Hair Hair Hair - Another question
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seq24 - Wow!! You look great, lots of hair and dark too.
I have been going bare headed more and more the past few weeks. I was at an event competing with my dogs last night, outdoor so started off wearing a hat. The wind was so strong that I knew the hat would fly off when I started running so I took it off. people that know me but don't know what I'm going through complimented me on my new, short hair cut. They actually thought that I had cut my hair that short and stopped coloring it! I guess that I didn't need to worry so much about it..... With the warm weather here, I can't wear a wig anymore.
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Thanks everyone for your encouraging words! I still really do feel very self conscious of how I look. Except for my husband and one of my daughter's nobody has seen me without the wig. I'm just so nervous for people who have not seen me and don't know what is going on to see me. I've never had short hair and think it looks pretty awful. Some of you ladies who have posted photos on here can really pull off the short styles and look great. The color tinted mousse I posted about the other day is great though. I highly recommend it. 3 weeks until our vacation and I am determined to be rid of the wig by then. Husband and daughter both say it's time. Yikes!!
Thanks again ladies. Have a wonderful weekend!
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I think all the pictures look great! I'm envious. I'm 13 weeks PFC and have very little hair. My hair didn't start to grow until 8 weeks PFC so my growth is way behind everyone else here. But after seeing those Taxotere lawsuit commericals, I'm just glad it's growing, even if it's slow.
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Seq24. You're doing great for 17 weeks PFC! When you go away, no one knows you and will only think you have a short hair cut, do hats for when you're in the sun, no one will be the wiser PLUS know one knows how you're hair was before right? Don't cancel, go and chill at the beach. You deserve this!
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seq, - your hair looks good! (and is thicker than mine, even now.)
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Hi ladies! I have not posted in a while. Today is exactly 1 year PFC (from AC-Taxol anyway). I am still in treatment, with about another month of Xeloda left and then my reconstruction surgery. Positive about Xeloda is that there is no hair loss and your hair can grow like a normal person!
I have been to the salon once (back in February) in which I had a trim, color and highlights. Although I miss my long hair, I'm greatfull for what I've got and no longer think I look like a cancer patient.
Love,
Maryann 💞
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Maryann,
You look fabulous. I hope my hair looks as good as yours when I am a year PFC.
I am 3 1/2 months PFC and getting my hair colored in 2 weeks. I can't wait. Hoping it turns out nice. I have always had long hair and would have never cut my hair short. Even though I plan on letting my hair grow, I don't mind as much as I thought my pixie hair-do. At my appt with my MO last week he told me that I looked sexy with short hair (LOL).
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Maryann - You look great!
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Maryann--you look great!! I hope my hair looks that good some day. Please keep posting photos. It gives all of us hope that we will be there too eventually.
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Sec24 - Your hair is longet than my regular style! I found ditching the wig (and even hats as it's gotten warmer) easier by starting out in places where I wouldn't run into anyone I knew (a Costco an hour from home). Then I graduated to a walk around my block. That was harder, but led to a conversation with someone who was starting treatment.
After that, I decided that for me, not hiding the baldness felt more authentic in most circumstances. I also hope it helps normalize the reality of medical side effects and reduce the shame some patients feel, as well as the fear caused by misperceptions that chemo causes full disability in all patients.
I still wear hats for comfort (temperature and sun exposure) but remove them freely. I wear my wig when I feel my baldness (as evidence of illness) will detract from my purpose or the purpose of a gathering, for example, when attending a work event where I want the focus to be on the expertise I'm sharing, not on my treatment. I have been working from home, part time, throughout treatment, so those in-person events have been limited and usually only run a couple of hours. I am a professor, and when I head back to work on campus in the fall, I know I will not be wig-wearing. It is too distracting to me, and a full day of it too uncomfortable. I should finish chemo in late June, so I'm not expecting to have much hair two months later.
This board has really helped me think through my personal philosophy of head covering. In the midst of circumstances where I have little control over many aspects of life, it's felt good to consider the range of options regarding hair loss in a thoughtful way. Thanks for helping with that!
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Lohoff, I am 11 weeks PFC. It took about 5 weeks before I saw growth which seemed really slow at first. Now it has picked up the pace. I did use rosemary oil and shea and castor oil conditioner but I really think it grew on its own. I am 61 so have been dealing with my greying sideburns for awhile (colored hair for years) and haven't decided what I will do. I don't mind grey hair but would rather not look like a distinguished older man! We will see. As, I mentioned before: hat for sun only, no head covering! My friend told me I look like a yoga instructor
I am very nervous about the next stage of SEs as I just finished Rads and will be on hormone blockers very soon.0 -
Congratulations to all who are seeing such great progress.
I feel like I'm on the tortoise path in comparison lol. Trying to keep patient about it though can't help some mopey days. The only area now that resembles normal hair growth is at the nape of my neck in the back.
After ending chemo in mid-December, the rest has some growth of varying lengths from 1/2 inch or so on the top to a bit more on the sides. But sooooo sparse that I can't imagine it being remotely presentable in public for several months yet. Still hoping it will be just a matter of time but as I seem to be running way behind the group can't help fretting I may never get back anything that resembles normality in this department. Has anyone here had good final results with it pacing this slowly?
