Hair Hair Hair - Another question
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ACK! Now my eyelashes have decided to bolt. All the lower lashes have gone except one on my left eye. I may just pluck that for symmetry. The upper lashes are showing wider bare spots. But at least the eyebrows are coming back, although they are sparse. They had thinned out with menopause, so my concern now is that they'll be even thinner. I may have to learn to apply false ones.
Head hair has started to darken from the light lanugo that came in last week, but it, too, is still sparser than it should be.
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well..no cute curly hair for me...it is wispy, fine and still very short...i am nearly one year post rads and finished chemo in June 07...still have no eyebrows at all...i don't care though....really, really, i don't care....does ANYONE out there believe me??
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Leahrc......How histarical is your opening line...."here is a picture of me at 9 weeks without the wig". It took me a bit to control myself enough to reply. I actually thought you were referring to the Avitar picture, with the one BOOB hanging out. Then I started to scroll and saw the real you. Justy came back from the mirror because I hadda compare the hair.I think mine would look a lot fuller if I colored it dark. (I won't)
It saddens me that I am going to suffer the eyelash loss for the next 9 months. (dang)
I am excited about the pubic hairs maybe being a different color......hope it's going to be purple, it's my favorite color.
Deen...It's good to hear from you again.Wow, one week and wahlla...eyebrows.Everything on me grows in at different stages.I think the hair on my head is probably growing in the fastest.I can feel the stubble's on my arms just now growing in
Suz45...Thanks for the update on the picture. It looks swell. You need to have a talk with the photograhper....Looks like you had the BC thing and you're ready to hang yourself with a noose.
I am VERY surprised you don't have the curls???? Or did you blow it straight?
LorenaB....I am at the same stage. About 9 weeks out and white peach fuzz with prickly dark stuff about a half inch. It doesn't seem to be bending into a curl as yet. I do hope it does. I'd like to experience it since I've had stick straight hair all my life.So if something good's going to come out of this nightmare I hope it's curly hair
Hope to see more heads as the hair grows. I am soooo impatient.
Hugs to all of you, Artsee.
Hollyhops.....I had to edit this for you....NO I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!
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How weird is this - I actually had to shave my legs today - and I am excited about it! I had a few hairs that hung around through chemo - but today there was enough hair all over my legs to require shaving
The hair on my head is gray with very dark strands (salt and pepper) - I have never had dark hair in my life - previously a red head ( with lots of gray over the last few years!). the sides and back are looking pretty good - about 1/2 inch long and covering my scalp. The crown is fuzzy gray and getting thicker. The front is growing good on one side, but not the other - don't like that look. Bald was one thing, but half bald is a little extreme!
Eyelashes hanging in there so far, one clump of eyebrows by my nose on each side and nothing more - haven't really started to grow back yet - bummer!
My goal is to ditch the scarves by the time I am done with rads on Aug 7 - hope my hair cooperates!
Deb
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Someone really has to tell me how to post pictures. I wanna contribute!!!!
So glad that this thread is still going. I've search through other boards and none provide the minutae of hair regrowth in quite the same way as this one :-) I love that we're talking about a hair here, an eyebrow there!
Loren and Artsee, thanks for the welcome back. I had surgery (boob exchange - now have 2 new ones) and that knocked me out for a while. BUT ... while I was in hospital, the hair really started to come in. I started to get the look of a 5 o'clock shadow beneath the grey/white fuzz. Now I have dark duck down that is filling in pretty quickly (though never quicke enough). I'm 7 weeks out now and can't imagine getting to where Leah's was by week 9. Leah - you looked great!
If someone could walk me through picture posting, I'll put mine up asap.
D.
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Deen, here's a quick guide to posting pictures. It involves two main steps. First, you have to transfer the images (jpeg works well) from your computer to an internet site where you can access them; and second, you have to copy them from that internet site to your BCO post.
I use Photobucket to store my pics on the web. You'll need to create a Photobucket account first, but they're free. Go to the Photobucket address (www.photobucket.com) and establish an account and picture file.
The best step-by-step instructions I've seen for transfering images to Photobucket and then copying them to a post on the BCO boards are from timtam, one of our BCO members. Here's a site where she explained very clearly (with illustrations) how to do those steps: http://tamako.milkcafe.to/luv/bco_photobucket/index.htm
Try it--it's not hard!
otter
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Deen, Here's Laura's instructions for posting pics from page 9 on our Dec 07 thread. Here's how to put a photo in your posting, Suz
(ps.. Otter, thats the first time Ive seen those instructions you posted, your right they are very detailed and great)
First, you have to save the photo out there somewhere in internetland, such as Photobucket, Flickr, etc, then follow the instruction below.
