Hair Hair Hair - Another question
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Diane, I had surgery 4 weeks PFC. I wore my wig to the hospital and then changed into a brown sleepcap that I use at home. I wore the sleepcap to surgery and then home. The hospital didn't have any problems with it. Deb
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I wore a little beanie cap on my head and they just put that nice surgical cap on me over it. When I woke up, I still had my beanie cap on. The staff was pretty sensitive to my need to cover up.
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Thanks ladies, UGH I hate that this is the stupid thing I am worried about. I guess I will wear my scarf. I feel like I still look bald in my beanie. At least they will let me wear that.
Thanks! Goodnight all.
Diane
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Firni: I haven't officially gone yet, but I do take a low dose natural thyroid dose of 1 gram because I felt that it was low after chemo. I think chemo really messes up everything!
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Didel: Not silly at all! I wore my wig up until they were ready to wheel me in for my MX and I brought my stand to put in my room so when people came to visit in the hospital they wouldn't see me at my worse. I also brought a cap, although in surgery I just wore a surgical cap.
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I haven't checked thyroid but it is a good thought.
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MBJ, what is it that you take for your thyroid? I might try that for a while before my next thyroid check which is Aug. 27. I would so rather bring it up naturally than start that whole business of trying to regulate it with chemicals.
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At my exchange, they just placed the surgical cap over my wig. They didn't know it was a wig and I didn't tell them. I wonder if it fell off when they sat me up lol
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Would love to see the look on their faces if your wig did come off!!!!!!
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PLEASE PLEASE HELP,
My Mum is 60 and finished her last dose of Herceptin five weeks ago. Her Chemo finished November 2009. Her hair is hardly growing and she is so upset and depressed about it.
She has always been very glam. It was even her nickname in the hospital during her treatment. She's finding the hair loss very hard. Everyone says it will grow back but it doesn't look good.
She has a lot of tight curls at the back of her head (base of her skull) about 2.5 inches. But hardly any on the sides or the top. It reminds me of my sons hair as a newborn. It's as light as candy floss. She put a dye in it today and got very upset because its dark brown and she can clearly see her scalp.
I've read loads of forums and most people say their hair has taken a while to come back after the Herceptin,some say it's thinner. How thin and did it every get better? My mother feels that she looks like she has male pattern baldness and won't look at herself in the mirror without a wig on.
We live in two different countries, its hard to offer support over the phone. Can anyone offer me some advice for her. Is there anything she can take or anyone she can speak to to improve the situation?
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Firni: I am convinced that most women have huge imbalances in their bodies after chemo & radiation. Because I go to an integrative dr, he prescribed a very low dose made at a compounding pharmacy. Most natural glandular medicine is made from animals and this is made from pork in acidopholis. If you don't have the means to go to a specialist, have your dr at least run the tests to see where you are at. You can purchase raw thyroid at most natural vitamin stores and you can find thyroid support groups on line at Yahoo Groups with a moderator. If your dr won't do the tests there are many on line tests you can order yourself. Also, check out breastcancerchoices.org.to find natural doctors that deal with thyroid issues--there is a ton of information out there. You really have to be pro-active in your care and seek out help because most doctors who do cancer don't do anything but prescribe drugs or surgery--they usually don't know anything about healing the body afterwards, which is so important to long term survival.
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It is only hair but it's your hair. I cried more over my hair than my boob. You will have days when you cry at yourself and others you will look at your head and laugh. I finished chemo in March and I have about an inch of hair so far. I now stress over it not growning fast enough. Keep your chin up and good luck with everything.
