Hair Hair Hair - Another question
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Thank you all for your responses! I so appreciate your kindness in helping us newbies!
I am on second BC but first chemo/radiation/AI newbie
Thank you YOU ALL SO MUCH
DANIELL
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I never shaved head on my first diagnosis in 2011. Lost all hair, did wigs for quite awhile as that is my comfort zone. Hair became grey and kinky wirey, and about 60% less volume/thickness unfortunately. Blowout Bar helped friz, then re diagnosed 2016. On CMF this time, so shedding slower. So hoping I don't loose much more. I have friends with straight hair that love their new curls after chemo. We all have dif results. Yes, it gets me down too-character builder I guess:
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Molly, I love your hair! And I really love the color! Mine used to be just that color. Can't wait until it comes back.
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I'm 5 weeks PFC, can feel tiny hair all over my head a few days ago. And my eye brows are coming back. Lashes can't really see yet. Really don't like to see the scalp that much. How long does it take to have the whole head cover with colored hair?
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Oasis--I am 7 weeks PFC and also had AC/Taxol. I started having a prickly head about halfway through Taxol, although there were plenty of smooth spots too. The first hair to come in was white fuzzy stuff. Most of my head is covered with hair now except for the top. Hair is a half inch to an inch long. The white fuzz is gone and the hair is now darker, but unfortunately it is a dark grey rather than my natural color of chestnut brown! Definitely not happy about that but my MO told me yesterday that I can color it whenever I want. Hair can come back any color or texture. I had about 1% grey before, now according to my hair dresser it's 75% grey now. Definitely not happy about that but I have more scalp covered with hair now than not so I guess I should be happy about that.
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shaved my head since hair is falling out. i am currently using my usual Head and Shoulders conditioner. i'm afraid it is too strong? can you recommend a good conditioner for scalp care?
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These are the curls I got back last time I did chemo. So hoping this is what I get back this time. Right now just white peach 🍑 fuzz 0 -
seq - i hope my hair will be half an inch long in two weeks time haha... Don't worry about the grey. As long as there is hair, we can color it later on.
dianarose - love your hair!
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I'm 7 weeks PFC. my hair before BC was thin, fine and straight. I also was going going gray and had been coloring it for about 10 yrs . Feeling hopeful after reading some of this thread that it might actually come in differently.
So far itsbaby fine gray hairs and not filled in everywhere yet. The top front and parts of the side are particularly sparse. I'm getting Herceptin every 3 weeks still until Sept, does anyone know if this will work against my hair growth??
Glad to find this thread to find out how everyone else is doing in the hair dept and what tips I can learn!
Thanks😀
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Dianarose--Beautiful hair! How long did it take you to grow it that long after chemo? That is gorgeous color and curls! Is that the color it came back as? Wish I was that lucky. The white fuzz is gone, hair is now mostly grey and straight as a stick. Hope that changes as it gets longer. Thanks for sharing!
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seg24- that was about 3 years . A lot of gray came back so I did color about every two months. It was like wire at first. Was terrible . Once it for length the curls came How far out of chemo are you? I have a lot of pure white fuzz right now. The top is very thin and still shows my scalp. Hoping it starts growing. Has me a bi worr
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Dianarose--I am 7 weeks PFC today. If I was brave enough I'd post photos of my hair on here. I'm just so embarrassed by the way it looks. The only part that looks like my normal hair as far as color, texture and thickness is in the back just above my neckline. It could still be some of my old hair because I did not lose it all. The top and left side show plenty of my scalp--even still some shiny and smooth spots and the right side although still thin is thicker than the left side. I just keeping that after all we have to go through to fight this awful cancer, the least we should be able to is keep our hair. I was just given the news on Wednesday that I was cancer free but I can't even be happy about it because I just hate the way I look.
How far out are you from chemo? I hope your hair grows back as gorgeous as it was before. I just love those curls!
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seq how do they determine cancer free? I was told that my margins were clear and PET scan is good right after my surgery. Then went through chemo and now radiation. So do I go through another round of scans after radiation? My next scheduled mammogram is in June, 12 months from my diagnosis.
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Oasis--I asked the same exact question of my oncologist on Wednesday. I had no scans or anything in the beginning--just mammogram, ultrasound and the biopsy. I had surgery in August and had clean margins. I did AC/Taxol chemo and just finished 20 of 30 rounds of radiation. Radiation will be finished on March 25. A week ago I had a series of 6 different blood tests. The normal blood work, CBC and metabolic panel that they did before each chemo. There was one to check my vitamin D levels and one to determine menopause, which will be used to determine which hormone blocker I have to take. The last 2 tests were to check the tumor markers. I never had tumor marker tests to start with but both tests now had results that were in the normal range of no cancer in my body. I also had a breast exam. All of these things put together is what the MO used to determine that I was cancer free. She also said that the fact that I did the full treatment regimen (some people don't) also helped to determine cancer free. I will have a mammogram in August and the tumor marker tests will be repeated as well as the CBC and metabolic panel to monitor that the readings are still similar to what they were last week. She did say that some oncologists do not use the tumor marker tests to make any determinations. I think depending on the stage and grade of the cancer other scans are done but according to my dr. they are not standard practice unless there is a need for them.
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seg24- my hair started growing toward the end of Taxol. Finished that about 5 weeks ago. I think I have lost some because I have been doing weekly A/C (low dose) for the past 3 weeks. Our youngest graduates 6/2 and was so hoping to have hair for that. I have three months of hoping. Even after it all grew back last time it was multi textured. Just weird.
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LOVE IT!!
Absolutely beautiful. 💓
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Welcome Hopeful! We're glad you found us, but sorry you, and all of us, had to lose our hair! We're all different with hit growth rate, but it seems we all follow the same pattern. It comes in super soft and grey, almost translucent. Then the texture gets more like real hair and color begins to come back along with varying degrees of grey. My hair grows VERY slowly and has for about 10 years so it is taking forever to get longer. It's now about an inch long on the top and a bit longer in the back. My top and sides of the crown are still the shortest. I'm taking Biotin, using Nioxin shampoo, conditioner, scalp treatment, and density treatment, plus just started also taking Black currant gel caps. I've been willing to try just about anything, but it still seems to just grow soooo slowly. I'm almost 22 weeks PFC, but again, I think it's more me than the average rate of growth. I'm upset as the weather starts warming up as I still will only let my husband see me without a wig.
DianaRose, you're hair is just gorgeous! It reminds me of my daughter's when she was in high school, but hers was w/o chemo:-)
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Seq24- don't be embarrassed of your hair.....especially with us. We are looking the same or worse. I am not done with chemo yet so I am always reading about hair growing back in. In my mind, I reason that it will take a while for the chemo damage to fix itself and will be at weird hair for about a month before normal hair can grow in. I think I am trying to set myself up so I am not disappointed when I stop chemo one day and don't wake up with hair the next. lol
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mistyeyes, you are so right! I've finally resigned myself that it will be about a year PFC before I'll feel comfortable with my own hair. And you're right, this is the one place that we ALL know exactly what the others are experiencing. Our appearance is the last remnant of a reminder that we had bc. Even when we're told "you're done, go live your life," we look in the mirror and are reminded of the treatments. Patience is a virtue I'm (and most of us) a little short on!
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is it just me or is the hair on top the last to start growing
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Dianarose - In my experience, it's been my bangs area that was the last to the party! I'm four months PFC, and the bang area just started growing at the beginning of this month. Back and sides are the most active growing. My radiologist said to stop biotin and B complex during rads, but I'm looking forward to starting both up tomorrow. My nails got all sorts of messed up with Taxol, and I hope the biotin helps those get cleared up as well.
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MistyEyes - I'm quite the opposite of you. I'm very optimistic. I still have 2 rounds of Taxol left, but I'm checking the mirror every day. I have a 5 o'clock shadow. I'm hoping that means the hair is coming in with something close to the original color of dark brown.
I should probably stop watching, though. Alas, a watched pot never boils.
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SuprSurvivr--Did your radiologist give you a reason for not taking the biotin and B vitamins? I have 9 more days of radiation and have been taking both throughout. I better ask tomorrow.
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seq24 - he said that because the medical world is unsure of the effects of taking supplements during radiation,that I should stop taking anything I didn't feel was necessary. I think there are lots of different opinions, so just ask your dr to see which they prefer.
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Yes no one should be embarrased here about they're hair. We all experiencing the same thing. I'm so happy to report a 5 o'clock shadow on my head as of this weekend!! Whoot
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This is the top of my head. Growing but very thin.
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Diana - It's coming along.
5 o'clock shadow is great! In the next few weeks you'll see differences. I took weekly pics until about 5 months.
Here's today just over 7 months PFC. Hair is about 2 1/2 in. Bangs are shorter, but they're beginning to reach mid forehead when combed down. I've only trimmed at the nape. Been fighting the cowlick.
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s stat- your hair is beautiful. Dark and shiny 😎 Yup, I have hair envy li
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Thanks, Diana! You can't see in the pic, but I do have gray hairs all over. I hope you get your gorgeous curls back soon!
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Dianarose - thank you for posting. I think your hair is growing in good. It will get thicker and filling in fast. It helped me to see this. I am still on chemo so I am still far from where you are at and it helps me have more hope in my hair coming back.
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