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Artsee,
LOL, This was day 4 of my 5 night camping trip. Basically it was a desert island, one outhouse, no fresh or running water, no electricity and no roads. Needless to say my hair was very au natural, no curls for me. I had a soft light natural wave pre chemo, so far it seems to be poker straight. No worries Im just happy to have hair
The guy who took the pic was who knows how many beers into the day and I dont think he was really taking a pic of me. More just playing with my camera.I think this is great seeing real pics of everyones hair progress. Hugs to ya all. Suz
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Leah, that is what I look like 4 months after chemo! My hair is growing soooooo slowly. I am now to the point that I can run my fingers through it (kind of). My last chemo was 3/11/08. Pubs are back and same color (thank God they are not grey). Leg hairs growing like weeds. I could shave twice a day and sometimes do. Arms hairs are still slow and only have to shave about every 10 days. Eyebrows are still spotty and have to use a pencil to darken and fill in gaps. Eyelashes are still stubs and cannot use mascara. I cannot wait until I can actually part my hair!
We stayed at the Sheraton this weekend and they had some Mango and Mint shampoo and conditioner. I got two bottle each. I lost my sense of smell 22 years ago but it sounds great. Currently I am using Niox shampoo and conditioner. The bottles say that it is supposed to thicken your hair but I am not sure it is really working. It does tingle. Someone gave it to me so i did not have to pay for it.
Debbie
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Thanks Otter and Suz. I'll try it and see if I can get my photos up.
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I haven't taken a single picture of myself but maybe now is the time. (Just of the head -- I don't think I want a record of how I look with no hair, even though others say I look fine I still scare me.)
My dark fuzz is feeling fuzzier and starting to curl! I'm hoping to go hatless by August....
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Lauren, congrats on the fuzz. I can feel some prickly stubble in what was previously my shiny-bald crown. My dh confirms that there are tiny hairs sprouting there--maybe 1 or 2 mm, but hairs nonetheless.
I did take some pics of myself yesterday, with plans to post them here. I chickened out. Ever notice that you look OK (or even "pretty good") in the mirror, but when you take a photo of yourself in the exact same position, it looks all wrong? Well, that's what happened to me. In the mirror, I looked reasonably OK; and I was willing to share that look with y'all. But, once I saw the pics I had taken, I decided I looked way too much like Uncle Fester after all. Who was that bald, big-headed person in the photo? Surely not otter!
otter
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Otter the secret is to smile,
So many commented that they liked both my avatar and picture of me as Riff-Raff. You should see the pictures without smiles. I wasn't going to post the one with grandson because that is the one that showed what haunted me when looking in the mirror. I saw Riff-Raff. What all my family saw was the smiles on both Bryce and I.
Just like all of our fears while walking the path of this journey, nothing has ever been as bad as what we had created in our minds. This also applies to how we see ourselves. Ask hubby to look through your pictures and pick out the one where he sees his Otter. When I took the time to face my fear, my monster (Riff-Raff) I could laugh at and smile at him. No longer a depressing feeling there.
Just thought of something else. If we want society as a whole to start accepting bald women, I think that WE MUST accept ourselves first. If we can't, how can we expect others too?
Enjoy the day, Karin
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Artsee,
The pig motif is special. A close cruiser on my February board had a reoccurrence, and we all selected pig avatars in her honor, since hers was a bling-ed out, dolled up pig. We have every type you can imagine, including pigs that fly. Mine fits- I was always the risque one on our board!
Once she gets some feedback that her new chemo is working, we will probably revert back. It does look funny on another thread, though. Guess I didn't think about it!
Hope you all are ok. Yes, mine was colored at that stage!
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I was just sitting here in front of my laptop at my dining room table, and all of a sudden I felt something tickling the back of my head. There is a light breeze coming from the open windows, and I just realized that I was feeling the tiny little hairs back there blowing in the breeze. Wheeeeee!
It's crazy how the little things can make us happy these days....
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Lauren,
You made me smile. Last night there was a wind here. I went outside and stood for 5 minutes, just to feel it run over my "hair" :-)
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O.K. When is this hair going to get some density. It's growing all over but the head has a long way to go before I can call it "A head of hair".
Artsee
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Artsee, I've found that the density comes in gradually. And sometimes it's so light and fine you don't realize it's there. I can't see the back of my head very well, but my family is telling me they can see lots of hair there now, and have noticed a big difference in a week.
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Is anyone else experiencing their hair growing well in some places and not so well in others? My sides and back are slowly growing - can no longer see my scalp. Crown is feeling thick. On the top of my head - right side is growing well and filling in but the left side is really sparse - looks like someone drew a line right down the middle of my head! I have a hairline on the right but not so much on the left.
This is really bumming me out today - haven't felt this low since chemo ended. I think the fatigue from rads is kicking in so that is not helping. I am so tired of having no hair!
Deb
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Yup, mine is thicker on the top of my head and down the back, also darker and starting to curl a bit. The sides in front are thinner and straighter.
I went out "topless" for the first time yesterday. My son held my hand and told me, "it's ok Mom, no one is going to make fun of you." In the last store I went to, a woman came up to me and told me that she had gone through chemo 13 years ago. She had LOTS of thick hair.
I don't think I'm ready to go to work w/out my wiglet and hat yet. Maybe next month....
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Yes my hair is growing in faster and fuller in the back then on top. The top has finally filled in but not as much as the back. I have two spots one on either side of my head that are the most sparse. It is aggravating to say the least.
Deb, I feel kind of low like that too and am not going through rads. I wish the hair would grow in as fast as it fell out!!! UGH. I think that is a huge part of us feeling back to ourselves.
Lorena, cute what your son said.. very. I have asked my daughter who is 13 many times about going without a hat. She said mom no one will make fun. Well I know that but I don't want all those cancer comments coming to me etc.. just like the one made to you. I just want to go into a store and have short hair, not post chemo hair. I cannot wait to be able to get my first styled cut, of course that is probably months away. My hair stylist is going on maternity leave the end of this month and not returning to October. She said by then you will have hair for me to cut! OCTOBER??? seems like freakin forever. Her mom died of breast cancer 16 or so years ago. (IBC)
I was wondering if anyone has shaved their head after it started growing in. Not short but just enough to get rid of those straggly hairs that seem to be longer than the others.
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My chemo ended Nov 9th., and the hair growth at the beginning seemed really slow, then boom all of a sudden at about the third month the hair just started to really come in. The beginning of April my sister cut my hair just so the growth would come in and look good. And believe every little snip hurt. But by the end of May I had a real hair style. I use Bad Hair Days, by Revlon, it's a waxy gel, you rub it in your hands until its really warm then I just massage all over my hair, then I take a small round brush and sort of roll it so the NEW curls go where I want them to, then I take a pick and style a bit more. The big thing for me is to get the bangs down, it looks alot better when the bangs are styled. So from Nov to the middle of Mar., my hair grew slowly, or seemed to, then like I said bam all of a sudden I had to go and buy a brush, because I couldnt ever find a brush or a comb, other than my cats. It does grow back and it sucks to have to wait but really and truly from a real complainer, it's BACK!
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O.K. Ladys I'm in a panic mode.I hope some of you can help and have some "calming" answers for me.I am now two month out from the last chemo.(May 9th) I love stroking my peachy hair because it's so soft and about 1/2 " long. I was just sitting and relaxing talking to my husband I took hold of a few places in the back and tugged at it a little, being so proud that it was staying attached. Well, guess what? It came out. I did it again because I could not believe it, and out came 5-6 more hair. Did anyone have this? Someone said on the posts that eyelashes come and fall several times...but the hair on the head? I am having a stroke. After all this waiting and it comes out easily. Crap! Help!
Artsee
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Hi Artsee - I can't answer your question, but I can feel your pain. This hair growing process is the pitts because it takes sooo long and we certainly don't need anymore bumps in the road!
I am keeping my fingers crossed that it is just a fluke!
Deb
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Artsee, was there any hair left that you never shaved off? I continued to use the lint tape on my head for a good month after chemo, until it was barely picking anything up anymore -- if I hadn't, I'd probably still be losing those little hairs.
Waiting to hear from someone else about this one....
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Artsee, was there any hair left that you never shaved off? I continued to use the lint tape on my head for a good month after chemo, until it was barely picking anything up anymore -- if I hadn't, I'd probably still be losing those little hairs.
Waiting to hear from someone else about this one....
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Artsee, Lets just hope that that was a fluke!!!!!
So far mine are stuck real tough. I do the same for whatever reason, I tug on the hairs to see if they are for real, Nothin but good vibes so far. Wishing the sme for you. Hugs, suz
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I agree with Lauren, that these might be hairs that hadn't come completely out before. The roots have already been compromised, so although they grow, they are not strong and will come out with a slight pull. I found I had little hairs like that all through my chemo and even after the fuzz started to come in. But they were few...not a lot.
Lanugo is just temporary hair. Babies usually rub it off lying in their beds. If yours comes out with a tug, that's just the way it will be for you. At some point, it will thicken and look like real hair again.
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I always had some hair stubble and some continued to grow a little during chemo - seemed like it would grow and then fall out with each chemo. Some has stayed and some areas it is about an inch long (sides and back - thin). This area is filling in - the top of my head is really soft - is this the lanugo you are talking about and that will fall out? It seems to be getting thicker - and if I tug it feels secure.
Now about 7 weeks out from chemo my eyelashes have decided to take a hike! So I am losing my eyelashes, have one side of my head with hair, the other side still looking bald, eyebrows are very thin.
I have been trying to stay positive through this whole cancer thing but I am getting so down over this hair growth - haven't cried for months but am feeling very close to losing it!
Deb
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Aren't we a funny looking bunch!Well, you guys made me feel better. Thanks!
My eyelashes and eyebrows are about 1/8 grown now. I put face powder over my lashes and they were easy to see then. So now I can say I have lashes.
Deb..I almost lost it last night but I have to have faith that I won't walk around hairless the rest of my life, because this damn wig is beginning to get HOT!
Hugs, Artsee
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