Hair Hair Hair - Another question
Comments
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ShellyJo,
That's hysterical and kinda cute. I'm 19 weeks out from chemo and my inch+ long hair has been lying totally flat until just a few days ago. It reminded me of my one year old baby pictures. Now I have areas that seem to be starting to stand up. It isn't everywhere. Is it starting to curl? I wanted to try curly for a while but until it all does the same thing, it's going to be weird.
Hot flashes ~ I've dealt with them on or off for 10 years or so. It started with menopause and just as that was ending 5 years ago, my first battle with bc started. I started on Arimidex and was just shy of 5 years when my second dx was made. I stopped the Arimidex last March before the BM and gradually saw relief from the heat - even during chemo. I got rid of the heavy sweaters and turtle necks last year and wouldn't you know it - now I'm cold. I know some of my body temperature change is from the lack of hair but I'm guessing not all of it. My onc is giving me some time off but I'm supposed to go on Aromasin in Jan. so I guess I won't run out to replace those t-necks.
As I'm sitting here, I feel a hot flash coming on. At least it's not the hourly thing it used to be and I wake only 2 or 3 times a night but not drenched in sweat as I used to be. It does get better. And for what it's worth, salty meals seem to exacerbate them.
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Shellyjo
Love the photo thats exactly what I look like.
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Sandy, At this point I will be happy once my scalp doesn't show anymore and I have something ANYTHING to run my fingers thru. The whole hair thing has been so depressing and making this so much harder, Ya Ya it will grow back they say. My hair was down to my waist. SO maybe in 5 years I will back to where I started..
Mumayan, They color is uncanny isn't it? Emu grey..my eyebrows are coming in that deathly color too..
I will share my what my hair looked like before it fell out in June..
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Oh ShellyJo,
What amazing hair!!!!
You GROW Girl!!!
Springtime
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Oh ShellyJo,
How cruel this bc beast is! Nothing I can say will change it. I appreciate your sense of humor and your spirit. You are so strong. How difficult it must have been to take that last picture. Please know you're in my prayers and I look forward to hearing about your progress.
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Ouch Shellyjo...that bites! I only had to part with 3 inches when diagnosed. Your trauma was the "cut" and then the "fall".
Chin up...I'm almost back to 3.
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Man, been there, and done that! It does bite big time, I know!
13 months ago I cut mine that was that long to about chin length in anticipation of surgery/chemo. Still hurt to lose it, but at least it was long enough to donate and the rest used as nesting material! 
Had to look at the good side of it, or I'd been a major basket case! Glad you got a so-long pic...i was so mind-boggled with it all, I forgot
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I sooo wanted to donate mine but Locks of Love wouldnt take it because it was colored... I don't understand that as long as it was healthy, which it was. It takes 12 heads of hair to make one wig I was told and then they end up coloring it anyway, Thank you all for you comments its so great to be here because no one else can understand how all these things effect us unless they have been thru it themselves. But what doesn't kill us makes us stronger doesn't it!!
Wishiwere- I took a bunch a pics., just knew I needed to be reminded that I wasn't always a blank slate
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ShellyJo,
Your hair is beautiful. I started chemo last week and am so scared of losing my hair. I can tell you mine isn't near as pretty as yours. Mine has always been very thin and fine but I WANT TO KEEP IT! I have FOUR wigs ready to go which is ridiculous I know.
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ChristlC, I had several wigs, which I never wore after trying them on. Never been one to 'care' what others' opinions of me were, and it just seemed, like that was what I was doing when getting them, caring about what others thought about how I looked. Plus, it always bothered me to even have the couple a cousin gave me that his gf had worn before her death. Just gave me the eeby-jeebe's Could NOT wear them, so I went hairless, although I used a lot of scarves and hats. Thank goodness it was winter up here and I had reason to wear it! Had it been summer, not too sure, I'd have gone topless! 0
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OMG ShellyJo....you posted a picture of me! I look just like this! Chin hairs and all!
