Losing my hair...

kawilson
kawilson Member Posts: 9
edited March 2014 in Lymphoma (Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin) #1
I'm 25 recently diagnosed with Hodgkins disease, I had my first round of chemotherapy 17 days ago and just yesterday experienced my hair beginning to fall out, more like thinning than clumps. I am stage IIA recieving ABVD. Did others experience hair loss, was it all your hair or just thinning. how long will it thin before it is all gone??? I am so okay with losing my hair I am more curious about how long it takes.
Thanks Kelly

Comments

  • happycamper
    happycamper Member Posts: 1
    #2
    I was diagnosed with stage 3A Hodgkins last June. I had 12 treatments of chemo. After every treatment I would lose more hair. By the time December came around it was very thin. I had it cut short so when it fell out it would not bother me so much. It also helped with combing and caring for it. Be gentle with it. If possible do not use hair spray. I used baby shampoo and massaged my scalp very gently. The part that bothered me the most was losing my eyebrows and lashes. My last treatment was in December. My hair is coming back and it is very fine and short but I know it takes time. Good Luck and God Bless. I know the road seems long, take one day at a time. You can do it!
  • Cuttermonk
    Cuttermonk Member Posts: 1
    #3
    I'm 19 and was diagnosed with HD last May. It was stage IVB and i went through 12 rounds of chemo and radiation. I lost all the hair on my body within the first three or four months of chemo. It all came back curly instead of straight but i'm glad to have it back. Good Luck.
  • rikathy
    rikathy Member Posts: 2
    #4
    I had IIA (had 8 ABVD's & Radiation) (2 yrs. in remission now) -- I never lost "all" my hair.. It just got very very thin.
    I lost the top and sides mostly -- it was still enough that I wore a wig when I went out! -- I lost the hair everywhere else on my body though!
    The hair on my head grew back curly - but eventually it went straight again!! -- good luck!
  • neenee12
    neenee12 Member Posts: 2
    #5
    hi, i am a 30 year old female who had hodgkins lymphoma back in 1995, i had long straight hair, when i found out that i had cancer i went and got it cut up to my sholders, i started losing it right away and eventhough i was losing it new hair was already growing in at the same . but when the chemo was done it came back soooo curly and fine but now its long healthy and straight, even better than before. best of luck to you.
  • sherra
    sherra Member Posts: 41
    #6
    I'm 23, I was diagnosed with HD Stage 2A last August. I went through 6 cycles of ABVD and 18 treatments of radiation. I lost most of the hair on my head through a period of 3 months, it thined out daily. For a 22-year old girl who had long, thick hair in August that was one of the hardest parts of this whole experience. Shortly after I was diagnosed and knew I was going to lose my hair I cut it really short so that it wasn't such a shock when it was gone, short hair was also less of a mess to clean out the shower drain each day. I wore wigs to work and sometimes when I went out (if it wasn't windy). I also lost the other hair on my body including my eyebrows (which was almost equally as hard). My hair started to grow back in February. By April I finally had eyebrows again. The radiation caused me to lose the hair at the nape of my neck permanetly (or so the dr. says-I still have faith it'll grow back)If you'd like, feel free to email me at this site, I'd love to hear from you
    good luck through this battle
    sherra
  • writersblock
    writersblock Member Posts: 3
    #7
    I had to cut off roughly ten years of hair growth before starting ABVD, just so I wouldn't be as upset over watching it fall out. I lost a great deal of it -- but, Kelly? It'll grow back after your treatments. Everyone loses a different amount. Some only loose a little, while others will lose everything (rare with ABVD, but not unheard of), including all body hair. Look at it this way: You're beating cancer. And hair grows back! Mine's grown very quickly after my treatments ended, but this all depends on the individual. You may want to cut yours short, and use a gentle shampoo. Wigs can help, if you don't want to feel as if you're being stared at when you go out in public -- however, it's all a matter of your comfort. But don't let it get you down -- REFUSE to let it get you down. The days'll go by before you know it, and you'll have the rest of your life to regrow it. Right now, it's all about the fight. A fight I'm confident you'll win.
  • runr
    runr Member Posts: 15
    #8
    I'm just finishing up radiation for IIIb Hodgkins. I had 6 cycles of ABVD. My hair got very thin but I never lost all of it. I did lose my eyebrows and the hair on the rest of my body thinned. My doctor told me it would come back within 6 weeks after stopping chemo. After only 2 weeks it started to come back. I was so gald because I was afraid I would have thin hair for the rest of my life. It is quite thick now 6 weeks after chemo. The eye brows and other hair is slower coming back. Best of luck to you and keep a positive attitude!
  • traceyf
    traceyf Member Posts: 1
    #9
    I'm 24 and when I went through treatment my hair gradually fell out and got thinner through out each treatment. But there came a time where my hair actually hurt, I know that is funny to say but it did. Then when I got fitted for a wig I had the lady take a razor to it and my head felt so much better. Now it is growing in curly and getting longer each day!

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