Hair Hair Hair - Another question
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Hi all...Just checking in: six months PFC and my hair is finally at the stage where I think it looks cute....the curls help. (not sure if they will stick around, however). I haven't yet done a trim, but I probably should soon....
Hugs to all.
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Valstim52 - I had surgery following chemo, too (hysterectomy and ooph). I had the same question about what to wear on my head. I ended up wearing my wig to the hospital and then when i changed into the hospital gown, I put on a cotton knit cap. I didn't know if they'd let me wear it or not. They never said a word about it and I wore it throughout. They will put a surgical, shower cap looking thing on when you are in surgery anyway. They just put it over my cap. Hope that helps
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My phase 2 reconstruction is on May 18 and my final chemo infusion was February 1. My hair is growing back but it is very short (and very gray). I asked the nurse practitioner during the pre surgical testing at the hospital if I can wear my wig during the surgery. She said that she thinks I can since the surgery is relatively short. I think I am going to be brave and go without my wig for surgery
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I was able to wear mine for reconstruction surgery. My plastic surgeon gave me the okay. I put the cap they give you on. My plastic surgeon told me that when I went to recovery from the OR the wig never made it. It came off when they took the cap off me. Do he had to have the nurses find it and put it back on me before I woke up. So be careful and make sure all know you have your wig on!!
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Octogirl, thanks for posting! Looks great and give me hope!
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Octogirl, you give us hope Your hair looks great
thanks so much ladies for your input. You guys are such a help
I think I'll wear it to the hospital, and when I change into my gown i'll wear a cotton knit cap. My wigs are all human hair and expensive i'd hate for them to toss it, lol
side note, my mom who has worn wigs for years due to thyroid disease always goes in with her wig on. Not sure if they take it off and put it back on or not.
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Love everyone's beautiful hair pics!
I had my port removed immediately after chemo because I had issues with it, and the hair on my head was the long white stuff, very sparse. I wore my wig to the hospital but took it off and just had the surgical head covering on. I had Googled and it seemed like the rule was no wigs. I didn't think about a cap, but at least I had the head covering on.
7 weeks PFC and it keeps filling in, so all things considered I'm quite happy.
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I wore a cotton knit cap to surgery. It was no problem, they just put the surgical cap over it.
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I didn't worry about wearing my wig to my exchange surgery. I had a hat on and just changed it out for the surgical cap when it was time to go back.
I feel like my hair growth has halted. I am so ready to be done with the wigs and head coverings but I just don't feel comfortable with the way it looks right now.
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Hey there Mvspaulding! I thought your pic looked great. But I get that you need to feel ready and comfortable first before going without the wig. I am only 3 weeks PFC but was thinking about trying a hair fiber product like Toppik around week 8 to see if that helps get me some acceptable "ground cover" to ditch the wig.
Has anyone on the thread used Toppik?
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Southerncharm and Octogirl. Your hair looks great!
Thanks Angtee, I guess I just need a big dose of courage. After everything I've been through this shouldn't be so hard.
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Angtee15, a good friend who is just a few months behind me used topik? and Argan oil. She has a lush head of full hair about 3 inches. She says she is not sure which one to give credit to, because she says she never had hair growth like this before bc.
I've had long full hair all my life, and certainly am not comfortable with my 'fuzz', and not sure if i'll even be comfortable with very short hair. So i'm wigging it for now and taking it a day at a time to see i'm using the argan oil.
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octo it looks like your hair is really starting to curl up. Rock those chemo curls!
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Just read an old blog about how long it took your hair to grow back. I just finished chemo and looking forward to my long hair again.
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I am 7 weeks PFC and my hair is growing so slow and the part in the back when the wig lays has even last hair. I am worried it's not coming back. I am going to have the longer chemo white hair shaved off this week, maybe the trim will start it growing. Anyone else not seeing hair regrowth after 7 weeks.
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Wispy/vulture like hair question for you ladies.
I began having quite a bit of wispy hair growth after round 3 of Taxotere. It's continuing to grow and stick right straight out from my head. Um...it's not cute. I am two weeks PFC and I cannot decide if I should shave it and start with everything all nice and even or if I should just leave it and see what happens. Thoughts? Opinions?
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Wendi, I buzzed my hair several times until I felt that the new growth was even enough. My last chemo was January 7, but I started to see some wispy hair in early December while I was on Taxol. My last buzz was mid-February. It's hard to shave off any new hair, but I thought it looked much better.
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Hi everyone,
Had last chemo November 24. Hair started growing about a month later. So that means it's been 5 months. Hair is about 1.25 inches. Now starting to curl which makes it look even shorter... No "bangs" yet. Ugh!! Often it looks unruly to me and I'm wondering if I should have it shaped ( not sure if there is enough for that) and maybe that would encourage more growth.Seems to have really slowed down... Anyone have a thought on this?
