Hair Hair Hair - Another question
Comments
-
i just wanted to pop in to show my new pic. Here is my hair at 17 weeks PFC. It is just over 1/2 inch long and ready for my first color and shaping! the neck hair is out of control!
I decided to test it out and went and did my laundry this weekend for the first time with no hat on. (my apartment has community laundry rooms) and of course I ran into every single neighbor in that 5 minuets! It was just my luck! However, not one of them screamed or pointed in horror. I knew that it meant my issue was all in my head. LOL
Today is the first day I went to work without the hat. Everyone has been so complimentary and saying positive things. Feels really good!!!
For all of you just done with treatment, hang in there, this day does finally come!
0 -
I am 3 weeks out of my last TAC (I had 6 tx), why are my eyebrows just now all falling out??? I don't get it my chin hair is growing and my eyebrows are falling out!
0 -
Chris C433-I am going to see if they can do that!!!thanks --Trish K you look great-- hang in all--
0 -
Trish...You look so pretty!!0
-
Buccaneer - I know that sucks. And here is the bad news, they may fall out again right ofter they grow back, Just one of those nasty little chemo surprises.
0 -
Just checking in, have a good weekend!
Hugs to all, Judy xxx
0 -
I agree with gillyone on the PFC and what it stands for. I call the F the nasty word.
0 -
ME too!!
0 -
Yeah, chemo is the gift that just keeps on giving. Expect them to fall out again, with no warning, about 5 months afterwards. Fun!
0 -
On a postive note! 13 months out from my first chemo treatment I have hair! A full head of hair! It may not be my style or my idea of fashion, but it is hair!!!!
My hair has a complete and total life of it's own. The curl is subsiding - in spots - that is going to be fun to deal with.
But I have hair!
Lisa
0 -
Lisa, how long did it take for the hair to cover your scalp completely? Did it take 13 months? I am 6 months from end of chemo and my hair is very thin and does not cover my scalp.
0 -
hrf...I am 22 weeks PFC now and I have been taking a pic of my hair every week or 2 since chemo ended. I can see that my hair has just now completely covered my head and is a big difference compared to a month ago. You would be surprised how much more hair you get everyday without even realizing it. I do think the Herceptin that I have to take is making it grow slower like it did with Lisa. My hair is also exactly the same as it was before chemo, same color, texture, thickness and just as straight as before. It is just not the length it was before yet, lol. I know you have heard this a thousand times just like I have, but it just takes patience.0
-
hi ccbaby....I have also been taking pics every week or two. I do continue to see little bits of growth but am so worried that it will never cover my head completely......I don't mind the short hair so much because I figure it will grow, it's the thickness that is so upsetting as so many women have their head covered by 3 or 4 months. The last time I went through this I was able to do without a head covering after 3 months. ....I will try to be patient..... 0
-
Hi all, good to hear from everyone. Helen, how are you doing?
I am in my 5th month pfc and am so nervous about the lashes and brows coming out again! Does it happen after all types of chemo? I had 4 A-C and 4 Taxol DD.
Hope everyone is having a good day, hugs, Judy xxx
0 -
JudyNaomi - I am six months PFC. My eyelashes and eyebrows didn't fall out a second time and I did the same chemo that you did. My eyebrows are thin but then again they were always on the thin side, I never plucked them. What is weird is having more on one side of the face than the other.
I still have that awful peach fuzz going on with my face but I am scared to death to shave it. I have read that eventually it will go away but when????
My hair is super thick on the very top - the sides and back are normal. I have an appt with the hairdresser tomorrow and once again she will texture out some of that thickness.
I am getting tired of waking up to bedhead every day to the point where mousse, gel, or waxing stuff doesn't work to lay it down - It sticks straight up and out!
0 -
Jancie, that's what mine does - I wake up with a new hairstyle every day, no matter what it looked like when I went to bed, or how much I had flatironed it, put in wax or style cream. It stands up on top, the back is all weirdly spikey and I have to spend so much time trying to manipulate it into some sort of shape. I cannot wait until it is long enough to all go in one direction - DOWN! Dec 23 will be 8 months PFC. I trimmed my bangs evenly across the bottom, they were all kinds of lengths. Still way too short, but I'm happy my forehead is somewhat covered.