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It's so weird how this gets to each of us differently. I've been away from chemo 6 months now - my hair is only a bit more than one inch, but my eyebrows haven't fallen out again.
Sunshine - why is it that the chin hairs grow back first? If the hair on my head grew that fast, I'd be happy. But that would be too extreme a comb over I think.
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Sunshine,
LOL!!
the only good thing about losing my hair was no chin hairs!!!! I guess they will come back with a vengence after all this, huh??
LOVELY!
Spring.
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He does look like your little guy Sunshine.. lol
I thought I had some nasty blackheads on my cheekbones (of course I was cursing the chemo for yet another aliment) and I couldn't get them out. I was ready to book a facial when I decided to grab the tweezers to try to pull them out because they were so dark and just huge. Turned out to be HAIR thick little man hairs on my cheek bone! like 5 of them ready to sprout. I grabbed them one by one with the tweezers and when I pulled they were about 1/4 long and very coarse, I wish the hair on my head was so coarse. I think maybe they got misdirected from my bikini area maybe?? how lovely would that be?
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ShellyJo,
OMG!!! Blackheads --> Black hairs on your cheek!! This is totally cracking me up!
There is no end to the bizarre and unreal we go through!I have bright red acne on ONE cheek bone!!! (This happened after Yoga last week). Like my body is rejecting YOGA now???
Lawd. Thank God for concealer...
Springtime
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I had my first chemo treatment and have NO energy at all. I will be going every week for 12 weeks. I had this idea in my mind that I would exercise - at least walk - and make myself feel better. All I can think about now is getting out of my office and home to the couch. HOW are you all exercising? Do I jsut make myself? AND I am in this waiting stage for my hair to fall out and am afraid sweating and showering is going to make it fall out quicker. Although maybe that is better than this waiting for the inevitable. I am having a hard day. I need an attitude adjustment big time.
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Oh and can you tell me why the bikini area is growing like crazy and not the hair on my head!
Go figure....can't even get a break
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Nothing more attractive than being bald with a big red zit on your face...haha what a pretty bunch we all are..
Sunshine, I am thrilled to just have hair growing back The. hair on my lower legs could use its first shave since May. But i smile when I look at it. I think I will keep it for awhile...The facial hair I can live without.
Aww Christi, The hair thing. Honestly, be proactive, shave it once you can pull handfuls out at a time. don't torture yourself. Do you have a wig ready? I know its all so sucky but chemo will pass. 12 weeks will go by quick Mine dragged on for 18 weeks..
Christi to answer your question on exercise. YES you need to make yourself walk. Heres what I did. Once I knew I had enough rest ( say 2 days on couch and still feeling like crap anyway) I put my sneakers on and walked out the front door. I walked even though I felt weak and sore from the taxotere. Somedays I walked only one block some days I walked a mile. I was on 3 week cycles by week 3 i felt decent enough to walk a couple miles but not always. Listen to your body. but I found the more I walked the better I actually felt after. And my post recovery from chemo all together was very good. 4 weeks post chemo I felt like myself again. Than of course I had surgery and that was just another knock down. But we go down we come up again and again and again...
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I agree, I made myself be active, walk, yoga stretch, whatever, as well. Felt like HELL starting, but felt MUCH BETTER after. There are studies that says this combats fatigue.0
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Another Hair question? My eyelashes are coming back! But they are wild growing in all directions....Tired curling them but they just go where they want....Any suggestions on how to tame them?
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I wouldn't curl them till you get that past that 6 month step, b/c it sounds like some lose them again
But they will straighten out, although I still have 2 that are unruly! curling them now does help redirect them, but I had a worse time with eyebrows that grew everywhichwaybutloose! Guess I should be thankful that they weren't loose though hey! 0 -
MAYBE a little tiny bit of hair paste? Warm it up by rubbing your fingertips together and then apply. (A little goes a long way.)
