Did you shave your head?

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Hissy_Fitz
Hissy_Fitz Member Posts: 1,834
edited March 2014 in Ovarian Cancer #1
As I have mentioned before, I still have about 20-25 per cent of my hair. I had it cut very short before I started chemo and even though it is super thin and I have some spots that are totally "naked", I have not shaved it. Is that something I should re-think? Would it be better for it to all grow back in at the same time? And how, exactly, do you go about it? I don't own clippers and am totally unwilling to take a razor to my scalp. Do you have it done at the hairdresser's?

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  • leesag
    leesag Member Posts: 621 Member
    #2
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    Mohawk
    I haven't even had my surgery yet, and my husband has put in a request for my chemo-hair--he wants me to get a mohawk for about a week and then shave it. In all seriousness, from what I have read, most people seem to think that if you shave it, it will grow back more evenly. I believe that most hairdressers will do it for you.

    While I haven't committed to the mohawk, there are so few things that I can control with this illness; when and how I lose my hair is one thing that I do plan to take control of!
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #3
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    This comment has been removed by the Moderator
  • dorion
    dorion Member Posts: 183
    #4
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    unknown said:

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator

    shaving
    Hi Girls
    When I first started chemo I had my brother shave my head then he took a razor to it, not knowing the terrible effects if not careful. DO NOT use a razor like I did, for if you get a nick or cut it could cause an infection and then you are up that perverbial creek with out the paddle. Then I would try to use that buzzer thing on my own too with no success I ended up getting these little bumbs all over my head which became itchy, so be careful. But shaving it not only eases the trauma and you are doing it on your own terms it's also a lot more comfortable, I remember waking up so itchy from the hair on my back and down my night gown. I loved being hairless, it was so easy getting ready to go out. Scarves worn correctly always looked good, you ladies are so beautiful that I know you'll look adorable with scarves on. Look Good Feel Better offers classes on how to wear your scarves, I had no clue til I attended one of their classes and then you get a beautiful scarf for free, never mind all the other stuff you get for free, I estimated around $200 worth of products easily.

    Well today I pulled myself out of bed for the first time in 3 days, I don't know if I"m depressed or just not feeling well, but once up, I had my energy. These damn bags I'm carrying around on both sides are really starting to get to me. I'm still waiting on my results with the renal tests they did on Tuesday, trying not to get myself all worked up into a worry. Let go and let God is my new motto. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I will try to do the same. Love to all you guys.

    Linda
  • BonnieR
    BonnieR Member Posts: 1,526 Member
    #5
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    everytime
    I always shave my head when it starts to fall out, but I hate dealing with hair fall out. Also I don't do wigs and think bald is beautiful also. :-) It really doesn't bother me and I think so many are use to seeing me that way that they don't notice. Every person is different.
  • nancy591
    nancy591 Member Posts: 1,027 Member
    #6
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    losing hair-
    I too had lost most of my hair within the first 3 weeks. I'm not sure at what point in my treatment I went to my hairdresser and cut my hair down to the scalp. He did not shave it but used scissors. I have to admit it looked so much better then the scraggly strings of hair I had left on my head. When it started growing in I have cut it to even out the grow in. I am a women who always had medium length to long hair.
  • Tina Brown
    Tina Brown Member Posts: 1,036 Member
    #7
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    To shave ot not to shave?
    Hi Hissy fitz
    I had the same problem as you. My hair began to fall out 2 weeks after treament 1. It was the run up to christmas. I had already got my wig which I liked. Hair falling out was horrible - I'd wake up each morning with loads on my pillow. I was scared to wash my hair as I knew the massing effect of it would make yet more hair fall out. So eventually on 23rd Dec last year my husband used clippers on it and I got a grade 1. I looked like an immate of a concentration camp. I felt sadness but that was about all. At least now I was in control and the agony of just waiting for it ALL to come out was over. My wig was itchy and uncomfortable at first but since I have washed it and loosened the band (I originally has it so tight cos I was afraid of it falling off it left a red mark on my head) I sometimes forget I am wearing a wig!!!! As for going bold - my husband says I look good and I often take my wig off in front of friends but am not yet brave enough to do it in public.

    Good luck to you all and it is a good feeling to be in control of at least one thing about your body :) Tina xxxx
  • kayandok
    kayandok Member Posts: 1,202 Member
    #8
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    bald is beautiful
    I took the advice of many of the teal vets and shaved mine as soon as it started to fall out in gobs. I continued to shave the stubble in the shower to keep it all smooth, until I did't have to any more.
    Check out the website for bald is beautiful website for inspiration. This woman truly is beautiful bald.
    kathleen

    PS I had the Barber shave it off when I took my son in to get his hair cut. She did a wonderful job, BTW. My daughter Elly was with me, and I didn't warn her, and she was in shock for a few days!!! (She has some developmental delays.) She kept saying, "Mom, why did she shave off your hair?"I finally had to write a story about the whole ordeal, including the fact that it would grow back and post it on the fridge, so we could read it when she started to get upset about it. The second time she was prepared and seemed to accept it fine.
  • LPack
    LPack Member Posts: 645
    #9
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    shave
    I had my hairdresser come to my house after I had my port put in (2 weeks after hysterectomy) and one week before chemo. She gave me a chemo cut.

    13 days after taxol/carbo my hair started falling out and my husband shaved me bald.

    Now on gemzar for 10 treatments and cis for 9 I have thinner hair. I start gem/carbo Monday and my hair will probably continue to get thinner, but I have not shaved it, just kept it very short. I know if I was back on taxol it would be shaved in a minute.

    I don't mind bald at all, but my family (husband and 3 sons) it seems to bother, our daughter is like me bald is beautiful.

    I did wear a wig to church, but I liked the scarfs and hats better.

    And my grandson (at the time four years old) would pray God Bless Maw-Maw Baldhead! How precious!

    Living for Eternity,
    Libby
  • saundra
    saundra Member Posts: 1,370 Member
    #10
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    You decide
    I got mine shaved at the "Look Good Feel Good" shop. They privide that service here free at Texas Oncology. I waited until my scalp got sore and it started coming out. I will say that I cried and being bald is a shock to the system (vanity). However, I got to like it. Showering and soaping my head was really easy and using scarfs and wigs were not time consuming. So at a time of low energy, you don't waste energy dealing with hair issues. That is a plus. Hair falling out is a mess, in bed, in shower, on the bathroom floor, on your clothes, etc. I think everyone has to make that choice as to their own likes and dislikes. When a few hairs grew back, I husband trimed them with his electric grooming razor. I never had a nick or sore....
    These are pretty cheap at Walgreens... About an inch in width...
    Saundra
  • kathryn1
    kathryn1 Member Posts: 88
    #11
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    leesag said:

    Mohawk
    I haven't even had my surgery yet, and my husband has put in a request for my chemo-hair--he wants me to get a mohawk for about a week and then shave it. In all seriousness, from what I have read, most people seem to think that if you shave it, it will grow back more evenly. I believe that most hairdressers will do it for you.

    While I haven't committed to the mohawk, there are so few things that I can control with this illness; when and how I lose my hair is one thing that I do plan to take control of!

    mohawk
    My Husband shaved his head for me so we would be bald together. He had a lovely but crooked mohawk for an evening just to make me laugh.
    I took the clippers to mine and cut it very short. Most of it came out. It has been growing back, very unevenly. It's anywhere from a quarter of an inch to an inch or so. One hair on top is two inches and stands straight up! My hairdresser said they would shave it for free and I think some will even it out later on for free too.
  • lindaprocopio
    lindaprocopio Member Posts: 1,980
    #12
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    saundra said:

    You decide
    I got mine shaved at the "Look Good Feel Good" shop. They privide that service here free at Texas Oncology. I waited until my scalp got sore and it started coming out. I will say that I cried and being bald is a shock to the system (vanity). However, I got to like it. Showering and soaping my head was really easy and using scarfs and wigs were not time consuming. So at a time of low energy, you don't waste energy dealing with hair issues. That is a plus. Hair falling out is a mess, in bed, in shower, on the bathroom floor, on your clothes, etc. I think everyone has to make that choice as to their own likes and dislikes. When a few hairs grew back, I husband trimed them with his electric grooming razor. I never had a nick or sore....
    These are pretty cheap at Walgreens... About an inch in width...
    Saundra

    I just trimmed mine close to scalp with scissors.
    The first time I had chemo, I went to a hairdresser at the very start of the hair fall-out, and she cut it very short, combing all the top hair forward to make the thickest bangs she could, so that I would have a bit of 'fringe' under my hats. Then, when the 'comb-over' bangs got really thin, I just took the scissors and trimmed what was left of my hair close to the scalp, about as long as my fingers are wide. I think the little bit of length feels less 'prickly' under hats than a buzz cut. After my bath each nite, I'd buff my balding head, and in no time, I was bowling-ball bald without having to shave.

    This time, with the weekly low-dose taxol, it took about 5 weeks for my hair to start coming out, and I followed the same routine, and am smoothly bald without shaving. I wear a wig for the few business appointments I go out on, or when I go out with my husband and want to look my best. But I'm a baldy or in a hat around the house and when out for day-to-day errands. Hats make sense for winter baldness, but when summer returns, I'll be bald full-time everywhere again.

    TIP for those still with hair: We had a woman on the Uterine Cancer Board with longish hair who braided her hair before her 1st chemo into tight corn row braids, with rubber bands at the bottom of each braid AND a rubber band up close to the scalp. When her hair started falling out (and it stayed in pretty LONG held together in the braids!) she clipped off each braid just above the top rubber band. Then she had a talented friend with a good sewing machine SEW her braids all around a HAT LINER! She loosened the braids, trimmed her hair an even length, and had a 'halo' of her own hair to wear under hats!! Wasn't that great!?? I was going to do that if I had a recurrence, but my hair never got to grow out long enough to do it before I was back in chemo again. I hope someone here tries this! I want to see a YouTube video capturing this technique as an option for women about to lose their hair.
  • Lisa 00
    Lisa 00 Member Posts: 134 Member
    #13
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    About a week or 10 days
    About a week or 10 days after my first chemo, I awoke to my long hair falling out in great gobs. I had already decided that I would use a clipper and clip my own so I had already bought clippers. You can get them at the drug store for something like 30 or 40 bucks. I sat outside and pulled out all that I could just to see how much was coming out. It was easily half of my hair.
    Then I went inside and clipped it down with the shortest setting on the clippers. I felt just like Britney Spears.
    There was lots of stubble left. Almost every bit of the stubble fell out over the ensuing weeks and months of chemo treatments. Then I felt like I looked like Uncle Fester.

    I had chemo during the summer and it was warm so I would go bald around the house. If I had to go outside where my neighbors might see me I would either put on a wig or slip on one of those "buffs" that they wear on the show Survivor. That buff was great. Very comfortable. Made of very light weight stretchy material and maybe as an extra bonus it had the word "survivor" all over it. And the design made it very easy to use. Just slip it on without having to mess with a knot in a scarf and getting it oriented right. They can be bought either on ebay or on CBS's website.

    Just a reminder to anybody who may need it. Your insurance may pay for a wig. You need to call your insurance and ask. I did this and I had to fill out a form myself and get a prescription from my doc.
  • Hissy_Fitz
    Hissy_Fitz Member Posts: 1,834
    #14
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    Lisa 00 said:

    About a week or 10 days
    About a week or 10 days after my first chemo, I awoke to my long hair falling out in great gobs. I had already decided that I would use a clipper and clip my own so I had already bought clippers. You can get them at the drug store for something like 30 or 40 bucks. I sat outside and pulled out all that I could just to see how much was coming out. It was easily half of my hair.
    Then I went inside and clipped it down with the shortest setting on the clippers. I felt just like Britney Spears.
    There was lots of stubble left. Almost every bit of the stubble fell out over the ensuing weeks and months of chemo treatments. Then I felt like I looked like Uncle Fester.

    I had chemo during the summer and it was warm so I would go bald around the house. If I had to go outside where my neighbors might see me I would either put on a wig or slip on one of those "buffs" that they wear on the show Survivor. That buff was great. Very comfortable. Made of very light weight stretchy material and maybe as an extra bonus it had the word "survivor" all over it. And the design made it very easy to use. Just slip it on without having to mess with a knot in a scarf and getting it oriented right. They can be bought either on ebay or on CBS's website.

    Just a reminder to anybody who may need it. Your insurance may pay for a wig. You need to call your insurance and ask. I did this and I had to fill out a form myself and get a prescription from my doc.

    My insurance paid
    I got a prescription from my doctor and my insurance paid $350 toward the cost of my wig. (I was told that Medicare will not pay for wigs, however.) The American Cancer Society will give you a free wig, as well.

    I am totally at ease with my wig and wear it almost every day. Occasionally I wear caps, with bangs, back fringe, and little sideburns sticking out. But I have a very small head and even the adjustable ones don't fit me very well.

    I love the mohawk stories. Also, the lady who made her own "hat hair". When I was a child and had my long hair cut, my mother saved the two ponytails. I still have them. I am tempted to try some crafty thing like that. I also have a daughter who has long hair and she offered to cut it, if I wanted to have a wig made from her hair. