Hair Hair Hair - Another question
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I worked throughout chemo - took treatment day off and that was it. I did time it so my extreme tired days were over that first weekend. So I was lucky I think that it worked out. I haven't started radiation yet, but will get a late afternoon time and work through out that also.
Good luck!
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Hi all, I have been topless for two days now. I am four weeks pfc and am about to have my surgery tomorrow. Small boys seem to stare at me confused probably wondering why someone with man hair is wearing earrings and girl clothes but otherwise no one seems to notice or care about my hair. It feels good to be free of scarves hopefully forever. I am considering donating the wig I never used and the scarves to the cancer services shop here but part of me is leary of giving them away in case I need them again. I have this weird superstition that if I keep them maybe it will be less likely that I will need them again. I am at my weekly photo day and will update my avatar when I can. Hope you gals are having a great day!
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Momine: pathology shows metastatic in my lymPh nodes. MRI, ct-pet scan tomorrow.
Mardibra: sounds on you are on your way. Very inspiring!0 -
Jpmomof3: Good luck!!!! We are all thinking of you!!!!!!
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Poly, ok, but that is not really considered mets, since they are "local". If you had "real" (distant) mets, you would be stage IV. Trying to give you a small silver lining here
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Thank you! Changing it right now then.
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Tpoly - your journey will be inspiring too...I just know it!
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Kjiberty The wig was by Envy
All you woman worked during Chemo are inspiring.I got laid off around the same time so I didn't have to,but I now know if I had to I could have with a day off here and there as needed.I am actually thankfull I did not have to though because I had many nights where I didn't sleep well or at all and could at least sleep in in the morning if I needed it.I am not sure if I would have felt as well and Se's would have been as limited if this had not the case.My work schedule demanded a very early wake time.Rads on the other hand for me was a breeze and this would not have been an issue.I found near the end that I just wanted to go to bed earlier but found the fatigue actually helped me sleep better.
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I thought I would have to wear false eye lashes for a shower a couple of weeks ago, but was able to wear mascara on the few lashes I had left. I still have lashes over 3 weeks PFC. My son is getting married on 9/15. If the lashes are still sparse, I will wear false eyelashes. My future daughter-in-law has hired a renowned makep artist in Chicago to do our makeup. Eyelashes are $15. Definitely worth it for me. Keep in mind, while doing chemo, IF I needed to use them, I was planning on throwing them away after one use due to the germ/infection factor. I have never used them before but have two sets/glue in my cache just in case.
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Tpolychron,
I am a teacher also, and thankfully I was diagnosed in the summer as well. Otherwise, all the tests and preliminary appts would have exhausted my sick days before I even started treatment! I started chemo the week before school started in August and went every other week for 8 treatments. I had chemo on Friday, and chemo days were the only days I missed school. I was very glad that I waited to make a decision until I saw how I would react to chemo. School kept me busy and gave me less time to fret. I didn't tell my students about my cancer, but most of their parents knew.
I talked to our hr dept before starting treatment so I knew my options concerning work going in to treatment, and knowing my options helped me. I also hated feeling like I was not in control. Hang in there, you can do this, and it WILL get better!0 -
Well, as I predicted, I noticed today that 16 days PFC my leg hair is starting to grow back.. Not the hair on my head but of course the leg hair. Its very slight but its there.. Darn! Boo hiss! How unfair!!
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Diane - at least your first hair was leg hair...mine was on my upper lip. A cruel cruel joke!
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I am not working during chemo, although there are several days that I feel like I could, my job is so demanding with 12-15 hour days and around a lot of sick people that the risk outweighed the benefit. My boss wants me to concentrate on living which I really appreciate.
Many days I feel almost normal. While on the AC I felt normal the last 7-10 days of each cycle( although my white count was scary low during those times and work could have been dangerous). When I told my boss this, he said next time you feel good with a week to go before the next treatment- Go to Hawaii!
It has also been great to not stress about changed Appts, delayed chemo due to low white counts, trying to work when i felt bad, I don't have a flexible job for last minute changes. I am getting a bit lazy tho, I worry about the transition to revving back up, but, that will come. I also worry about the hair and nails when I return and since I am getting bilateral rads to my chest wall, I worry that I will be too sore or burned to wear the prosthetic bra. Guess I will have to wait and see on all those things.0 -
Mardibra that is just too funny! And very cruel. Just plain wrong! I have a crazy renegade chin hair that pops up from time to time, I'm sure that will be making an appearance next!
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Is anyone having itchy eyelash regrowth? I seem to recall that my pre chemo lashes were in one nice neat row. The regrowth is happening quickly and looks more like a brush, several uneven rows. Some of the hairs sometimes touch my eye and are really uncomfortable. I was told I might have to go to the eye doctor an have a few removed. I wish my BROWS had this much action going on!!!!
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NKB - you are blessed with a wonderful boss. EVERYONE should have this kind of support and empathy during difficult times.
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I too worked through out chemo. I took tx day and day after off. Of course I just work pt though. Everyone of us is different, and we each have to do what is best for us. Keeping busy was best for me.
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ksmatthews - you bring up a very important point. Everyone handles chemo very differently. What was doable for me might be impossible for others. Like you, keeping busy and having my "normal life" was very important to me. I had the option of going out on disability but decided hell no! Sitting at home for months would have made me focus on chemo and its SE's and just wasnt something I was comfortable doing. Rather, I decided to give it a try and see if I could handle working full time. Lucky for me, it worked out just fine. Plus, I had a very understanding employer. They told me from the start that whatever I needed they would do their best to provide. After my first tx my boss told me not to try and be a hero....if I wasnt well I should stay home. If I needed to take off two weeks each month then I should do it. His words "we would rather have 50% of you than 0% of you". I cant begin to tell you how liberating that one statement was! If you someone like me, no matter how good you are at your job you never want to feel like you are not contributing or that you are taking advantage of your boss/co-workers.
The best part of working with all guys is that they now get a kick out of me comparing my hair growth to their hair. "Well, I have more hair than Joe but not as much as John! When its as long as Pete's im going commando!".
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I guess that I should clarify that like Nkb, an altered work schedule was not an option. I had exhausted all sick leave with my 2 surgeries (I only took 2 weeks off for each), then worked through rads with 4 days off because I got severely burned and my breast was seeping so the RO wanted me to be off to allow it to "air out". I could not just take a day here or there and had to work a full work week even on infusion days. I too had trouble sleeping and normally wake up at 4:30 am on work days and work until 8 or 9 at night. I really did want to work through chemo but it actually was financially better for me not to. However, I have kept busy in other ways such as walking, and the usual stuff around the house.
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I am waiting for my eyelashes to show some growth! They fell out on #5 and now I am 2 weeks pfc and nothing! Using latisse for 3 weeks now. I really thought I would see some lashes pop up by now!
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onvacation I held on pretty good but seemed to loose some towards all the corners at end of treatment.I was waiting as you and for me I didn't start seeing these grow until about week 10 PFC.But by using the generic form of Latisse haven't yet lost the rest and now the new ones are finally looking good.Not sure if this is true but I believe someone somewhere stated that they got their hair back in the same order as they lost it.I have noticed this to be true for me also.Eyelashes were the last to go and the last to come in.
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onvacation - I will say...when they start to itch (and mine itched intensely) they will be in very shortly - hang in there. mine were not back in at 4 weeks PFC when I went back to work, but were totally in by about the 6th week...and bottoms (which had gone first) where full length by 8 weeks and tops were all there at the same time, but grow very slow on me and are now to the point of curling them, but they haven't finished coming in. I'm hoping since I used the latisse and the growth back seems to have been slow but thick and scattered, that they may not thin or fall out again. Hang in there0
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Okay, Ladies....Decision made for me. I will get latisse this week. I am going to derm for a full body check (since there's an easy look on my head) and will get the rx. Thanks for your help.
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I really admire all you gals that work through chemo. I was not working, and I suppose if I was I could have part of the time, But it would have been tough because the fatigue really set in after the 3rd tx. I did work at home a bit on my husbands business. I even had a pole barn built, hired a builder, got permits, oversaw the construction. So I bet you can do a lot these days.
Here is a happy note. I did get most of my body hair back except, the hairs that were on my moles on my face, that I used to tweeze, are gone, and barely any hair on the tops of my legs.
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The one good thing to come out of my hair loss is that I no longer feel so self-conscious about myself. I have always been pretty conservative in terms of dress and hairstyle. The first time I had cancer, I wore my wig for nearly a year all the time - in and outside the house.
This time, I have only worn the wig when I had to go to work or an interview. I've been wearing bandanas and hats the entire summer; today I am wearing a beautiful turban. In many ways it feels liberating - I can change my look as often as I like and I am not at all self-conscious (in fact, since I am on the "inside looking out" I completely forget what I look like to others).
My hair is growing in - I am 10+ weeks PFC- and I am willing to bet that I will be going "topless" when my hair is at a much shorter stage than it was when I had cancer 19 years ago. I guess that's the difference - at least for me - between having cancer when you're 34 and having it when you're 54 - increased confidence.
Joan
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OK here I am at 24 weeks PFC and I just gave myself a 4th haircut. I saw that the darker new hair had the "white bunny fur" at the ends so I trimmed it all over. Sure has grown at the bottom at the back. So now I have the spiky look all over...I like it but didn't use any product so dunno know how long the spikes will stand up. If they won't, it's back to the Judi Dench look! I am just so happy to have hair!!
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JoanQuilts, so nice to hear of your confidence...it really does make a woman beautiful, whether she has hair or not.
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I finally updated my avatar from my weekly photo from last week. I am 2 days post op. I am doing ok and the pain is impmroving rapidly. I am going to have to have more surgery as one of my margins was not clear. I had four positive nodes and definitely did not get a complete respons to chemo as hoped. Now it is up to radiation to kill the rest of this cancer. Thank goodness for rads. At least I wont need more chemo so i get to keep my fuzzy head for now.
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I had my surgery back in January....it seems so long ago now......I had 23 removed, and 5 were positive, so I didn't get to see if the chemo would have given me a complete response either. My chemo was to get any stray cells left over floating around. That's where my faith comes in because I'll never know! I also have rads coming up after my 2 more Taxol.
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Sissydi, I guess that is an advantage of doing the neo adjuvant chemo but in some ways I wish I didn't know. I would have been happy to know I had a complete response but now that I know I didn't, I am a little dismayed. The chemo do work though and so does the rads. We will all beat this monster.
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