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Karen, your hair has gotten so thick!I think it helps to go back and look at pictures of just a few weeks ago. My back is getting so long I'm having to cut it, but the top and bangs seem to be stuck in the super short mode. I spent about half of last week bareheaded, but now I find that it takes me a while to fuss with it till I feel OK about the length. Sometimes, I just want to pull on the wig and get my day going. It's in the high 90s though here also so a wig gets pretty uncomfortable.
Mary Ann, I love your hair, it looks adorable.
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Thanks again everyone! I wore my wig all day today at a graduation party. Tonight I had a couple errands to run. I couldn't stand the wig anymore. I went into 2 stores without it. I couldn't make eye contact with anyone and was prepared to hide if I saw someone I knew. I felt totally embarrassed the whole time but I made it. My daughter kept telling me nobody was staring but I sure felt like they were. One woman got this look of pity on her face when she saw me, smiled and asked if I was ok. That about made me want to run.
Dara--I think my hair looks a lot thicker in those last photos because I had a bunch of the color tinted mousse in it when those photos were taken. It works great until it gets wet. It was pouring rain tonight and I had some on. I had to make sure I kept the hood of my coat up or it would have been a runny mess.0 -
Good for you! Those first times out are a huge step. Onward and upward!
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seq24 - Good for you! Once you start going out bare headed, it does get easier!
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seq24, Keep it up. It's the best choice I've made so far. I can't imagine anyone speaking to me here in Philly but hope no one does. That might provoke me and my sharp tongued nasty side (usually only surfacing occasionally around my family) might come out. My hair do, if I can call it that is seen around town as a fashion choice so maybe that's why there is little staring. KB870 has a nice polite response!
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Proud of you Karen! Just a quick question, is anyone else's scalp, especially at the crown still pretty sensitive? I really notice it when I touch the top of my head or run a comb through it. I'm back wearing the wig some. I've decided it's not for anyone else, I just don't like my head bareheaded. I know I CAN go without one, but if I choose to wear the wig sometimes, I think that should be OK. A couple of people who have seen me without the wig have looked at it and said "why do you have that on?" I know they are trying to be supportive, but again, I believe it's about my choice.
I'm seeing a new dr today, a rheumatologist. I don't know if the letrozole is adding to my joint pain or what. Then off to the studio for more pottery. While my hands still hurt, the pottery helps divert my attention. Hope all have a good start to the week.
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Congratulations, Seq24!!! So happy to hear that you took that next step. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. You'll be running in no time.
Dara: the top of my head is also very sensitive. It reminds me of when the hair was falling out, but not as bad. I think that it's just a sign that the new hair is breaking through and coming in. I had a similar problem with the eyebrows and eyelashes. They were very itchy for a week or two before they became visible.
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Dora - The top of my head is sensitive also, but not as bad as when my hair was falling out. This may sound silly, but I think I miss my eyelashes more than my hair. I wish they would start growing. -- I think you can wear you wig or go without it, whatever you want to do, it's your head!
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Thanks all. Glad to know the sensitivity is fairly common. Misty, my eyelashes came back in after about 3 weeks but then about two months later, they really thinned again. I've heard that it takes a while for the cycle of eyelash follicles to stabilize. I didn't lose them all the second time, they just thinned. Thanks Laura, I like your evaluation! :-)
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Here's an update for 8-weeks PFC. I have about 1/8 inch of hair. I was hoping for more at this pint. However, I do seem to have nearly full coverage.
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Great Laura! It starts slow and then seems to come in pretty fast when you're younger (I'm not, darn). Just take pictures frequently, and you'll be surprised at the changes. Hang in there!
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Laura- mine is about the same as yours. Dara & KB870- I can't wait until it starts coming in faster. I took a picture yesterday and thought I may take one every month or every 2 weeks, so I can see the progress.
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Mistyeyes, it will happen. Most of us have found that the back comes in faster than the top. It will happen!
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My lashes are thinning again. This is the second time.
It will be the last time, yes?
I think all the baby-fine hair everywhere that comes in first has to eventually go for the permanent hair. Does that make sense?
Coach Vicky
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I lost my hair with AC but it immediately started growing again, as did eyebrows and eyelashes. Now I'm on Taxol (6 so far) and hair has continued to grow, albeit slowly. The only supplement I take is Metanx, to head off neuropathy, but it probably helps hair growth as well. I don't take biotin supplements but could be the poster child for biotin rich foods. That's my normal diet. I've also continued to use my pre BC shampoo, Theraneem, as it gave me the healthiest scalp I've ever had, after a bad bout of scalp psoriasis. I ditched th scarf this last weekend. And buzzed some straggly stuff off of my neck. Oh yeah, what I have now is exactly same color, same texture as what I had before. I was expecting something different from all I've read here, but no, it's the same.
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Beautiful
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You hair looks great bareclaws. That's awesome it is growing already. Taxol number #6 for me tomorrow. My hair started to shed after #5. So we will see what this week brings.
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I know I could still lose it again, but so far, so good. It feels strong and I brush it and massage my scalp vigorously.
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