Nov 12, 2012 05:54PM TheLadyGrey wrote:

I highlighted my hair a little over 6 months PFC with Aveda. I'd brag and say I researched it, but where I was Aveda was the only option. It does look like a choice worth considering -- mild formulas with well trained stylists (they go through a fairly rigorous Aveda program) and lots of salons. The stylist who colored my hair in July has a pet wolf -- you have to love that in a stylist.

My hair didn't look nearly as hideous as I expected after 9ish months of no color because it basically didn't grow. I had it colored July 19th and it hasn't grown enough to merit going back -- maybe a quarter inch? I have had it trimmed once since PFC, and am not seeing a reason to spend the $$$ to do so. It is too thin to do anything with besides a ponytail.

When I look at the slow growing pace, I'm doubly glad I used the caps. I finished chemo mid January and based on grow out, I would MAYBE have an inch and a half of hair at this point.

I think Herceptin and Tamoxifin may impact hair growth, although I was never told that. I'm balking at the AI though -- that one appears to for sure impact hair growth as well as pretty much everything else I'm scared of (besides a recurrence of course -- except I'm strangely not scared of that).

Nov 13, 2012 09:12PM Hortense wrote:

ndmk - Don't worry about chemo, it isn't as bad as you think it will be. I was surprised. It doesn't hurt going in and probably won't affect you for a day or so. My husband and I would walk ten blocks from our hotel to the chemo center the following morning so I could get my Neulasta shot, then walk back again, and I felt fine.

Be sure to ice your fingers and toes during your Taxotere infusion to prevent nail damage and ward of neuropathy - nerve damage. I just met someone who didn't and she lost every toenail and many finger nails. Ziplock bags of ice or frozen peas work very well.

I had 4 rounds of T/C spaced three weeks apart and did shed during it, starting around the second treatment. It was heaviest around the third treatment, then let up, only to start shedding in earnest three weeks after my final chemo. It lasted long enough to make me very nervous and thin out the volume of my hair - I still have full coverage. Shedding didn't end until sixteen weeks after that last chemo. Sixteen weeks seems to be a number other women have mentioned as how long their shedding lasted after chemo.

My shedding was uniform and didn't leave me with any bald spots. I have plenty of hair above my ears probably because my helper cleverly used Penguin's gel brow bands just below my caps to be certain I had full coverage. If you have a big head like I do, try using the browband trick too.

My hair continued to grow normally throughout chemo and I have long and healthy roots to prove it. They are about 4" now, six months after I started chemo. So it grew more than half an inch a month which is a very good rate. Much as I would like to color my hair back to my usual blonde, I am going to wait the full six months after my final chemo.

301724 - I had two frost bite spots the size of quarters because we had the caps too cold the first time. They should have been at -32 C. We were more careful after that and had no more trouble. Both spots lost all of their hair, which was upsetting at the time, but they healed up quickly and to my surprise started vigorously regrowing hair right away. I'd been afraid I might be left with two permanently bald spots, but that didn't happen.

By the time I went for my final chemo I think I had about half an inch of growth, enough to cover the bald spots anyway. The only thing is the new hair in those two spots came in very dark which I have never had before. It's pretty funny.

Check your frostbites spots carefully, when mine started to grow I thought I was just feeling more flakes of skin, but what I was feeling turned out to be new hairs - an army of them. 

Nov 14, 2012 04:37PM 301724 wrote:

Just back from chemo session #3 and into last 2 hours of cold caps. My husband (the engineer) has been using a thermocouple to check the temps and the variation in different parts of the cap are crazy. Hope we're managing to stay in the 'sweet spot.' Speaking of spots, have been using gauze on my frostbitten places from session #1 and adding more as needed for spots that feel too cold. This causes me more angst than anything else!

Nov 14, 2012 07:55PM Lmflynn wrote:

Hi Maria, I had this really bad... I have naturally oily hair and with the lack of washing got bad build up...horrible scales....Frank recommended adding apple cider vinegar to shampoo - pour shampoo on hand add ACV mix it a little and then put on hair.... I did this and it helped, I also started washing every 3-4 days. Hope this helps...Lisa

Nov 15, 2012 12:19PM - edited Nov 15, 2012 10:05PM by makingway

Hi all cold cap users! I sent an email to the moderators of bc.org asking that they please include the cold cap thread under this topic, where it would most likely be first found. http://www.breastcancer.org/treatment/side_effects/hair_changes

Will you please also send them a message? The word needs to get out to those who've been newly diagnosed! Because of poor marketing it isn't! I can hardly believe that after 3 years in the US most people still aren't aware that this technology exists...To send a message to the Moderators follow this link http://www.breastcancer.org/utils/contact_comments.php