Once I shaved that facial fuzz early on, it never ever came back. and my brows initially grew in thick, but when the hairs fell out the second time they resumed their thinner shape (I have been plucking for years). I was bummed - I thought I'd get a second chance to reshape the brows, but they are thin again. I'm filling them in more with brow pencil and the powder/wax to give them a fuller shape than before, but still weird. Lashes seem to be at full length again and had better not fall out en mass again!
0 -
Thanks Jancie!
Have a good evening all!
Hugs, Judy xxx
0 -
I've been taking pictures every week or two in order to track the progress of my hair growth. In the past 3 weeks there has been nothing. I am at a point where I don't think my hair is going to grow back ... it's been 6 months and all I have is fuzz on my head with my scalp showing through everywhere. The hair on my arms and legs has not come back either. So now I have no hair, no boobs, no ovaries, 50 pounds overweight.........
0 -
JudyNaomi - I had the same chemo you had and I have lost my lashes 4X. My last chemo was almost a year ago - 1/19/09. I am on Femara and I think that has something to do with it, too.
0 -
Aw hrf - so sorry it's taking so long -- have you asked your doctor about the slow regrowth?
Lilah
0 -
Thanks all, I don't fancy them falling out four times!!!
Helen, I am so sorry that you are down over this. I wish I could help! Hang in there and come here any time you want to share.
Hugs to all, Judy xxxxx
0 -
Helen, I am giving you a big hug (((((HELEN))))). I don't remember if you've done this yet, but have you gone to a dermatologist? This might be a good time to do so - and see if Rogaine or some other formula they prescribe might not be in order now?
0 -
hrf (Helen??) is this the same person?
Just wanted to say that I am thinking of you and am sorry that you are having such a hard time with regrowth.
Are you on Biotin? I take 10,000 mcg daily. I swear by this stuff! My hairdresser could not believe how much my hair had grown in the past 4 weeks. I started taking biotin about 3 weeks before I ended chemo (with approval by my oncologist). I have almost 3" of growth now at 6 months. My hair started out growing really slow - less than 1/2" a month and now it is taking off.
You can get Biotin at any grocery store, target, walmart, natural food store, etc. I found that getting it at a Target or Walmart was 1/2 the cost of getting it at a natural vitamin/GNC type store.
0 -
JANICE- I was hating the thick peach fuzz on my cheeks and finally went and bought the sally hansen hair remover for faces. And it worked great! it has been 2 weeks and so far no crazy stubble or rash. If you are not super sensitive to products, i would recomend it, I didn't want to shave either!
I am 17+ weeks pcf and my lashes and brows are still growing, so i cant chime in on if they fall out again yet. I sure do notice that mine arent as thick as they were. I'm considering the latisse. But will wait a few more months and see what happens.
Do you all see other women out and about with really short hair and always wonder if they are post chemo too? I seem to notice short haired women everywhere now!
Happy Holidays everyone!
0 -
Okay girls -- I woke up in a frightful tizzy this morning because I had this dream last night:
I dreamed I was with my Pack Rat, at his aunt's house. We were all having a good time (me, him, his family) around the dining room table, eating home baked cookies, talking and so on. At one point, though, we were in the kitchen alone and we kissed and hugged. While he was hugging me, he ruffled and stroked my hair, and as I felt the immediacy of it, I realized:
I WAS TOPLESS! I DIDN'T HAVE MY WIG ON! I WAS HIDEOUS AND SHORT HAIRED! :-O
I was totally horrified and embarrassed beyond belief! I mean, how it was I could have left my apartment to go anywhere without my wig on? I've been wearing my wig to go out, even just downstairs to get the mail, since my TRANSITIONAL pre-chemo haircut (March 2009), BEFORE the buzz (April 2009) and finally chemo with baldness! At the same time I'm feelintg this intense horrible embarrassment and questioning how I could have gone out without my wig, my Pack Rat is simultaneously telling me everything's okay and I have nothing to worry about, no one had noticed it before; he's trying to persuade me to go back into the dining room, to rejoin the others, with him. Reluctantly, I go back with him, but I felt..."mutilated" !!! I sat there with my head down, munching cookies and enjoying listening to the conversation around the table, but I couldn't bring myself to look up or speak.
Then I woke up horrified! Anybody else having nightmares like this? Or, as I said in a post to my chemo group -- What ever happened to good old fashioned "being stark naked in public" nightmares?
Hair update (4 months, 2 weeks PFC):
1. On my head: definitely hair now, it's coming in brown, but it's still way too short to consider going out topless. Although I did get brave while doing the laundry today (laundry room is in the basement of my apartment building): I wore my hooded sweatshirt with the hood up instead of putting on my wig. But when I had to go outside to play "musical cars," I did put on my wig.