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I finally went commando today. My hair looks almost intentionally short, and I was just going to my oncologist, so I left my wig off. Boy was my head chilly. If nothing eles, the wig serves as a good hat substitute. Anyway, I got a few compliments and a few stares, but when I stopped at the local mall afterwards, one woman sidestepped away from me with one of those "Oh, I hope it isn't catching" looks.
So, maybe I should put the wig back on for a few weeks. The hair may not be quite ready.
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Kudos and ^5 for going commando Nancy. I know the exact stare you are talking about. I got them the day I went out this summer with just a bandana wrapped around my head. My mom was with me and said " who cares what people think" I was like " Mom its sooo much more than what people think" She doesnt get it though. I havent gone to the mall since without my wig. Anyway,Take a pic of your hair I think we all like to see the progress...:O)
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Aaaaaack! I lost 3 eyelashes this morning. My brows are back to the half-gone, patchy appearance they had 5 weeks after chemo, when they fell out the first time. So, I'm once again relying on eyebrow pencil and powder to avoid the Chernobyl look.
At least my scalp hair is still growing. I've been going commando for about a month. I just decided I didn't care anymore, what other people think. A woman in the department where I used to work has hair as short as mine and it's intentional. I've checked mine front and back, and other than being strikingly short, it's not too bad. Still mouse-colored, but curling and wavy and fairly thick.
My mom told me today that one of my 2nd cousins (whom I've not seen for at least 40 years) wears her hair this short all the time. My dh turned pale, and said he hoped I wouldn't keep mine this short. I won't (it's too cold), but I do think I won't grow it back to the length it used to be. I really like not having to fuss with it.
I'll post a new pic once I get home and have my camera available.
otter
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I can imagine that 'pale' look Otter! Mine had similar thoughts go through his little mind when I mentioned how I liked it short b/c it was so much easier. HE too, liked the old length, but you know what? This is me now! LAZY hair I call it!
Easy....cept it's getting long enough on top, after waking I look like something out of one of those college movies, hair all over! Shoot, brain fart, can't remember the name of the movie! UGH!0 -
Wow, you guys are so supportive. I should check in more often. I had my port put in last week and start chemo on 11/19. I am so nervous. I'm sure the anxiety will lessen after the first treatment. Fear of the unknown, I guess. The hair loss, I'm trying to prepare myself. Someone sent me 2 wigs, but they are really long and have to be styled. I've never been one to wear anything on my head, so this should be interesting. At least it will be cold in Chicago. Wish I could just hibernate my way thru the whole ordeal.
Sorry, I don't mean to complain. It's just I already have chemo brain and I haven't even started yet. I can't focus on work at all. I try to stay positive and people think I'm so strong. But, today I called my port surgeon to ask about running and he said no. He said I should wait to walk until next week. Too bad. I didn't tell him that I adopted a puppy and have been taking brisk walks every day. I'm just off rambling now. I just wanted to say I'm scared and I appreciate your humor here.
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{{Carol}} sorry your heading (no pun) through this now. I too, just started my journey last year this time. Dec 5th was my first A/C. Made it till Dec 26 I think with my hair, but just barely. At that point is was falling out pretty bad and I couldn't do the shower thing anymore. But you know what? I made it through and so will you! Hang tough dear, you'll be over it before you know it and on to growing pretty curls!
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Hi Carol, I just started last week and it is good to at least have the first one behind me. Now I am scared of losing my hair. I can't believe it is happening. But we can't finish until we start, right? Now at least I am on my way to counting it down and so will you. I had my port put in my arm last week. I am going weekly and my next one is this Thursday.
I am sure your walks help! Everything I have read said it does and I am sure it also helps with all this stress. I am trying to get myself worked into going on walks and am having a hard time.
I am scared too. I keep telling reminding myself of all the brave women that have been through it and we will make it too. I am trying to be positive.
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Otter,
You said "but curling and wavy and fairly thick." When did it start to curl? The picture you posted last month it was straight.
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