I'm Back and Have Plenty to Say/ Sisterloc Nitemare

Hello All,
It's been over almost 2 months and a lot has occured. I think my last post was in early Feb and at that time, my girlfriend's father was battling lung cancer and lost the battle on Feb. 7th. I stayed pretty close to her during that awful time and blogging went way down on the list of priorities. In addition to that, another girlfriend's mother was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer as well and it was completely unexpected and a shock to all. The doctors have given her 6 months to live and it was just a devastating blow. She is now caring for her mom full time and preparing for her life to end. It's just that simple. You live and then you die. Gives you much to ponder on, those of us who still take life for granted. The dynamics of my relationships with people have changed just over the course of these last 2 months and I am trying to cope with all of it.

I have a unique group of friends that I am very close to and as I stated when I was tagged, I am loyal almost to a fault. I try to treat people as I would like to be treated but that is not always healthy for me. I absorb other's grief and issues and I feel very deeply. As a result, I neglect the things in my life because I am so engrossed in everyone elses. Don't get me wrong, I am probably fulfilling some sick need I have to be needed by others. (that's another story) When I say neglect, I really mean that it gives me reason not to deal with my own issues that face me every day. Oh well, I figure when I go outta here, folk may just have some nice things to say......
I digress..

Now on to the drama at hand. It kills me to say this but I have taken down my sisterlocks. This occured on Thurs and Fri of last week. Long story, wanna hear it? Here it go:
You have seen pics of my friend Daena. Well, she started to have some real issues with her locs and wound up cutting them off and having them re-installed about 4 to 5 weeks ago. This was quite stressful and needless to say, very expensive and time consuming but I will tell you that the new set looks totally different and she is very happy now. Meanwhile, I had a banquet to attend on March 2 and I was chomping at the bit trying to figure out how to style my hair with the fabulous gown I purchased. I was happy about the gown because I am overweight and had finally found something that camaflouged my big-ness. I wanted an up-do. I go to a shop where I used to get my hair done with extensions and the loctician that styles there was exploring my hair and the first question she asked me was "who installed your locs?" I immediately cringed and became annoyed with the way she asked. I proceeded to tell her who and she went on to tell me what was wrong. Mind you, I had already figured that there were some issues but now they were being confirmed. My parts (or lack of parts) were not in a pattern. It was like hair had just been grabbed and a loc formed. The new growth was meshing together and it was hard for me to seperate the hair. I was also able to literally stick my finger in the middle of most of my locs because the hair was so loose. Now, to the naked eye, my hair looked fabulous but for one who was lurking thru it, the truth came out. Needless to say, I was sick.
My next step was to go to another sisterlock consultant to get a second opinion and lo and behold, she said the same thing. I did NOT have the true sisterlock pattern blah, blah, blah. I must interject that as I am writing this, i am finding it difficult to even write about it because it has truly been horrible. I really did like my hair and the way it looked but deep down, I knew it wasn't right and I had to face that fact and make a decision. I went to the original girl that did the initial consultation but couldn't get me in as fast as I wanted. (See Zaharah's blog titled "look before you leap") She gave me a couple of options. She told me she could fix the loose locs by doing a technique called a "pull down" but even with that I would still have jacked up parts or I could just take them out and start all over. Well, what a choice right?? I made an appt with her because my original consultant was recovering from surgery. I haven't had the chance to really speak with her about all of this. I had about 2 weeks to think about it. My appt was last Thurs at 9 am and when I got there I still had not made a decision. After an hour of going back and forth. I decided to take them out. I sat there for 8 hours and had several mini breakdowns. Daena came and held my hand as she had just gone thru it herself. After 8 long hours only about less than half were out and she used her tool to do it. I went home and from about 7p to 3 am only managed to get about 1/4 of it out. That was with the help of my girlfriend Regina aka "gettin hot" who graciously offered her services at about 10pm. She came over and really worked on my head and allowed me to rest for as she so bluntly put it " What's the point in having friends if they can't do sugar honey iced tea for ya" that was at abput 1am when I could barely raise my arm anymore and she suggested I just lay down and let her work. I love you for that Gina!!! You are the girl. I proceeded to go back to the consultant for another 5 hours on Friday and she managed to get it all out. Mind you, I paid her by the hour!!! You do the math.
I then went to my old hairdresser and she blew it out, combed it and trimmed or should I say cut it for you can imagine that I lost quite a bit of hair after not combing it for 3 months. Today would have been my 14 week mark. I still can't believe it. I am sitting here with an AFRO puff as I type and I am still trying to figure out what just happened.
End Result: I will be having them re-installed at the end of the week by the consultant's consultant who if flying in from Jamaica. Her name is Natalie and she is supposed to be really good. She did Daena's second set and it looks great, parts and all. I'm not sure how I feel. I think I am just numb and broke of course. I go for my "consultation" on Thurs and she starts on Friday. I will post pics sometime this week. This has truly been an experience and I just want it to be over.
I will say that I am still a diehard sisterloc girl and I am determined to be done correctly. I will not bash anyone, all I will say is truly do your homework and if you want it done right, stick with the certified consultants and make sure you SEE the work and look for the right things. I will talk more about that later.......