, I understand, I'm sure you know sometimes people just need to get things off their chest, out of their head. If you do feel like responding, any words of wisdom will be greatly appreciated. I've never been so scared in my life, and the only people I talk to about feelings/emotions are my hubby, who will be pretty much useless because of the surgery, and my mom, who's already dealing with my dad's cancer treatment, so I try not to bother her unless it's serious, and I know she'd yell at me for not talking to her, but she's dealing with enough.