Hair Hair Hair - Another question
Comments
-
Otter,
Yay for the peachfuzz!!! I actually have some myself but I see a good deal of gray
I only had a couple of strands before, and they were well hidden. But thats better than nothing. I have 4 more tx of taxol then onto radiation. Pancakes!!! I love em, hope they're yummy!!!
0 -
OK here are some shots of my current hair condition, 9 weeks post last neoadjuvant chemo. Alas, I will lose it all in a couple of weeks as I start my adjuvant chemo, but that will only be two doses, so I'll be growing it back for good by the end of August.
0 -
Nancy, your hairs look longer than mine, but I have less space between them. It's funny how everyone's growth process is so different. I'm sorry you'll be losing it again, but at least now you have good, hard evidence that it WILL come back.
Has anyone heard of an herbal supplement to promote hair growth? I talked to the guy at my local natural food store and he recommended something called Sheng Fa Wan. He said that he's seen results on women with thinning hair, so it should work with post-chemo regrowth as well. I took a whole bunch of tablets yesterday and it turned my pee sort of greenish and glowing, so I decided to wait and ask my doctor if it's safe before I continue!
It's crazy, I never take stuff like this normally -- I am pretty cautious and don't generally believe in miracle remedies, etc. The things I will do in the quest for HAIR....
Lauren
0 -
Hi, Everybody....Just got back from a weeks vacation at our summer home in Northern Wi.
I'm still in the process of trying to keep up with posts but decided to chime in first
You all look great and are doing splendid with the "Hair" reports. Here goes mine....My last chemo was May 9th. My lashes are "thickly feel able". They are growing like weeds at the moment.(I know they will take a nose dive again within 3 month),My brows are very noticeable without eyebrow liner. My hair is getting denser and is a little more that a half inch. My two sons and 5 grandchildren came up this last weekend to visit and it was the first time I graced them with my (baseball cap) head. I was soooo proud of everyone because not one of them commented about my hair. That's just the way I wanted it. Couldn't believe the little ones (6-2 years) never even looked at me weird.......I did of course put on different baseball caps. Haven't gone completely naked yet. Speaking of naked...I've had to SHAVE more times than I'd like! Aren't we strange? First I can't wait to shave and now I'm complaining..GRRRRR! Anyway I'm glad to hear from you guys and I'll be back tomorrow. LIFE IS GOOD!!!
Blessings and hugs to you all, Artsee
0 -
Hi Artsee, glad to hear you are doing well.
Can I just add another GRRRRR? Why is it that the hair "down below" is coming in dark brown but the hair on my head has all sorts of gray and white mixed in? Sorry if this is TMI, but it sure is annoying!
0 -
Alsdo annoying would be the return of those stupid chin hairs!
0 -
Lorena...What hair down below?????? HA! That seems to be the last of all hairs...I don't have a sure answer for the dark versus the salt and pepper, except that PH NEVER turn s+p like the hair on your head.At least one thing stays dark to remind of of our youth.
Revkat..I think that one or two chin hairs come back because all the strength goes into those few hair that they just have the POWER to forge forward.That's about as far as this brain can go this early in the morning.Think I'll dead head in the garden. Have a good day everyone.
Artsee
0 -
BUMP!
0 -
Nancy, what a shame that all that good growth will go. But, as Lauren says, it's a good indication that it'll come in again quickly.
Anyone got some hairs that are longer than others? I'm going for a trim tomorrow because, although I only have a tiny bit of hair, I look like the crazy lady with lots of long bits shooting out.
artsee - contrary to your story, my hairs down there were the first to sprout. I was in hosptial at the time, no hair to speak of. Then one day i was in the shower, was washing, felt something, had to do an instanteous star-jump and, low and behold (I hollered), hair down there! Somehow, that was almost more exciting that head hair for me.
0 -
Deen, I have a couple of crazy hairs that are longer than the others. I'm not doing anything about them right now. Oh, btw I don't plan on shaving my head when it starts to come out again. Been there, done that. I think I'll pull an Otter and see how much hangs around. Maybe I'll have a head start when it comes back again. I'm only having two doses.
Still no new hair in the nether regions for me. I never lost it all, but I definitely did not need to shave to wear my bathing suit. However, when I went into menopause a few years ago, it started to thin from that.
Still no underarm hair either. But they're still pretty swollen from my recent mastectomies, so it may be there but hidden.
I guess my real challenge will be seeing if the chemo on top of the thinning already occurring from menopause will cause some of the hair to not return.
0 -
I had long hairs too. After my initial head shave, I had hair on the sides and back that grew through chemo. Last week when I decided it was time to ditch the scarves, my dh helped trim some of the 2 inch long hair so I didn't look so wild and crazy.
Deen - I had the same experience - taking a shower and realized that more than the hair on my head was growing!
So while my head hair and "other" hairs are growing - my eyelashes are becoming as extinct as dinosaurs!
0 -
Suz, thanks so much for the picture. It's encouraging. I start chemo tomorrow and so far the most upsetting part for me is the hair loss. You sound so possitive. It's comforting. Thanks.
Kym
0 -
Thanks Kym,
Honestly Im having a blast enjoying life, cause I can. Im sure you all know what I mean. Here are a few odd pics from my weekend. It was way up there on the weirdness scale, but oh so much fun. Please enjoy.
2 hours ago suz45 wrote:
Ok, I think I have a few interesting ones.... I took a gazillion pics and posted about 30 on facebook as well as a short video clip of the Flaming lips from the stage view out. Needless to say I had so much fun, we didnt realize our working passes allowed us anywhere until saturday.
My son Aaron and I at The Tragically Hip Concert
crowd behind us (44,000)
Me (in white) with the tella tubbies backstage ready to go on for the Flaming Lips show
Gord Downie from the Tragically Hip & I backstage (how cool is that)
Onstage with the Flaming Lips looking out at the crowd.
Our truck supplying spring water at one of the bottle filling stations (the reason we were here)
Russ and Aaron (dh & ds) having a beverage and some food in the Artists VIP Green Room
Love ya all. Big hugs, Suz
Begin each day as if it were on purpose. BRCA1
Dx 10/19/2007, IDC, 2cm, Stage IIb, Grade 2, 1/21 nodes, ER-/PR-, HER2- [Edit] [Delete]0 -
PS my facebook name is Susan Holm, feel free to browse or add me as a friend. Its all good. PM me if you would like my email. I would love to stay in touch with any/all of you gals. Big hugs to the greatest gals I could ever have met... Suz
0 -
I had my DH shave my head the other day. I got tired of shedding more than my cats. But now I'm just shedding smaller, itchier pieces. So I've been using a sticky pet hair/lint roller on my head. But here are some pics of me having fun with the shave and roller.
0 -
ooohhhh: that's too funny!
0 -
Kimberlyn -
I too found the hair loss to be the most upsetting thing. If I could change anything about myself, my hair would be the last thing I'd ever want to change. I've had long, straight, thick blonde hair my whole life. It's the one thing that I'd always get complements on from strangers...just walkiing down the street. I'm 16 days out from my first treatment. On day 11 I noticed small strands coming out, day 12 a few more, and by day 13....lots of strands. On the fourteenth day, I went to my salon and had it buzzed. I cried for about two minutes,while my hairdresser was cutting off the length (before using the clippers), but once the first cut is made, there is no turning back. I think I felt more sad for her (having to cut my hair off), than for myself. I could tell that it was killing her to see me with my head tilted down and my hand covering my forehead to hide the tears streaming down my face.
As soon as she was finished, she put my wig on. I wore it to work the next day and aside with it feeling a little wierd, I'm ok with it now. I've accepted that this is something that I must go through and as awful as it is -- it IS temporary.
You will be in my thoughts and prayers. It is amazing how time allows us to accept things and move forward. When this journey started, I had already made up my mind that I would NEVER do chemo, no matter what the pathology report said after having my lump removed. I watched both my older sisters live with and die from this disease. I had every intention of ignoring what my surgeon and oncologist recommended. I was planning on pretending this wasn't happening....going on with life as usual after the lumpectomy and just taking my chances that my cancer wouldn't come back. And now here I am, one treatment in and no hair.
I know that I made the right decision to fight this thing - but it's not easy. I hope that you find comfort in these boards. I know that I do. If you ever need to talk, just send me a PM. I wish you the best of luck with treatment #1.
Kim
0 -
I don't have any hair that is much longer, just some that sort of stick up or go back like mini "wings" (anyone remember wings from the 70s?). In a couple of weeks, it should be long enough to experiment with gel.... I'm not planning on letting a pair of scissors near my head for a good long time if I can help it!
Nice pics, Suz, especially the teletubbies! Young, I'm glad you had some fun with the shaving. The roller with the hairs on in was sort of jolting for me, I remember that so well.
Sending lots of positive vibes and strength to those of you who are just starting/in the middle of your chemo journey.
Lauren
0 -
I'm going tp keep bumping this because I think it's a fun thread. Also it gives us a chance to compare for what's to come....
0 -
Tonight I saw Hair in Central Park with my friend Hugo. During the closing number, Hugo said "Wanna go dance on the stage?" (the audience could join in). I said "Yes" and we went and danced and sang "This is the dawning of the age of aquarius..." with a dozen, then maybe 100 or 200 people. I danced bald-bald because I wanted to remember this summer as being a time when I had cancer and I danced bald in a NYC production of "Hair" in Central Park. How could I not.
0 -
Wow, that sounds incredible!
0 -
Wow, I'd say that was ballsy-bald-bald! And a very appropriate way to commemorate!
0 -
hello Elizabeth - sorry, my dear - the hair does go and then it comes back! i bought a fancy, expensive wig and wore it exactly twice - the rest of the time i went 'commando' and loved it. i never even work my wig to work except for half of the very first day i went back...
i was sittign at breakfast one day (after 2nd treatment) and commented to my son that my hair wasn't falling out and gave it a tug to show him - imagine the surprise for both of us when my fist held a big bunch of my hair!! it is all ok - you can do it...
love and hugs from Holly
0 -
Another Hair question....Does anyone know at what point the hair comes in curly???
It will be three month out of chemo on the 9th of Aug. and so far my hair is stick straight like it was before. I was kind of looking forward to the natural curl....
Thanks, Artsee
0 -
Artsee, how long is your stick-straight hair? Mine is still peach fuzz, and it has absolutely no color. The hairs are very thin (compared to normal scalp hairs) but there are zillions of them. I guess this is the "newborn baby" hair I've heard about.
What happens to it? Does it fall out, and get replaced by "normal" hair, or do the thin hairs just become thicker as they grow out? (I haven't had any kids, so I don't know about these things.)
Maybe your hair won't be curly. I thought it was supposed to be curly right away, but my peach fuzz is growing straight out from my scalp. ACKKKK!
otter
0 -
Hi Artsee!
I think within the next month your hair may start to curl if it is going to. I had my last TC March 7th so I will be 5 months out on August 7th. (Where does the time go?!) Just in the last 2 -3 weeks mine has started curling. I just had it highlighted finally on Wednesday and my beautician couldn't believe how much body I now have. I was poker straight prior to chemo.
0 -
I found mine started to be noticeably curly about the time it was the length of the thickness of my fingers. Does that makes sense? Right about the time you can 'run your fingers through it', when it starts to have something to curl over. I guess for some women the curls are much tighter, but for me, the curls started to bend right about the length of the circumfernece of my index, middle and ring fingers. (Also near-about 5mo. out, come to think of it, like PAlady mentions)
I am now almost exactly one year out and the curls are just now letting go. I think this part is far more variable. My new growth is still much darker than it's ever been, but those curliques aren't growing in anymore. I had my second haircut yesterday - and my first drastic one (yes, I cringed as every half-inch fell to the floor) and, except for the color, I think my hair will be my own again in six months more (she says optimistically).
What an adventure! My brows came back the same color, my hair dark, my eyelashes very sparse. Hope it evens out eventually!
Lisa
0 -
My hair is starting to curl -- or at least, it is coming in at weird angles. But I had curly/wavy hair to start out with, so I'm not surprised (just relieved -- I was terrified that this ordeal would leave me with thin, straight, gray hair forever). The texture and color are changing but I cannot figure out exactly how. The hairs themselves can't be getting thicker, I don't think, but maybe they are growing in darker at the roots? I definitely have less white/colorless hair now. It's still a strange mix and very far from my original medium brown, but it is darker (sort of a mix of brown and gray) with some definite golden blond spots (which I never had before unless I spent a ton of time in the sun).
Yup,it's an adventure all right.
0 -
How long will it be after chemo until my remaining eyebrow hairs have some company? They are so lonely. They are starting to get wiry in protest; I swear they are trying to spell out "Save us!"
0 -
Rock, the eyebrows come back very quickly. I lost all mine just before my surgery...not a hair left, and now, about four weeks later, they are back in full. I'd say they started coming back within a couple of weeks. But since they've come in all at once, and their growth cycle is not staggered anymore, they may thin out a few more times before they get back on a staggered grow-and-drop cycle.
0