2. Brows and lashes: brows look to be all in, in but still mostly colorless. Lashes look to be about 75% of normal.
3. Underarms and legs: Need to shave underarms once or twice a week now. Legs still nothing, but that's how they were for several years before cancer anyway.
4. Nether region: Finally! I'm starting to get some very short hair down there!
Trish, that's an excellent question you ask, about what we think when we see short haired women out and about while going about our own business. Before chemo, seeing women with short hair forced me to remember that all people are individuals and have different tastes and aesthetic preferences. See, I don't LIKE short hair on ANYBODY: those who have pretty faces can pull it off and look OK, but IMO anyone who is passable with short hair is or would be drop dead gorgeous with LONG hair! That means men too -- I STILL like long hair on men, although I don't see much of it. Me personally: I can NOT pull off short hair; I need long hair to make me PRESENTABLE. Now that you know my severe bias in favor of long hair, you'll understand my reactions to seeing short haired women in public -- the idea that their hair might be short because of chemo never occurred to me back then -- my initial reaction would be, "Why would anybody CHOOSE to look like that?" At which point I'd have to scream "Tolerance!" at myself and the reminder, "Not everybody is YOU, Lena, other people rightfully have their own ideas on what makes them look good!" Now that I've had the chemo and lost my hair, hahaha, I do wonder if they went through that too, I mean, after all, "Why would anybody CHOOSE to look like that?" -- so once again I scream "Tolerance!" at myself and issue the same self-reminder! LOL!
~Lena.0 -
Has anyone tried rapid lash? I was using Latisse, but its sooooo expensive. I stopped and my lashes went limp. Don't know if this was normal from chemo or from stopping Latisse. I restarted Latisse, but I'm not getting results. I was thinking of trying Rapid Lash. Its way less expensive.
0 -
Maybe something is wrong with me, but I like my ultra-short hair. I really like it and have received so many compliments on it that I am not going to let it grow much longer than it is now which is about 1 1/2 inches long It is a combination of white and silver gray with some dark still mixed in and the gal who cuts my hair tells me people would pay for this color hair. I would never have cut my hair this short and I cannot believe I actually like it. I should add that I am almost 60 years old and always did think long hair was for the young so wouldn't be wearing it long even if it had not all fallen out. In my 20s it was down to my waist. I have had it trimmed once since I also had hairs that did not come out and wanted it shaped up. One thing I am wondering is where all these curls are that everyone said would happen....it was straight before and is straight once again and also thick like it used to be, but much softer in texture. My last treatment was July 22, and I could see hair growing in about 3 weeks after I quit chemo. My eyebrows are back and still dark, but not as thick as they were and my eyelashes I think are completely in, but they are not black the way they were before they came out. One thing for sure, if I ever lose my hair again, I will just do bandanas and hats.....my wig was a good one and people who didn't know I was doing chemo didn't even know it was a wig, but I hated it. I am very happy to have hair, but when looking at the big picture hair loss was a minor SE compared to some of the other ones that went with the chemo. .
0 -
Hi Nodapearl,
I used the Rapid Lash and loved it. I thought it worked great and like you said it was a lot less expensive. Even my eye doctor commented on my very long eyelashes. I highly recommend it. Good luck!!
0 -
auriga - thanks for the input. I am going to give the Rapid Lash a try. FYI - They carry it at Bed, Bath and Beyond stores here in Ohio, and they frequently offer 20% off cupons, which helps even more.
0 -
Marybe - I so totally understand what you are saying. I never liked myself in short hair other than that one time I had Jose Heber do my hair and ended up looking like Meg Ryan. It was too much work to keep it looking nice so once again I grew it out long past my bra strap.
People are telling me I look good in short hair. Sometimes I am wondering if they are saying this because they want me to feel good or if they are really being honest. Mine is about 3" long right now - still too short for me personally but I would accept having a nice bob haircut (chin length).
My hairdresser told me on Monday "People pay to have the haircut you have now" Me "Why in the world would they do THAT?"
Personally I have to have my hair short to keep it out of my eyes and face (can't stand it) or grow it long enough for a ponytail. When it was long I always had it pulled back in a ponytail anyways unless I had date night with my dh.
I wish it were easier to post pictures on this site. I need to go back and figure out my password for photobucket.
0
