Hair Loss

13

Comments

  • DebiR
    DebiR Member Posts: 38 Member

    DebiR, I admire that you took

    DebiR, I admire that you took a different approach to losing your hair and made it a celebration.  It shows your strength and courage. 

    I'm also so happy for you that your almost 5 years out!

    Its reassuring to hear that hair regrowth happens an d that it can look nicer than your original  hair.

    Were u able to order the wig from your cancer center prior to loosing your hair?

    Thank you for sharing 

    God bless

    I just went there and they

    I just went there and they had tons of wigs for free to chose from.  I found one that looked so much like my own hair that no one even knew it was a wig.  Maybe I just got lucky, maybe it was meant to be.  I stopped there on my way to get my head shaved and wore that wig home. 

    I went through chemo during the Ohio summer (it can get hot, probably not like the south, south west though) and it never bothered me.  I don't know what it was made of but it was light and airy.  I wore it though the winter too as my last chemo was end of October and have to share a funny/embarassing story.  I had to go to a workshop for work at Seven Spring Resort in PA in January.  I  didn't want to go as I was still feeling the effects of the chemo and not at my usual engery self but off I went.  I was in the meeting room and pulled off my scarf around my neck and off popped my wig.  Oh boy....I just quickly walked out of the room, put it back on and hoped no one saw me (most were busy talking).  The room was all men....no one mentioned anything.  HaHa.  

    Debi

  • derMaus
    derMaus Member Posts: 558 Member
    DebiR said:

    I just went there and they

    I just went there and they had tons of wigs for free to chose from.  I found one that looked so much like my own hair that no one even knew it was a wig.  Maybe I just got lucky, maybe it was meant to be.  I stopped there on my way to get my head shaved and wore that wig home. 

    I went through chemo during the Ohio summer (it can get hot, probably not like the south, south west though) and it never bothered me.  I don't know what it was made of but it was light and airy.  I wore it though the winter too as my last chemo was end of October and have to share a funny/embarassing story.  I had to go to a workshop for work at Seven Spring Resort in PA in January.  I  didn't want to go as I was still feeling the effects of the chemo and not at my usual engery self but off I went.  I was in the meeting room and pulled off my scarf around my neck and off popped my wig.  Oh boy....I just quickly walked out of the room, put it back on and hoped no one saw me (most were busy talking).  The room was all men....no one mentioned anything.  HaHa.  

    Debi

    Hi, Debi, thank you for

    Hi, Debi, thank you for posting. I see that you've been on the Board since 2014, which is quite an accomplishment. Would you consider posting a little bit about yourself on the About Me page? It doesn't have to be anything huge, it would just be very encouraging for people to see a long-term survivor such as yourself. Thank you again for posting !

  • Quilter_1
    Quilter_1 Member Posts: 117 Member
    OThe only person who saw me

    OThe only person who saw me without my “hair“ was my sweet husband.  I didn’t want anyone to see me looking sick, either.  I always wore a hat in the house and would put my wig on if someone came.  It’s a personal choice.  I bought two wigs, had them cut by my hairdresse, they each looked very much like my own hair.  Most people were shocked that I was wearing a wig, they thought the type of chemo I received was the kind that didn’t cause hairloss.

    As for as telling your son, you just have to do it.  We had a family meeting with our son, wife and 2 grandsons.  They handled it as well as you would expect.  After some crying and hugging, we just went on with it.  Your son will be there for you and you will be there for him.  At least, that’s how my family was.  You will figure out your way 

    Linda

  • Feelingalone74
    Feelingalone74 Member Posts: 243
    DebiR said:

    I just went there and they

    I just went there and they had tons of wigs for free to chose from.  I found one that looked so much like my own hair that no one even knew it was a wig.  Maybe I just got lucky, maybe it was meant to be.  I stopped there on my way to get my head shaved and wore that wig home. 

    I went through chemo during the Ohio summer (it can get hot, probably not like the south, south west though) and it never bothered me.  I don't know what it was made of but it was light and airy.  I wore it though the winter too as my last chemo was end of October and have to share a funny/embarassing story.  I had to go to a workshop for work at Seven Spring Resort in PA in January.  I  didn't want to go as I was still feeling the effects of the chemo and not at my usual engery self but off I went.  I was in the meeting room and pulled off my scarf around my neck and off popped my wig.  Oh boy....I just quickly walked out of the room, put it back on and hoped no one saw me (most were busy talking).  The room was all men....no one mentioned anything.  HaHa.  

    Debi

    Thanks for sharing your lol

    Thanks for sharing your lol mishap story debit. That'll probably happen to me. Ha ha.   Finding humor will get a us all threw this.

    I'm going to my local cancer center this week where I will be treated so hopefully that have wings there or resources for me .

  • Feelingalone74
    Feelingalone74 Member Posts: 243
    hi Linda yes you're right I'm

    hi Linda yes you're right I'm just going to have to tell him but I'm so scared as he and I are so close. He also has high anxiety and stresses over even the little things so I can only imagine how this will effect him. 

    I'm meeting with a social worker later this week so I'm hoping she can give me guidance.  Just so hard because I have so many uncertainties so I won't be able to answer much of his questions.  I have a few more tests to do b4 my treatment begins later this month. As much as I'm scared of treatment I just want it done.

    Holding this all in has been hard for sure . In trying to wait until my son returns from his vacation to tell him as I want him to enjoy his time at the ocean.

    Being a mom is really hard when u have to be brave.

  • Feelingalone74
    Feelingalone74 Member Posts: 243
    Thank you so much to all u

    Thank you so much to all u beautiful ladies who have reached out to me. Im grateful for u all.

    Wishing u all good health and a Happy 4th of July!

  • Feelingalone74
    Feelingalone74 Member Posts: 243
    debsue420 said:

    Staying positive

    Thanks everyone for the support. Will be a survivor & will think about the head tattoo. Keep the faith.

    DebSue420, I'm diagnosed with

    DebSue420, I'm diagnosed with Stage 3 endometrial cancer but as far as O know I will be treated with the same chemo therapy as u. I know everyone's body responds differently but much doctor says I won't get sick a d if I do they'll give me med for that. Do u mind sharing your experiences with the side effects?

    Hope you're feeling well!

     

  • Quilter_1
    Quilter_1 Member Posts: 117 Member

    hi Linda yes you're right I'm

    hi Linda yes you're right I'm just going to have to tell him but I'm so scared as he and I are so close. He also has high anxiety and stresses over even the little things so I can only imagine how this will effect him. 

    I'm meeting with a social worker later this week so I'm hoping she can give me guidance.  Just so hard because I have so many uncertainties so I won't be able to answer much of his questions.  I have a few more tests to do b4 my treatment begins later this month. As much as I'm scared of treatment I just want it done.

    Holding this all in has been hard for sure . In trying to wait until my son returns from his vacation to tell him as I want him to enjoy his time at the ocean.

    Being a mom is really hard when u have to be brave.

    Sending you love, hugs and

    Sending you love, hugs and strength.

    Linda

  • Lulu7582
    Lulu7582 Member Posts: 112 Member

    Thank you so much to all u

    Thank you so much to all u beautiful ladies who have reached out to me. Im grateful for u all.

    Wishing u all good health and a Happy 4th of July!

    Hang in there

    Just know you aren't alone and most of us on this board have been through chemo so it is doable.  Think of the chemo as your friend helping to kill any cancer cells that are lurking around. I know there is a lot of emotions and feelings that go along with this diagnosis so find what works for you...family, friends, counselor, pastor to help. Having a supportive and loving family and friends is so important in helping us to deal with the cancer. I remember initially when I was diagnosed I would feel like I had a big 'C' on me but now I am used to the idea that I am living with cancer and so thankful that we are in the 'golden age' of cancer care where new treatments are being discovered. 

    Yes losing your hair, eyebrows and eyelashes isn't something I would wish on anyone but it is temporary and thank goodness the wigs available do make us look 'normal'. I know in my case I only wore the wig a couple of times and used my scarves instead. I had scarves in all different colors to match whatever I was wearing. 

    So sending you love and hugs. Hang in there, take one day at a time and you also have a happy 4th! xo 

  • Feelingalone74
    Feelingalone74 Member Posts: 243
    Quilter_1 said:

    Sending you love, hugs and

    Sending you love, hugs and strength.

    Linda

    Thanks so much quilter_1! 

    Thanks so much quilter_1! 

    Love, hugs , and strength to us s well!

     

  • Feelingalone74
    Feelingalone74 Member Posts: 243
    edited July 2019 #52
    Lulu7582 said:

    Hang in there

    Just know you aren't alone and most of us on this board have been through chemo so it is doable.  Think of the chemo as your friend helping to kill any cancer cells that are lurking around. I know there is a lot of emotions and feelings that go along with this diagnosis so find what works for you...family, friends, counselor, pastor to help. Having a supportive and loving family and friends is so important in helping us to deal with the cancer. I remember initially when I was diagnosed I would feel like I had a big 'C' on me but now I am used to the idea that I am living with cancer and so thankful that we are in the 'golden age' of cancer care where new treatments are being discovered. 

    Yes losing your hair, eyebrows and eyelashes isn't something I would wish on anyone but it is temporary and thank goodness the wigs available do make us look 'normal'. I know in my case I only wore the wig a couple of times and used my scarves instead. I had scarves in all different colors to match whatever I was wearing. 

    So sending you love and hugs. Hang in there, take one day at a time and you also have a happy 4th! xo 

    Thanks so much Lulu 7582 for

    Thanks so much Lulu 7582 for your encouragement.  

    I'm happy to say I had the wonderful slap of July celebration with about 25 of us at our local Lake . It was great to be surrounded by family and friends!  I hope you had a wonderful day as well!

  • Feelingalone74
    Feelingalone74 Member Posts: 243
    All my emotions are running

    All my emotions are running high and I'm not sleeping much cuz I'm nearing my appointment to find out when Treatment will begin and after that appointment I will tell my family and friends. The most difficult will be as I mentioned telling my 22 year old. Has anyone else experienced sleep lost and how did you manage it? On a positive with a wonderful cosmetologist yesterday who help me select a wig , matched my current hair color and ordered it for me at no cost to me which I'm beyond grateful for!!! She's also going to show me how to stencil eyebrows next week. I feel blessed to have been put in touch with her as she was beyond sweet!

  • Donna Faye
    Donna Faye Member Posts: 427 Member
    Something to make you giggle or laugh

    Back in 1997 when I was 57, teaching high school and not sure how to handle the loss of my hair as i was getting the big guns chemo and  bald was going to be in my very near future.  So, I went to a hair specialist in Atlanta who was very big with cancer patients and he fitted me with a beautiful wig with a guarantee he would take back if not happy. I then went to my local barbershop and had him shave my head. Just so happened my 4 year old grandson was visiting that night and when they arrived, I walked out to greet them in my lovely wig. My grandson looked long and hard at me and then he asked," Gma, why is your hair on backwards?". Needless to say, I returned that wig and settled for hats and scarfs. Out of the mouths of babes!  So, no wig for me. Hugs, all.

  • ConnieSW
    ConnieSW Member Posts: 1,677 Member
    edited July 2019 #55
    Donna Faye

    I think you should post this in the humor section as well. There's never much there and we could all use a chuckle, no matter what part of our bodies cancer attack. 

  • Feelingalone74
    Feelingalone74 Member Posts: 243
    Lulu7582 said:

    Hang in there

    Just know you aren't alone and most of us on this board have been through chemo so it is doable.  Think of the chemo as your friend helping to kill any cancer cells that are lurking around. I know there is a lot of emotions and feelings that go along with this diagnosis so find what works for you...family, friends, counselor, pastor to help. Having a supportive and loving family and friends is so important in helping us to deal with the cancer. I remember initially when I was diagnosed I would feel like I had a big 'C' on me but now I am used to the idea that I am living with cancer and so thankful that we are in the 'golden age' of cancer care where new treatments are being discovered. 

    Yes losing your hair, eyebrows and eyelashes isn't something I would wish on anyone but it is temporary and thank goodness the wigs available do make us look 'normal'. I know in my case I only wore the wig a couple of times and used my scarves instead. I had scarves in all different colors to match whatever I was wearing. 

    So sending you love and hugs. Hang in there, take one day at a time and you also have a happy 4th! xo 

    Thank you for the

    Thank you for the encouragement for the Lulu7582! I think you're right that I do need you think of the chemo as my friend. I just need to wrap my head around that as I will begin treat presently in a week. While I am scared to begin treatment as I don't know how my body will react I also will be relieved to be getting the treatments finally to get this out of my body so I can recover and get better. It's just all the uncertainty that had my mind boggled.

    Yes I too am glad that were living at a time or new treatment is being discovered.

    I'm happy to say that I did have a nice Fourth of July surrounded by many family and friends picnic at a lake. I hope that you had a wonderful as well. Thank you for sending love and hugs and I send them right back to you!

  • Feelingalone74
    Feelingalone74 Member Posts: 243

    Something to make you giggle or laugh

    Back in 1997 when I was 57, teaching high school and not sure how to handle the loss of my hair as i was getting the big guns chemo and  bald was going to be in my very near future.  So, I went to a hair specialist in Atlanta who was very big with cancer patients and he fitted me with a beautiful wig with a guarantee he would take back if not happy. I then went to my local barbershop and had him shave my head. Just so happened my 4 year old grandson was visiting that night and when they arrived, I walked out to greet them in my lovely wig. My grandson looked long and hard at me and then he asked," Gma, why is your hair on backwards?". Needless to say, I returned that wig and settled for hats and scarfs. Out of the mouths of babes!  So, no wig for me. Hugs, all.

    Donna Faye, thank you for the

    Donna Faye, thank you for the giggle.  Out of the mouth of babes for sure!  I work as  an Elementary Teaching Assistant so I am a little worried of what the may ask or say as we know they are honest lil people. 

    I pick up my wig Tuesday from a salon . She didn't have that one in stock so I'm hoping it looks ok and not like my hair is on backwards.  Fingers crossed . on a positive the salon owner was so sweet, nurturing and so very kind.

    Hugs to u

  • Donna Faye
    Donna Faye Member Posts: 427 Member
    You will be surprised and delighted!

    Dearest Feelingalone, because children and teens are so honest, you will be delightfully surprised at how they will lift you up. I, as my daughter says, tell everything - nothing held back. So I told my students that I had cancer but was doing fine. They had better bring coats to class as I was leaving the window open by my desk to keep down germs. I also had a Q&A time when they could ask me anything about the cancer. One girl's mom was also going through cancer treatment and she would not talk to her daughter about it. Another student said," I can't believe cancer was brave enough to go after you!".

    My grandson loved to run cream on my bald head and laughed when he found a "horn". I joked with folks about NO BAD HAIR days and soon everyone was OK with telling bad hair jokes. I started a cancer support group for any cancer and learned more about prostate cancer than I wanted to know. One of the reasons was men seem to find it hard to talk but could with someone else in treatment. So, just laugh and smile with your little ones and they will love you even more. I was tempted to have a friend paint eyes on the back of my head and go to school that way. My principal thought that was a little too much. My hats were wild enough.  

  • LisaPizza
    LisaPizza Member Posts: 358 Member

    Thank you for the

    Thank you for the encouragement for the Lulu7582! I think you're right that I do need you think of the chemo as my friend. I just need to wrap my head around that as I will begin treat presently in a week. While I am scared to begin treatment as I don't know how my body will react I also will be relieved to be getting the treatments finally to get this out of my body so I can recover and get better. It's just all the uncertainty that had my mind boggled.

    Yes I too am glad that were living at a time or new treatment is being discovered.

    I'm happy to say that I did have a nice Fourth of July surrounded by many family and friends picnic at a lake. I hope that you had a wonderful as well. Thank you for sending love and hugs and I send them right back to you!

    My sister, who had stage 2

    My sister, who had stage 2 breast cancer 20 years ago, calls them victory infusions :)

  • EastBayTawni
    EastBayTawni Member Posts: 4
    Late to the convo but welcome

    I'm kind of a board stalker lol.  Don't talk much/post much but I read a lot lol.  I literally have 4 wigs.  Different lengths and colors etc.  When I first lost my hair it was 2 weeks to the day after my first treatment of carbo/taxol.  After that, I wore one of them that was closest to my natural color and just shorter so it looked like a hair cut,  most of my coworkers assumed that I had a haircut.  Once my frontline chemo was done, my hair started growing back and quickly.  However, after following my gyn/onc's advice, I started maintenance chemo of taxol only in May... and two weeks to the day after that first treatment, my hair started falling out again.  So, I actually switch them up now.  But I always had pin straight hair and when it started growing back, it had a bit of wave to it - I even had a bit of a cowlick forming hahaha!

    Losing my lashes was annoying, but not that big of a deal to me.  My eyebrows were the worst.  But thanks to MAC makeup - I just drew them on with some powder.  Most people didn't notice (including my family!) until I pointed out that it was just makeup and that my actual eyebrows were gone.

    About the 22 year old... I don't have kids, however my nieces and nephews are like my own.  22, 14 and 11.  Honestly, they all toook it more in stride than my sister (their mother) did.  My 22 year old neice is super supportive and is so encouraging.  The 14 and 11 year olds tell me that I don't look like the people on TV haha.  Anyhow, welcome again :)

  • cmb
    cmb Member Posts: 1,001 Member
    Kids are funny

    I have to admit that I'm a bit envious of the ladies who got such nice hair back after chemo. As I've mentioned before, mine is still very sparse two years after chemo.

    But I guess I'm also battling heredity – my mother had very fine hair (although ironically she never lost it during her various chemo phases). And apparently my father's mother also had thin hair. My aunt used to tell a cute story about when she was a child. She hated her long hair that was in fashion during the early part of the last century and begged my grandmother to let her cut it off. She tried to dramatize how burdensome her hair was by pulling it up and complaining how hot and heavy it was when she was trying to sleep. My father, who was only about 4 or 5 years old at the time, asked "Why don't you just take it off at night and put in on the dresser like Mama does?" No word on how my grandmother responded.