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I would have to agree with you, MBJ. After I was done with chemo, my onc told me," If it isn't cancer don't bring it to me. See your PCP." The problem is, the PCP believes, like most people I've come across, that when chemo is done and you are declared NED, you should be fine. They really don't understand the damage chemo can and does do. My PCP ordered a thyroid test in Dec. coz my hair was falling out again. They called and said there was no metabolic reason for my hair loss. When I was finally able to get a copy of the lab report, my thyroid level was hanging of the cliff of low at .50. I had her check it again a week ago Friday. It was at .395. The normal range is .450-4.5. I guess that 5/100 of a point in Dec. got me well within normal limits as far as she was concerned. I go in again Aug. 27 for another draw. I don't care what it is, I will demand a referral to an endocrinologist. Most of the women I know with thyroid problems function best when their numbers are between 2 and 3. I'll check out the website to see if there are any natural docs I might be able to go to. But then, you know. $. Anyway, by the end of the month, I'll see someone. Even if my hair doesn't come back, I may feel better. Maybe someone can come up with a new specialty for the docs. A post chemo Onc/PCP or something.
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Well this week is 25 weeks since I finished chemo and I'm due for another trim just to shape up the sides and the back. But the best news is...my husband went to his barber for a haircut today and I was thrilled to see that now my hair is longer than his!!! Mine is still very short but his is shorter and now I don't have the shortest hair in the house.
Sherri
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Hey Sherri. What good news!! Not great when your DH has longer hair. Luckily my DH is bald. So even with scraggly patchy hair, I'm doing better than him.
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Firni: There is a ton of info on the breastcancerchoices.org. If you were being treated at UCLA in Westwood they have an integrative oncology unit that helps with depression, meds, natural medicine, therapy, etc. My oncologist has an accupuncturist to help with SE's. California is usually ahead of everyone else and hopefully in the future everyone will have these options. My dr is an MD and a Homeopothist. He does drugs and natural. Best of both worlds. I have seen full blood analysis from others who could afford them and sometimes their numbers are off the charts! There is a book you can read, Breast Cancer and Iodine : How to Prevent and How to Survive Breast Cancer - by David Derry. I will admit, he is not a great read by any means but his book will explain to you how your thyroid works and why you need iodine to help with your thyroid. Getting the numbers is the most important. Like I said, there are moderated groups on Yahoo who can really help you with this. I also take a product called Juice Plus which gives you your daily vegis & fruit in a pill form to help you get the nutrition you need. I also do the Perricone diet which is high in anti oxidants. I bet if you get your thyroid back working, your hair will grow!
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Sherri: I live for the day my hair is longer then my husbands! He trimmed it yesterday and he still has more hair. A couple more months and I am sure I will get there.
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My hair is about an inch long now and extremely curly. We had a vacation in the mountains and it rained for two days. During the humid weather, my hair curled even tighter. You'd think it was half an inch to look at it because it curls up so much and looks shorter. My husband's is still a little longer, but after he gets it cut one more time mine will finally be longer than his, even though his will probably look longer because it's straight. UGH!
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Ladies, my hair is now an inch and a half long and I can see some light at the end of the tunnel. It is not as thick as it once was, but at least it is growing. I found that up until a week ago it was all frizz and kink and nothing else, however, now that it is a bit longer, these products are making it only slightly wavy. I am going for a rock and roll look, so I am spiking it, too. After I wash my hair with conditioner only, I use these products in this order:
FrizzEase Straight Fixation Creme by John Frieda -- I can just use this and comb it into a slightly wavy shape but then I add Straight Works Gel by Paul Mitchell to spike it but it's a little soft so I add Got2bBued Spiking Gel by schwarzkopf and twist the ends and finish with Nioxin Hair Spray. It stays in this shape all day no matter what happens, although the back still gets curlier.
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MBJ - I am glad I am not the only one using multiple products. I use a similar combination: Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serium, Superskinng relaxing Balm, then some Alterna Hemp Straightening balm, more Paul Mitchell (styling foam). As a finish, I use Aveda Pomade. The products really cut down on frizz, but don't straighten my curl unless I take tons of time and a flat iron. The pomade will reactivate the style for the next day, so I don't have to wash it again. It seems like the less I wash it, the less frizz I have.
I am thinking that the blessing here is that while I am constantly "worried" about my hair, I am not worrying about cancer. I guess if I concentrate on the hair, I can get away from the illness, at least for a while.
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I finally found a great product for the curls I'm still dealing with 22 months after chemo. It's Hair Milk curl definer by Carol's Daughter. Gets rid of the frizz and leaves soft curls. A little goes a long way or you'll end up with the wet-head look but it's the best I've found so far. It came as a sample with my Sephora makeup order so I gave it a try and am sold.
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Has anyone tried to bleach their tiny hair? I was thinking about it but I am afraid of it turning orange. I only have less than an inch but I think it would be fun to bleach it out!
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I've never been a fan of Christopher Hitchens but the man does have a way with words. He has written an article for Vanity Fair—Topic of Cancer—about his "battle" with cancer. He was diagnosed with oesophagel cancer in June. Here's what he says on the subject of hair loss:
"I was fairly reconciled to the loss of my hair, which began to come out in the shower in the first two weeks of treatment, and which I saved in a plastic bag so that it could help fill a floating dam in the Gulf of Mexico. But I wasn't quite prepared for the way that my razorblade would suddenly go slipping pointlessly down my face, meeting no stubble. Or for the way that my newly smooth upper lip would begin to look as if it had undergone electrolysis, causing me to look a bit too much like somebody's maiden auntie."
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One more boost tomorrow and I'll be done with rads!!
Hair is coming in all over, although scalp still shows through somewhat. I'm 11 weeks PFC. Just wondering when you hair started going curly.
Mine was straight before and it is still coming in straight. It's about an inch long now and I don't see curl yet. (This thread is getting a bit too long to go back and search...although I do appreciate the wonderful photos and tips very much.)
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Hey Faith, Congrats on being done with Rads. No curls for me. Last Chemo was Dec 1. My hair is about 3 inches long and just a bit of wave in the back. Was very fine and straight before BC. I just got it foiled last week and I am starting to feel better about what I look at in the mirror. Although I swear my face has aged at least 10 years.
Navy
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Ah yes, the aging face. I wish a face lift came with the chemo deal. I do think my eye lids are pretty close to meeting the criteria for a medical lift. Yea. Then I think I'll have my jowls sucked out at the same time.
As far as curls. I never got curls. I was kind of looking forward to something other than stick straight, fine, thin hair. But that is what I got and even less than I had before. No gray tho.
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Well I have enough curl for all of you straight-haired ladies. Mine was straight and fine before, but has come in thick and extremely curly. It's about an inch long now at 16 weeks PFC. I am obsessed with checking it every couple of days to see if it has grown any. One of my employees even put a ruler to my head to measure it for me. Now that's an employee who's a keeper. 0
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Too funny Rocket. I can honestly say that none of my employees would measure my hair. They just pretend that nothing is wrong with it.
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SunnyCoconut: I bleached my hair, however, I had to shave off the first inch of growth first. The hair that grew in immediately following chemo was whispy, white, and mostly gray. When it got to one inch the second time I started bleaching it. I have naturally black hair with some gray and the more it grows the more black hair is coming in. I did the first layer of bleach myself, went the next two times and had my hairdresser do it, and this last time I did it myself.
Navymom & Firni: Facelift coming ASAP! I cannot believe how much chemo aged me! Let's just say it put me at my actual age and before chemo, I looked like I was in my 30's--that's 20 years! I've already made an appointment to see what it's going to take to reverse the clock. Cancer Sucks!
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Hello All
Well ladies I did it - I went without my do-rag on Monday - little nervous at first but it was actually ok. I truly felt like a cancer patient w/o my cover the folks at work said no not at all - that I did when I wore the covers. They have been wonderful - do get the stares and actually had one guy ask me if I was trying to look like him (bald) and told him it wasn't by choice - open mouth insert foot!
I keep reading about all of you that have curly hair growing back. I would kill for that - before BC I had the curliest strawberry blond hair - I was worried that it was going to grow back in so tightly curled I wasn't going to be able to anything with it. NOT - it is dark and straight although it is thicker than before. I understand that after several trims and cuts it goes back to the way it was before. I would just like to have some wave or curl in it - I wouldn't know what to do with straight hair - Never had it before.
Have a great day ladies - and keep your chins up !! - We are the only ones that know what we have been through and how we feel - don't let anyone tell you different - there is a great bond on these threads and I, for one, am very glad I have found all of you!
Stacey
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