Hair Hair Hair - Another question
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Hi girls
Thank you for hair comments. There are so many of us on this thread, it is hard to remember and comment to each one individually. Sometimes I hesitate posting pictures, because most of you are either just starting treatment and the hair has or is just falling out, or you have just finished treatment and your hair is just starting to grow. I hope I am not offending anyone or making anyone think that I am throwing it in your face as to how much hair I have.
It has been 9 months, I actually thought at the beginning of all this, I would have more hair at 9 months PFC than I do. "The Curls" I HATE. Have I said that before! They are really hard to manage, I am hoping that they go away, just like the white colorless stuff went away, and I'll have my regular hair back some day. But if I don't, I will always be thankful to have hair.
To me, it never felt "all of sudden". It seemed to be taking forever. Doing the pictures helps me see the growth. It will seem like it hadn't grown much, until I look at my picture I took a month previously. Which is why I didn't do weekly pictures, I wanted to make sure I could see progress.
Ok, enough about me......sorry! Cinrae, you have probable had the most traumatic experience of anyone on here. I am sorry that your hair came in so thin and pray for you that what you are trying helps to thicken it up. I wish you the very very best. Lainey, I am surprised you remembered me and glad I was able to help someone, thank you for that, makes my heart feel good. I didn't join bco.org until I was almost finished with treatments, which was how I ended up on your thread. Well, I didn't feel like I belonged. I was done and would not be experiencing the same things at the same time as you gals, so I went over to threads with girls at my time frame. On those threads, they had already formed a bond and I felt like I didn't belong there either. I do keep up with the threads, as I had put them in my favorites, I just don't post. Lisa, thank you for the congrats. I am really excited!
I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday weekend. I will post pictures of my makeover if you don't mind. I am excited about that too, and soooo looking forward to it.
Happy 4th
Lori
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Goldie.... Truly amazing how long your hair is in just 9 mos?! YES.. it is depressing to see this as it has not even been a month for me since treatments stopped! I do like the idea to take monthly pics to see the growth process as the frustration has already an issue@!!!!Thanks for the looking forward to long hair?!!!
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Jamieh! I am 8 weeks PFC and you have more hair than me! Mine is coming in ever so slowly.....but it is coming. I get very frustrated and worried about it but just like the SEs of chemo, everyone is different.
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I am 24 weeks PFC. Maybe 1 1/2 inches of hair on top, 2 inches on the back. NO CURLS. I want curls. Maybe I'll regret it, but still....it's growing so slowly. I has no shape. I can't "style" it. It just kind of goes every which way!
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I will have my last chemo treatment on Monday and I cannot wait to join you girls in saying "PFC"!!! I shaved my head about 2 weeks after the first chemo treatment and what little bit of hair that I do have now has grown since then during the chemo, so I am hoping it will grow back fast. I am going to start taking Biotin after chemo and am currently using Folicure shampoo.
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21 weeks PFC and I have a little over 1/2 inch and it is waving and sticking up every which way. No curls. My hair before BC was very naturally wavy/borderline curls. Looks like it is coming back in just the way it left. Just not FAST enough.
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Anyone on here who is at least a year past chemo? I'm curious to know if the curly hair that we are all experiencing does disappear after a few haircuts. I'm six months post-chemo and I've still got someone else's hair on my head! It's definitely not the hair I went into chemo with. Does it ever go back to normal???
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wblibrary - If you go back several pages (I have no idea how many) several ladies posted that the "curls" last about 18 months.0
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Hi Ladies! It is so great to see more pictures and positive thoughts on the hair growth issue. I am now 6 weeks PFC and my hair is as long as Jaimaih - thankfully she has the posting of the pictures down because then I can just say - I look like her
Jaimieh - sorry but I know I keep spelling your name wrong - everytime I type it a little bit different. If you recall, my hair came in white like yours but in the last 2 weeks it got darker to where I can actually see it now. My husband commented the other night "your hair is growing so fast" NOT!!! Never will it grow fast enough for me but I should be thankful to have what I do after 6 weeks.
Regarding the comment of being scared to get your hair trimmed - well I KNOW that I am going to be the same way. I am working too hard to get my hair to grow that I don't even want to think about having as little as 1/16" of an inch cut off for any reason! I have a friend in our local support group that is 8 months PFC and she still won't get a trim. Can't say I blame her one bit!
Are any of you having problems with the pages loading up? I would be on here more but even with high speed internet connection it is taking forever for the pages to load! This problem appeared about 3 weeks or so ago when some changes were made to the site.
happy hair days!
