Hair Hair Hair - Another question
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Lorbgoo, also have a little over 2" and it's curly as you see, so looks even shorter, same as you bosumblues. I like my curls as it makes me look younger I think, hard with all this gray but if I blow dry it it gets just puffy and looks like a little ol lady's hair that has been set in curlers. It's an ever evolving process. I've gone topless (mostly wore scarves and caps and my wigs only occasionally) since July, 3 mo pfc. I was a slow grower...thought I'd never have hair...but it really does grow. The top is actually thicker than the sides which is unusual for most. I'm getting used to it and liking it on most days.It's starting to "grow" on me...lol
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jbok your hair looks long for 5 months past. I am 6 months and my hair seems shorter than yours. Mine is really curly so maybe that's why. I love your hair!!!!
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Lisa & Jbok - Everyone's hair looks great! Next week I will be 4 months PFC and have my first trim scheduled for this coming Monday. I am so excited to be seeing my regular hairstylist again! I think someone's advice here was good - to get it even'ed up - since it's shorter and curlier on the top than the sides and back. I also hate the color and the flat look of it. Some months ago Lago mentioned that post chemo hair is flat looking as there is no shine. I agree and am hoping the hair color I want will also bring back the shine. I'm not enjoying the salt & pepper look, but overall would be happier with it if only there was some shine.I'll ask my stylist for box hair color suggestions, if she will offer those up to me, but I've no idea where to go on that. I've read that Revlon's Colorsilk is good because it has no ammonia. Does anyone have suggestions for a good box color. I think it's crazy to pay lots of $$ for hair that's only 1 1/2-2" long. How about color suggestions for salt & pepper hair to cover the gray and bring some gold highlights to the darker hair??
Thanks!
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I am struggling with the color. I was always white/platinum. Now I see silver. I before chemo color would slide out of my hair, I suspect the same thing will happen now. Guess I'm stuck!
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6 months PFC today. 0 -
lorbgoo, gosh that's beautiful. Love it. If I only had dark hair mine would look something like that and I like that better than my gray. Oh well, the grass is always greener... At least I have hair and it's coming in nicely, sometimes I just feel old with this gray but really don't want to be dependent on coloring every 4 wks so trying to embrace the new color. I hear that gray/silver/white hair is in, very cosmopolitan or something
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Hi Everyone! I've been away for awhile. I love seeing how everyone's hair is growing nicely. Here I am almost a year PFC (taken a month ago) with my daughter. You can't tell but my hair is quite long and curly in the back. I'm enjoying the color and curl! A new adventure everyday!
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i've just gotten some tubular bandanas (similar to buffs) from www.tansclub.com, and I really like them. Stretchy and comfortable, neat and easy ... and most are $3 each. I do have a few dressier looking scarves, nice hats, etc., but these bandanas will be my go to head covering in the coming months.
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Deborahanne, you got nice soft curls, you both look beautiful!
Bosum, we all go through those phases of feeling discouraged, but instead of looking at all that you do not like try to accentuate your positives, we all have them. About the thickness of the hair, even if you did not do chemo hair just gets thinner as we age.
My hair is definitely thinner than few years back, however, if I compare the new growth to the hair after chemo, the new growth is thicker. When I put the hair strand ends together the new growth is at least 40% thicker.
In regard to hair length the best thing is not to have expectations, just enjoy every stage. Since my expectations were very low I have been happy at every stage (except the 6 month mark, when it was impossible to manage). The long hair just happened, because I could not bring myself to cut it.
Last week I went to the bank, where I have been going forever. Anyway, there was a new teller helping me, the young woman kept looking at me and looking at the picture she had on the screen. She ended up calling the manager to verify it was me. My picture on file has me with very short hair, the teller apologized, she said I just look so different. I thanked her for doing her job.
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armamp95: Thanks for the reference to the tubular bandana supplier. My hair's probably 3" long now but I love my buffs so much that I always have one in my purse because my ears still get cold. They are such easy things to pull on when our growing, fly away, frizzy, thin, new hair won't do what we want. I wish I'd known about them years ago.
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love the hair Deborah!
Bosum I am thinking my hair will still be curly when it grows out. I want mine to be straight because I think it will look neater. Mine is really thick and I think it's the same as before. I'm sorry you think yours is thin. Maybe it will appear thicker once it gets longer
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Here's this week's photos, the back is definitely filling in, still patchy in front, but pleased how much difference I see even in just a week.
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islandmom LOL My drivers license expired in the middle of my chemo, so my new picture is of the bald me. Now my hair is about 2 inches long. LOTS of double takes happening when comparing my DL to me now.
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I am that person BosomBlues..it is a cruel twist of fate
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Making progress!!
My hair is the strangest color. If its in the shadows it looks black, but where the light is shining on it, its all silver. It is not silver tipped, the hairs are silver all the way to the scalp. Its just very salt and pepper so changes depending upon the light. I kind of like it! Oh, except for the fact its growing into a faux hawk. LOL It is significantly thicker than it was before chemo.
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Your hair looks great! Nice and thick!
Ladies, I've started a new Advice topic: https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/69/topic/826508?page=1#post_4227373 I thought it would be a good way to talk about 'if I knew then what I know now" to help the other ladies who are just starting this journey.
Please share your wisdom!
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You ladies have wonderful hair. I am so jealous. My hair never came back fully after chemo. I now have thin hair and bare, visible scalp along most of crown area. I just ordered my new wiglet at voguewigs.com using the 30% off code BLACK. I have been ordering new wigs/wiglets this time of year to take advantage of the reduced prices. Fake hair is not cheap! The wiglets work for me as they cover top bald areas and blend into hair along the nap which I don't need to conceal. They are much lighter and cooler than a full wig where I have to stuff what little hair I have into them.
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noonrider: filling in very nicely!
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Wow Noonrider.....your hair looks awesome! I wish mine looked like yours. I have over an inch of tight curls.....i wont even go without my wig because it is crazy looking.
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Deen: My last chemo was Sep 18, On Oct 22 I had hair that was 1/16" long. I've posted weekly photos the last couple weeks, check last Saturday's photo for current growth.
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Yesterday I blew a gasket, then woke up this morning and did it all over again. My oncologist wants me to start Arimidex and Zometa. I am NOTa happy camper. I thought I was DONE with this BS when I have my last surgery in Jan/Feb. And now this? No. I do NOT want to do this. I am not sure that I will. Not only am I sure to have every horrible side effect (because I usually do!) but my hair will fall out!!! My hair was thin and mousy before chemo, but has come in twice as thick as it was before. Its the best hair I've had in all of my 47 years and I DO NOT want to give it up!!!! I know this is so much more important than hair, but I really don't understand why I have to go on these drugs. There….that is my temper tantrum for the day.
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Noon, - I am jealous of your thick hair, too! Are you sure those meds would cause you to lose it again?? My onc has spoken of zometa, too. I dont think she expects hair loss!!
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Noon, I'm not a candidate for Arimidex with my triple neg status, but that one may cause some thinning. I don't know for sure, so I would do some research on that. My MO has recommended two yearly infusions of Zometa as a breast cancer recurrence preventative. It's obviously a bone strengthening drug. It is administered in half hour infusions. My MO recommended it twice a year for me and I had my first infusion on Nov. 6 without a problem. I had been warned by others to hydrate, so I drank lots of water before and after. I did have a little foot cramp that night for about 15 minutes but it went away, and I was up all night peeing from all the water, but it was a piece of cake with NO real side effects. I have NO knowledge whatsoever that it affects your hair in any way.0 -
noonrider your hair texture and thickness will return to it's former self most likely after 12-18 months. As far as the AI remember you can always try it then if you have SE quit. You're hair will grow back if it falls out on the AI just like it grew back on Chemo. If you are that worried you can always try Minoxidil. That's what I use because it started to recede before chemo due to peri menopause. The generic isn't all that expensive either.
But once the cancer has become metastatic you will be battling that the rest of your life… and it most likely will not be a normal life span. I started this battle at age 49. I've had a few issues with the AIs and I'm on my 2nd one. Most of the SE have gone away on this one.
Don't assume the worst. I though I was going to get every SE on chemo and have the worst nausea because I too don't play well with meds. I never took anything for nausea, never had it.
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The hair loss would be from the Arimidex. When I was on chemo I had nearly every side effect with the exception of nausea. I didn't have that. My MO expects that my side effects from the Zometa would be similar to my side effects from Neulasta. Had *severe* reactions to neulasta, and didn't take it my last round because I just couldn't do it again.
I am already using rogaine. I started using it two weeks PFC, which is partly why my hair has come in so thick. I already knew I grew hair with Rogaine because I was in a study for it years ago. (I had female pattern baldness since I was 18) It was recommended by my dermatologist to start using it when I was done with chemo because the hair follicles would be prime and the rogaine growth more noticeable since it wouldn't be buried under hair already on my head.
When I had my LMX and SNB my margins and nodes were clear. Because I can't take Tamoxifen my risk of recurrence was at 25%. My oncotype put me in the gray area group, unknown if chemo is beneficial or not. It was a coin toss. I chose to do chemo, and I chose to do BMX for the same reason. I was told I would not need to do rads because my nodes/margins were clear AND I had the BMX. So why then, if I didn't need rads, would I need to do Arimidex? I know I have no guarantee that I will never develop BC again because there is always a small amount of breast tissue left, but what is the likelihood with all of the above treatments? Maybe I am missing something, but it doesn't makes sense to me that I would need to take Arimidex.
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noonrider Rads and BMX only take care of local cancer cells. Chemo and Hormone therapy do the entire system and can target any cells that might have gone into your system that might have broken away from the tumor (or escaped through the lymph nodes if you had involvement). Also you still have some breast tissue. We have about a 2-3% chance of developing a new breast cancer from the tissue that is left. It happened to a friend of mine. She had BMX, Chemo etc. Hormone therapy can prevent that.
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MomMom - interesting that your doc has recommended Zometa as a preventative. I thought it was only for bone mets. Did you have major bone density loss? My bone density tanked after chemo but I'm worried about some of the long term SEs of biosphosphonates, such as jaw/mouth issues if you've already had gum problems.
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MinusTwo 4 years ago my MO's plan was to put me on Zometa (already had osteopenia) once I finished chemo because there were studies that said it prevented bone mets… then at a conference another study said it didn't so she then decided against it. 6 months later a bigger study came out and proved it did but we never revisited the issue.
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Thanks Lago. Once I figure out who's going to be my new MO, I'll initiate some discussion. Unfortunately both MO and OB/Gyn are retiring.
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12 weeks out today. Sure wish my hair would fill in some more
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