As the Super Bowl has slowly but surely transitioned into a national holiday, so to do American’s memories and experiences attached to the NFL’s annual championship football game. The takeaway for San Marino High School senior Christina Chang from the 2016 contest is, however, an amalgam of feelings and events she would much rather forget.
It was then, on Sun., Feb. 7, 2016, that Christina – a member of the school’s ASB and a 4-year starter on the Lady Titan soccer team – noticed a bald spot on her previously well-coiffed head.
“It was terrible to experience,” Christina said. “My hair was always something I was really confident in. It kind of felt like my femininity was being stripped away from me.”
Christina had been experiencing some health issues at the time, but the sudden hair loss triggered an accelerated search for a cause.
“I first noticed that my sleeping patterns were getting very irregular,” she said. “My doctors thought it was chronic fatigue syndrome, but once my hair began to fall out they looked towards my thyroid and my immune system.”
Christina was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis and Alopecia Totalis, autoimmune diseases that often occur simultaneously in the same patient. Alopecia Totalis creates antibodies that attack hair follicles.
In Christina case, it just started falling out in large clumps with no determinable pattern.
“The doctors couldn’t pinpoint the cause and thus never really figured out a cure,” Christina said. “I was expected to lose all of my hair.”
School days are difficult enough with the occasional pimple, but the specter of losing all of her hair was devastating. Christina has consistently credited her many friends with helping her through the ordeal.
“My friends were really helpful in the sense that they kept my mind off of it to the best of their ability,” she recalls. “They supported me in every way that I could’ve hoped for. A lot of them were even there when I decided to shave all of my hair off.”
That’s right. As her hair began falling out in clumps, Christina decided to just finish the job and underwent a close shave.
“I just didn’t want to watch my hair fall out any more,” she said. “A few of my closest friends were there when I decided to shave it off. It was really liberating.”
Bryan Lee, a classmate of Christina’s, was one of those friends who stood by her side throughout the often painful journey.
“It was difficult and painful to see my best friend go through this,” said Bryan, a member of the Titan varsity baseball team. “I admire her courage for staying strong and never giving up. Despite her struggle, she admirably managed to live life the way she wants and show everyone that she is not letting anything get in her way from having fun. I love her. She’s an amazing, strong individual. I will forever continue to support her in any way she needs.”
In June, her hair suddenly began to grow back, puzzling doctors who told Christina it was “somewhat of a miracle.”
“There was no cure, my immune system simply began rebuilding itself,” Christina said.
A few more difficulties presented themselves even when her hair reemerged.
“People told me that my hair looked like a mullet and that I looked like a boy, and it was really difficult to cope with that,” Christina recalls.
Changes in her diet have mitigated the symptoms of the diseases.
“I feel much better now,” she said. “However, since the cause of the whole ordeal is still unable to be pinpointed, there is a chance of a relapse. If it happens again, I guess I’ll just have to re-shave it!”
The daughter of Brenda and Reynold Chang, Christina has two sisters: Jennifer, who graduated from San Marino High School in 2003, and Alison, who received her diploma in 2009. Christina has basically played soccer for as long as she has been able to walk and has also dabbled in volleyball, softball and track.
Christina hopes to attend Colorado State University and study biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering.
“Hopefully, putting me on a pre-med track,” she said.
Aside from providing a different perspective from which to view her rich life, Christina’s situation also allowed for another benefit.
“I discussed this in my essay for college applications,” she said.