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Hi Girls....Being a hairstylist.....I know some of you don't want to get your hair cut at all while it is growing, But if you don't get it at least the very ends cut off every 8-12 weeks, then the ends will start splitting and breaking off and will look like it is not growing. Any little thing you do to your hair can cause split ends, even washing it! Think of it like this...if you take 2 ends of a rope and rub them against each other, then that is what the ends of your hair does when you wash it. Don't rub your head with your towel either, just blot it dry. And any added heat like from the blow dryer will cause it too.. So, please, don't be afraid to get your hair cut!! Just tell your stylist to cut off only the tip ends.
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Christy - at what length of hair would you suggest we get the tips cut? I totally understand what you are saying and it does make sense but should we start doing this when it is 2" or longer or what? I agree with heat damaging hair which is why I seldom ever used a blow dryer or even a hair straightener - I have mostly let my hair just air dry and no.....it doesn't look its best when I do that but then again I used to have hair long enough to throw into a pony tail so it really didn't matter.
Why does it take so long for the bangs to grow? Within the past 2 days I have felt some nubbies in that area whereas before it was totally bald. I don't wear a sleep cap at night as my head gets so hot to begin with and I am trying not to wear a wig but for a couple of hours at a time if at all possible.
Do you have any special tips for us to help us get through this journey a little bit faster?
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Jancie... Another thing to remember is, when your hair does start growing back, that hair is the chemo chemical hair that needs to be trimmed off initially so that your normal hair can grow in healthy. Then I would think that having at least a couple of inches of length to start with would be good. so your stylist can have enough hair to hold on to to cut the ends only. I am not sure why bangs don't grow as fast. I have noticed when I look at pics of ladies here, that their bangs seem shorter than the rest. Usually, under normal circumstances, women's bangs seem to grow the fastest. I don't know if this would help, but you could try massaging your scalp daily to help stimulate new hair growth, it is worth a shot to try it. One of my co-workers had BC 7 yrs ago and used Folicare shampoo and she claims it really helped with her hair re-growth. It is suppose to help keep the hair follicles cleaned out so that new hair can grow through. I have been using it for the past month while on chemo. I even use it on my eye lashes and eyebrows and rinse very throughly. You can get it at Sally Beauty Supply stores and costs about $5.00. There may not be any miracle treatment for hair re-growth, but it wouldn't hurt to try it. I am going to try everything I can! Good luck and keep us informed.0
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Jancie~ Glad I could post pictures for us.....lol.....
My DH who has made lack of hair comments to me (thinking he is funny) actually stopped me and made me come back because he said it's grown since yesterday. He couldn't believe it but apparently it's starting to come in. Now I just hope it keeps growing
It should be interesting to see what color it comes in. 0 -
Christy:
Funny you should mention massaging the scalp because I was talking to a friend here who was one week behind me in chemo and told her "I don't dare massage my scalp because I don't want to lose ONE HAIR off of my head"
I am using Biotin and Mane and Tail shampoo and I do have quite a bit of hair being that my last chemo treatment was May 27th - not quite 6 weeks yet. My eyebrows and eyelashes are still gone and no hair has started to grow in the southern regions yet.
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Jaimieh - Yes, thanks for posting pictures for both of us!
My hair is growing in spurts. And I was so glad to see some growth today in the bang area even if it is just nubbies right now.
I am glad that your dh noticed that your hair grew overnight! Most men don't notice those things and I am sure it made you feel really good.
Funny is that I never looked in mirrors before - I could have cared less - didn't need to see what I looked like but now I can't pass a mirror without looking to see if I have hair growth!
It is liking watching that pot of water come to a boil. Watching it won't make it boil any faster but still I am there watching my hair hoping that it will grow right before my eyes.
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LOL jancie...I don't think massaging your scalp will make any of your hair fall out!
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Ladies, I am 21 weeks PFC and the hair on top of my head is significantly shorter than the sides. Guess it will be a while before I have bangs again. I have noticed that the ends are looking shaggy and it is a million different lengths. I will be getting a "trim" as soon as there is enough length for a stylist to hang on to.
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Anyone considering Latisse, all I can say is that it is awesome!!! I have always had thick, dark lashes, After my lashes came in a little, I started using the Latisse about a month ago. My upper lashes are almost back to normal, and my lower lashes are better than they have ever been. I couldn't use it until some of my lashes had regrown; it irritated my eyes. As soon as I had some stubble, I tried it again, and no irriatation!!! Its pricey, but I love the stuff.
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I considered it, but with the cost of the Femara (even with my insurance), plus all of my other medical bills coming in, it just isn't in my budget. Mine are coming back, long enough to get a little mascara on them, so I'm just trying to be patient!!
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My hair is about 2" long (at the most) and my hairstylist trimmed the tips. She did exactly what Christy recommended. It does feel thicker after getting the baby hairs taken off. The back is really short. She cut off all the curls (at my request). Since the top is going to take longer to grow, I'm keeping the back really short because my plan is to keep it short. I put a new color on it yesterday. Clairol Natural Instincts. It worked pretty good but didn't cover the stubborn grays over my ears. It's a semi-perm color and supposed to last 28 shampoos. We'll see!
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I am still cracking up at PFC - "Post Friggin' Chemo". I come here every day just to read your upates and smile!
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Hello all! I hope everyone had a great 4th. I haven't posted in a couple of weeks, had the flu! Couldn't believe it.
Maggie, Susan, Jamie, Lori... thanks for sharing the pictures! Congrats to everyone that is going topless! Maggie go for it! You look adorable!
I am now 10 weeks PFC today. I actually have a hair appt. on Wed. for a trim and color. Good thing my stylist is a friend, otherwise I might have chickened out too.
Question.... is anyone's eyelashes coming in every-which way and some are curly? Not a nice curly either... a weird curly.
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Lainey, that is the product I used. It did last quite awhile. I did not wash my hair every day either, just got it wet and conditioned it. It is stubborn about coloring the gray! In fact, it doesn't! I used it a second time and didn't notice much difference, but I think it was because my own color was coming back.
Lori
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I'm still two taxols away from the end, and have some hair growing on my head, but it is so light that I still look completely bald unless you are up close to me. I don't wear anything on my head at home and am really looking to do that in public as well. Never did the wig thing, just lots of fun bandanas and hats. I wonder if anyone knows of a natural hair coloring product that you can use when some of your scalp is still bare? I want to take the plunge - (as my eyebrows and eyelashes start to fall out!) Thanks! Tammy
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Hi, girls, checking in after many months to see if I can answer any questions.
Wblibrary, my curly, curly curls lasted a couple of years. LOL This week marks the two year anniversary of the start of my re-growth. Actually, since my hair is pretty long, the hair closest to the scalp is just wavy as it always was and the remnants of the curl is at the ends. You will have to have short hair for a while if you want to keep chopping off the curl.
Now that my hair is back to normal, I really, really miss my curls! You may, too.
Everyone enjoy your new hair!
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Jancie~ we really are moving at the same pace. My bang area started with stubble that I found yesterday. I had to go around showing everyone. I don't care what they think it's exciting when I find some stub.
I am 7 weeks out PFC today
My eyebrows are leaving BUT I have stub coming right in leaving a nice outline where they were. My eyelashes are still holding strong except on my right eye and I have to "potholes" that are missing lashes. I hope they don't go. 0 -
I had naturally curly hair before chemo. So far (almost 5 months) it isn't long enough for me to see any curl. I'm worried it will come in straight because I know how to deal with it if it is curly.
I had my first trim, not the whole thing because it is somewhere between half an inch and an inch long, but the sideburns were getting too shaggy looking. She trimmed the sideburns down a lot to a nice little point like I like them and evened up the very back and around the ears. I'm ambivalent about having trimmed around the ears - this will probably help it look more tidy as it grows out, but I liked having the top of my ears covered and now they are bare again. The left side had grown a bit faster than the right so she evened that up a bit too. It does look nicer.
Jaimieh, there was a certain point that it got to where I felt I could see a difference from day to day.
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Today I am 24 weeks PFC. I get more frustrated every day because I don't see any growth. It's probably due, in part, to the Femara. It's also because patience is not one of my strong points.
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Jane, I am with you girl. I am 21 weeks PFC and my hair is growing so slow compared to most everyone else. Bluedasher and I are/were on the some drugs and the exact same schedule and she has way more hair than me. I am just trying to be patient. Even though mine is only 1/4 to 1/2 inch long, it is very full and thick. And it is getting really wavy. Patience is not one of my strong points either.
Lisa
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I am seeing a little more each time, but frustrated that the spot right on top of my head is thinner than the hairline area, making it look a little like a monk or something. I was describing it to my sister in NYC and we were both laughing so hard we were crying. Eyebrows seems to be 100%, and getting fuller, which I needed, because I was a bad over plucker. Eyelashes can hold mascara and I don't have that "bald eye" look, which was good, because I felt that really made me look ill. Forgot to get the Mane & Tail shampoo, keep meaning to pick that up and give it a try. Almost ready for bottle #2 of the follicle booster, unless our hairdresser sisters think I've probably boosted as much as I can and just need to wait for it to fill in?
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