Hair Hair Hair - Another question
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My purple is much more faded as I like it now! My hairdresser couldn't possible make me look how I was before so I brought in lots of shots of ideas of what I wanted. I think it's great to go to a new hairdresser if it's affordable and you feel your old one will see you the same! Not a lot we can do with this short hair but I'm patiently waiting! I just wanted it to look like I choose my hairstyle on purpose and not that I was recovering from chemo. Cant wait to get some length. I keep hearing that it is curly, I think wavy is more like it, mostly at the back
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Karen- I like the faded purple. I've been trying to figure out how to work some electric blue in somewhere. I think I'll end up with some pretty wavy hair for a while. I definitely hear you on wanting to look like you chose your hairdo...
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Tomorrow will be 12 months pfc, and I celebrated by getting my first haircut today. I went back to the salon where I bought my wig, which I still have worn daily, where the stylist has a lot of experience with post-chemo hair. She said it's perfectly normal to have the top coming in more slowly than the sides.
To recap the start of my hair journey:
8 weeks:
10 weeks:
12 weeks:
14 weeks:
Because the growth wasn't as obvious and I was discouraged by having bangs like Kramer's, I didn't take photos for a while. I finally have enough length to weigh it down so it's not standing up straight on top.
If any of you are wondering what happens if you don't cut your hair for a year, this is this morning:
And a post-salon car selfie, with the benefit of a trim and a blow dry. This is the first time I've been in public without a wig since August of last year!
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Peachy, those are great photos. It's just hard to think how long it takes to for hair to recover from chemo! I think once we're done, it should grow back quickly. I'm 4 weeks PFC on Monday and just have the usual stubble on the top, it's still pretty smooth in the front, and a few crazy scarily hairs on the sides! Ugh! I love both your pre-salon and post salon pics! You're definitely on the road to normal. Congrats on the year anniversary!
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beautiful peachy
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peachy you look beautiful. Congrats on 1 year pfc
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Looks awesome Peachy! You looked great with shorter hair too
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Great pictures Peachy! Thanks for letting me know about the sides growing in faster than the top. I'm 8 months PFC and my sides are just about over my ears, but it seems to me that the top has stopped growing! Maybe there's hope that it will eventually catch up!
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Peachy--just beautiful! There are no other words! Thanks for sharing your photos. You had a very similar diagnosis and treatment as me. I finished AC a couple weeks ago (thank goodness!!!) and will have my second round of Taxol this week. Did your hair start growing back at all once you were on Taxol? I've heard varying stories from others on here, from the doctors, NP's and nurses. Since we are so similar with everything, including age, I was wondering what your experience was. I did not lose all of my hair on AC. I have about 1/4 of it left. Dr. assured me it would fall out by week 3 of Taxol, yet NP said it would probably remain (and eventually start growing again) and I would have new hair starting to grow soon. I'm not sure what to think.
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peachy you look great!!! Even without hair !
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5 months PFC. Starting to get some of my wave back.
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Logang and Peachy- Great photos!! Thanks for sharing!!! I'm still going through chemo, but fingers crossed I will have hair like that next year....appreciate your sharing!
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Logang, such cute hair! I'm going through rads and there is a woman there right ahead of me. She said she is 2 months PFC, but her hair just looked darling. I'm so looking forward to finally see some movement with hair growth!
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Has anyone used Jamaican Black Castor Oil to regrow your hair? I just heard about this and after reading reviews it seems to be effective. Just wondering if anyone on here has had any experience with it. Can it be used before chemo is finished to speed things up I wonder?
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Peachy - Thanks for progress pics. You look great!
Logang - Your hair is soooo thick! Very cute!
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seq24, I just met a former bc sister who highly recommended the black Jamaican castor oil so I've started using it but am still only 5 weeks out PFC. My hair is beginning to grow back but still very slowly. I'm also mixing it with a little coconut oil, rubbing it in at night, then shampooing in the morning before rads. I figure it can't hurt!
