Hair Hair Hair - Another question
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Sloan you are looking great!
I figure 2 more weeks and I will ditch the wig. It still has to fill in a bit more. I can't believe how much it has grow. In the last 2 weeks. It really started to grow at about 6 weeks. You could see a difference daily. I am still doing the daily back of head checks. I love the feel of my hair. It is so soft and fuzzy. I am glad that I buzzed the white chemo fluff off. I think that was at about 4 weeks.
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Dee, are you glad you buzzed off the white chemo fluff because it helped the growth, or because you didn't like it, or some other reason?
I have yet to see anything I would describe as 'fluff'. I have hairs that are my regular color, but sparse, as in an inch or two at least between each hair. So more like scraggly, than fluff. I am getting discouraged not to see darker scalp, fuzz or any such (Monday I will be six weeks PFC). any encouragement or suggestions would be very, very welcome at this point...
Octogirl
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I'm not ready to go wigless yet as it's still pretty short. Soon, tough. Plus, it's cold here, and I'm in California!
octogirl - I hardly had anything at week 8, but it came in like crazy week 10 ( and you saw wee 11). Don't get discouraged! In hindsight, I would have buzzed off the stragglers. I had to do it as my hair was growing bun, and I worried the whole time that I'd buzz off some of the new stuff. I think I would have buzzed the stragglers to 1/4 or 1/2 inch when I saw new growth.
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I buzzed the stragglers and felt way better after I did it. Now, 7 months post chemo, people compliment me on my hair, it doesn't look like chemo hair anymore. And oh yeah, I dyed that fishing line hair super fast and was glad I did.
Sloan, you will be without wig by April for sure
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Thanks Sloan and Italy....but to clarify: for the most part, other than a few hairs at the nape of my neck and below my ear, these aren't stragglers. This is new growth. but even if these hairs grew out to be ten or twelve inches long, I'd have bare scalp, that is how far apart they are...it certainly doesn't look like the pics you all post, in any way. I know, I can hear some of you say, ' wait a minute: you have new hair? Then why so impatient?' The problem is, I've not heard anyone describe it coming in the way mine is, and it scares the hell out of me that this is all that will come in: hairs here and there, but not a head of hair, if that makes sense.
I am afraid to buzz the only hair I have, but I am worried it is preventing more from coming in, though I don't see how it could be. I have some hairs that are as long as 1.5 or even 2 inches, but there are still lots of smooth, shiny bald spots, where hair is not growing at all.
Thanks for your encouragement.
Octogirl
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Octo, do you see any dark spots in your scalp, kind of like blackheads? I had hairs that were long, but it took until about 10 weeks for me to see real progression. And a bald spot right in the front for a really long time
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no, no dark spots. I do see a few red spots, at the end of little bumps. will try to get up the nerve to post pics later today or tomorrow....
Octogirl
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I am glad I buzzed it off otherwise the hair would have been at so many different lengths. The white chemo fluff would have been long and then shorter dark hair mixed in. I had lots of white hair come in before my dark hair came. You should start to see some growth coming in if you are at 6 weeks. The sides and back started coming in first, then the top started filling in. The crown of my head is still patchy
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Octogirl - Don't stress out. It's early still for you. I posted these pics before, but I'll put them together for you.
WEEK 8 pfc
Pretty SPARSE! Don't let the length fool you- the long grey hairs never left. Look at the BARELY dark scalp.
WEEK 10 the hair really started to grow. Once the scalp gets dark, give it 2 weeks to come in.
Now Week 11 below, and honestly, it's even longer and darker today.
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Octogirl I didn't have hair until about 10 weeks PFC. Don't be discouraged.it was 4months till it had any shape
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Did my weekly hair check this morning, 15 weeks PFC. It has filled in on top, and I'm happy to see more brown than grey. Still grey on the sides, unfortunately. The back doesn't seem as long as the top, where I have a solid inch. Back feels more like 1/2 inch in places. At this moment, I'd say it feels straighter than it was before chemo--I've always had waves and frizz--but we'll see how it looks over time. It's coming in, but I suspect the Herceptin is slowing it down somewhat.
Fingernails still breaking easily; I'm leaving them alone aside from getting rid of the jagged edges. But what's coming in looks okay, no new ridges.
Octogirl and others: I think it's a mistake in some ways to count hair growth from the final chemo infusion. I assume the drug stays in our body for at least a few weeks, during which hair growth isn't happening. I wouldn't be surprised if it takes a month or so PFC for the follicles to wake up and even start to think about putting out new growth. I wonder if there's some correlation with blood counts: when the white blood cells start to come back, so do the other fast-growing body parts?
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rainnyc- I had very curly hair before chemo, too, and I'm hoping it's straighter this time! I sent my sister a picture of my hair growing in and she said it looked straighter. All I could reply was, "YAY!"
I agree that there is no hair growth for a long time after the last chemo, but I think that is when we all start countinf the days! I think that's why I don't want others to be discouraged. The difference between weeks 7 and 10 are huge!
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More hair progression pics...
Almost 6 weeks pfc
9 weeks pfc
Then 12weeks pfc
And back 12 weeks pfc
The back/sides have always had more hair/coverage. But the top is FINALLY getting there too. Just a bit more and I think I can color. It's hard to tell, but it's not really gray or brown... Just ugly.
I used to be blond. It's wavy, but it was wavy before... I can still see some scalp on top, just waiting for that to hurry and fill in.
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As Rainny mentioned, the chemicals stay in your body for a while. Also the new hair that is growing from the roots was damaged by the chemo, and will not likely be the same as the hair you end up with a year later. I didn't get frantic about the type or color or waves or frizz until a full 6 months after Herceptin, and my hair grows very fast.
I finished Herceptin in Sept 2014. I've had a hair cut every month to 6 weeks for most of 2015. That doesn't mean I've decided to keep it short, since I always had hair at least to my shoulders. It does mean I've been seduced by the ease of almost no care. Except my neck & ears are always cold.
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kcin- you have a lot of hair in the back! Wow. Relatively speaking here, it's pretty long for 12 weeks!
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Just wanted to mention the option of not shaving. I chose to get a pixie at the beginning of chemo, and a little bit of hair stayed on my head through treatment. I liked not being completely shiny bald under my cap, or when I went uncovered at home. Then when my hair started to come back, I got regular mini-trims to tidy it up and make it look like an intentional uber-short style. Each time I had fewer chemo white hairs and more of my normal color.
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It's official losing the hair day...
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Song4him- I was in your shoes 3 months ago....was probably one of the hardest things I have ever gone through. It is temporary but extremely upsetting.
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SongforHim, I clearly remember the day I had to go have my head shaved......end of May. I had to wear a shower cap into the salon to keep it from falling out more! But, I got through it, as we all have. It does pass, and one day, you will be posting about your hair coming back in! Keep that in mind, as difficult as it seems for you right now. My hair is now coming in wavy.....about an inch now!
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Hugs, Song. We are with you.
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Just curious after hair starts to grow, when is it ok to color? Does the mo need to ok this? And what type/brand of color?
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I colored mine about 3 weeks ago. I didn't ask MO.
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My BS and I were discussing my hair regrowth at my last visit and she advised me not to color it for a while. I think this was more of a woman to woman chat rather than medical advice though. She said that new growth is more like baby's hair and should be "babied" for a while. It makes sense to me and I think I'll be so happy to just have hair on my head that it won't matter what color it is.
That being said.... do what you feel makes you feel best!!
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Thought I'd have a pixie as mine was straight for 2 months then suddenly went curly. Now looks like a muppet if the sides aren't kept short
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My MO said I could color it whenever I wanted to. It came in, in such a beautiful silver that I've decided to wait and may never color it
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haven't posted for a while. I was so hair obsessed for a long time, I took so many pictures. Here's my before, growing stage and now. So different but keeping the gray. Before hair was colored and highlighted but gray underneath I found out once started to grow.curly before...curly now but actually less so. Second pic is 10 wks, then 4 mo and last pic is 1year and 4 mo pfc and multiple haircuts. Still changing and straighter than before chemo! Go figure
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Lisa, I love your hair! I'd be thrilled if my hair came back curly like yours! My natural hair is stick straight and baby fine, so it's never been lush and beautiful. But I'd give it up in a heart-beat to have pretty silver hair like yours. (of course, at the moment is the must unattractive, patchy baby duck fuzz you've ever seen. I can't even look at myself in the mirror, let alone take a picture of myself!)
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Thank you Lisa! This gives all of us hope!
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Mine did the same thing Chloesmom said--started out looking like it would be straight, then Zoing! very curly. Almost a year PFC it is starting to look more wavy than curly.
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Lisaj514, you're gorgeous! Yes, keep the beautiful gray! Before this recent breast cancer diagnosis I worked hard for almost a year and a half to stop coloring my hair and grow out my pretty salt and pepper hair that I have now, I am 59. I'm totally bummed that I'll be losing it in the next month lol! Best wishes Lisa and to all of you ladies.
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