Phesgo - post pCR

Good morning! We seem to be in a similar situation although I finished my 12 post chemo, surgery and radiation Phesgo shot at the end of October 2024. Hair growth is definitely slower on this. Im 16 months since I finished chemo and my hair growth never matched any post chemo pictures My oncologist told me that once the Phesgo regime ended it would improve. It has, I have peach fuzz in the deep furrows that remain on either side of the crown of my head but it’s definitely disheartening that’s it’s taking so long.

@grammie2 I agree, its so nice to hear someone understand this. I think mine is also slowed by the aromatase inhibitor that I'm on since my cancer was also estrogen positive. I'm not completely sure about that though. Being estrogen positive also makes collagen supplements, often suggested to promote hair growth, not recommended for me. I'm going for a hair cut (or is it a mullet reduction?) on Saturday. I'm anxious to get my hairdressers take on the new growth. I'll let you know if she has any words of wisdom.

Omg, I completely understand that! This will be my third cut in 16 months. I only go when my hair gets too clown like. My hair started growing back in reverse pattern baldness. Sides first, then the top. There was a really noticeable difference, it looked crazy and my daughter was getting married so I got it evened out in May 2024. I had to go back in November 2024 bc the hair in the front of the crown of my head started filling in and the sides had started to stick straight out. The contrast between the two sections was bananas. I’m once again at the point of the difference between the top and sides looking crazy. I can’t tell if it’s the top growing noticeably slower or patchy thin areas filling in. No one talks about this!

Just got back from the hairdresser. She’s such a good sport. I really peppered her with questions. So first of all, pre cancer my hair was very thick and fairly curly. I kept it shoulder length and thinning it was part of my usual haircut routine. That background will help as I describe things from here on.

The back has definitely grown the most and is back to my normal thickness and texture. She feels this is because it grew in first and it’s been trimmed the most (Ie all the initial growth has been cut away. )

The sides are a mixed bag at the moment. Very close to being my normal thickness and even required some thinning but the last inch and a half or so is very crimpy (almost fried like too much curling iron or flat iron was used-I haven’t used either). The growth behind that seems to be my normal texture. This crimpy stuff is just going to do its own thing (Ie stick straight out) until my hair is long enough for it to be cut off. Normally I would scrunch my hair to bring out the curls but that won’t work with this section. She suggested combing it straight down and anchoring it with a light gel or leave in conditioner (need to experiment to see what works best but basically don’t fight this bc it’s never going to behave).

The top is definitely thinner than my normal texture and it’s giving it an annoying, fly away quality but she agrees that there is “undergrowth” (I don’t know what else to call it) that is growing and she feels will thicken it over time. Again she suggested light gel or leave in conditioner to give a little weight and anchor the flyaways. She said there is definitely growth in this furrows on the sides of the crown. It’s peach fuzz but definitely there. I finished my Phesgo shots at the end of October 2024, so that’s almost 5 months exactly for peach fuzz to grow in those two sections. That’s a little demoralizing that it’s taking so long but I’m grateful it’s growing. Also mine is growing back less gray than before which is so odd to me!

She said for me 5 months of growth seems to be a good amount to wait between cuts. It was really nice to be back in the salon. This was the first time I had enough hair to get it washed which was ridiculously thrilling.

I think based on my own experience, that the hair starts off downy fine because not every follicle that was growing hair in the before times starts growing at the same time. So the back and sides of my hair both were like that but as more follicles started growing hair and it got thicker, it lost that baby fine quality because there was more of it. You can see it happening on the top as your hairlines moves forward again. I don't know if that makes sense but when I used to look at my hair in front I could so clearly see so much scalp between the strands of hair. That has lessened since phesgo stopped but it’s so slow!!!