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Thanks Dara! Good information. Do you think it would help or hurt anything to start using it before chemo is even done? I still have 10 (out of 20) weeks to go. I still have about 1/4 of my hair and not sure if it will be staying around or not. I'll do anything, and I mean anything, to have my hair back. This is the most horrifying part of all of this!!!
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Seq, personally, I think it would be fine. There's nothing in it to interfere with chemo and it would help moisturize the scalp. There's no odor either. You're fortunate to have kept so much of your hair. I lost most of mine very soon after my first infusion. I've heard the black castor oil also helps thicken existing hair so I'd start using it now.
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Thanks Dara! What brand do you use and could I ask where you got it? I was looking at some on Amazon and a lot of them say there is a strange odor to it. Thanks for your advice! I'm very nervous the rest of my hair will be gone shortly. My MO assured me I would lose what I had left the 3rd week of Taxol. That's next week. But then again she also assured me I would lose all my hair after the 3rd round, then the 4th round of AC. I lost the majority of my hair a week after the second round of AC. But since then no more has come out. But it still looks bad enough I don't dare go out in public without a wig.
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Seq, I just bought it on Amazon. I'm attaching a picture of the product. I thought there would be an odor also, but this has none. And I still have some of my eyebrows and about half of my eyelashes that never fell out, so maybe your hair will do the same.
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Thanks Dara! That's the exact same stuff I was looking at on amazon. I was reading the reviews for it and that's where I saw someone said it had a bad odor. I'm ordering some now!
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Thanks for sharing Peacy2. I finished chemo 7'weeks ago and m so depressed by the slow growth. You look great
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Hang in there ocmdcat! At seven weeks pfc I was doing the same thing!! I have always had really fast growing hair, so was rather disappointed when it took so long to get going.
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Ocm, I'm right with you. I'm 6 weeks pfc, and I've been getting so depressed because I can barely see any growth and it so sparse and uneven. I just hope it comes back!
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Dara--Hows it going with the Jamaican black castor oil? I got some but haven't used it much yet. Seems that since I started Taxol I'm shedding some of the hair I had left and am not seeing any growth of anything new. I just hope I share the ladies' experience that had hair growing back on Taxol.
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Seq, I'm using the castor oil at night only and then put a beanie on. I shampoo it in the shower each morning before rads. It's SUPER slow and I guess I'm getting a bit frustrated. I'm just tired of wearing scarves but my head now gets so cold when it's bare. Everyone tells me that 6 weeks is still so early to expect much growth. I've also noticed that I'm still losing eyelashes and eyebrows. I'd lost about 1/2 of brows and 1/3 of lashes. Most are almost gone now. Just had stubble on my head after chemo so no shedding there. I've also read that a SE of the Arimidex I take can also be thinning hair. I think the hair gods are conspiring against us!
And a very private question... does all body hair grow back? I've already had to shave my legs once, but a certain private area is still as smooth as a baby's bottom! hmmmm. lol!
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Dara it does all grow back, but some areas slower than others. My eyebrows kept falling out and coming back up until recently and my last chemo was 4/18.
I honestly did not see much growth until around 10 weeks and then it was quite sparse. Now I have about 2 inches and it's steady. I kept feeling my bald head and could feel fuzz but there were times I did not think it was coming back
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Dara--Thanks for sharing. It is SO depressing about the hair! I can't stand to look in the mirror and I still have a little that never came out on AC. As far as your other question, just in my own experience, I was never able to stop shaving my legs, even with AC that was considered very strong chemo. Hair in other places is starting to come back, including in private areas, but none on my head. So depressing!
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Hang in there ladies, my hair didnt start growing back until 8 weeks after my final chemo, which was in April. Halloween was the first time I went to work without my wig. My hair is still very short but it feels great to finally go without.
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15 wks PFC - Does it ever grow fast enough? When my hair first started growing back, I could see changes daily, but now it's not that noticeable. I still wear a hat when out having never liked my wigs. As many have experienced the top is thinner. In the past week the texture of my hair is changing. My hairs are getting thicker. Normally, I don't have a lot of hair, but each strand has been pretty thick.
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