I started going without my wig about a month ago.... To me I screamed "Chemo person" but my friends said it just looked like a choice to wear my hair short. I just attended a support group last week. Several women were at the same point as me and I have to agree with my friends after seeing someone else. It's very personal when you look at yourself in your own mirror....
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Vicki, buzzedthe wispies...feels sooooo much better! Thanks for the encouragement.
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I'm almost 7 mos. PFC and will finally go to have my hair trimmed/shaped and consult about color next Monday. My hair's about 1.5 inches and it seems to be growing a lot quicker now that it's spring; just like the plants. haha. Pretty even all over except no bangs and that's where I'd really want it to grow more.
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Thanks Bjsmiller, seems we are on almost the same hair growth schedule. Feels good to have company. Hoping to have "bangs" by August for a family wedding LOL Stay Strong all.
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7 weeks PFC. Much less on top than back but not too bad I guess. Seems even longer now as this was 3/4 days ago. I had let my wispy hairs stay because I didn't have the heart to cut them. They were long white fuzzy and eventually fell out save two or so. Now mainly dark with some extra pepper for good it seems. What's the earliest you guys colored
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YoungBRCAgal, your hair looks marvelous after only 7 wks. I tried self-coloring with a gentle no ammonia, no peroxide hair dye at 20 wks. PFC and it didn't go well, but my hair is 100% gray now when before chemo it was only 25%. Recently I was told by a stylist who caters to cancer patients that one must use at least 2% ammonia for the dye to take, at least to all gray hair. I'm now almost 7 mos. PFC and ready to try again - with a professional this time!
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Sheri: You are still early. Did you take Taxotere?
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Trvler I was on Taxotere and read on here it could take longer. I shaved off the chemo white hair last night so I am starting over. Hope it goes a little quicker now. I am getting tried of this wig. But on the good side the wig is quick in the morning so I get to my radiation on time.
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Young, you look great! I think you will see it take off and grow really nicely and quickly in the next few weeks, based on my experience..... Can't answer the color question, as I've never colored my hair....
Ran into a long time work colleague at a conference I am attending, who I hadn't seen in several years. Although we live on opposite coasts he does know me pretty well because he is good friends with a woman who is a close friend of mine, and we've hung out together at many other meetings, but still, he didn't recognize me with the short curly hair!!! Such a weird feeling to see the awkwardness when I said 'hi sweetie' and went to give him a hug and he didn't know who the hell I was...then to have him ask when I cut my hair....sigh...his wife has had bc and went through chemo, so you'd think he would get it, but he didn't (I did tell him), which perhaps I should take as a good sign that my hair is past the 'cancer girl' stage!
Hugs to all
Octogirl
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youngBRCAgirl your hair looks great! I am almost 10 weeks pfc and have a little less than you. It is starting to grow faster now though. I am hoping to be brave enough to go without a head covering in the next two weeks.
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Wow, so much growth happening! Everyone looks just beautiful. This whole process of losing and regrowing my own hair has made me so much more attentive to how many women around me in my day to day life are rocking super short hair and looking amazing.
I reached peak IDGAF this week, I guess, because on Monday and Tuesday I went to the office without my customary beanie. Honestly, I didn't feel totally ready in a sense, because my hair growth is still sparser than I'm comfortable with--particularly in the top/front hairline. But I'd been going without head coverings at home and when shopping for about a week, and it's just felt so good (especially with the warmer weather). I figured that I get looks from people when I show up to work in my little beanie...what's the difference if I get looks for showing up with my barely-there fuzz? ;-)
Here's how it looks, roughly 14 weeks PFC (but I did shave off the chemo stuff around 6 weeks PFC). I can't really tell what's going on, straight or curly-wise. The hair on the sides seems fairly straight but the hair on the top is growing every which way. Eyebrows have filled in slightly in spots, but I still have to pencil them in daily. Eyelashes are little stubs, mostly.
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Peak IDGAF, lol. I feel like I'm almost there (almost).
I think you look fantastic, MDW. Like you say, this experience gives us all new perspective on super short hair. I've had many short cuts over the years, including pixies, but upkeep is so frequent and I just sort of fell into longer hair. Now that I know for sure its growing back I'm embracing (kind of) a fresh start.
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Paxton, thanks for the nice words--and same here on embracing a fresh start! I've done pixie short and long hair and everything in between over the years. Not sure what I'm going to end up with as this stuff grows, color-wise or texture-wise, but I'm kind of digging the super shortness for now...and I'm even okay with the fact that it's coming in so grey. There was a woman at Trader Joe's today whose hair was sort of Ellen Degeneres-short and a gorgeous silvery color, and I almost said out loud, "That's what I want!"
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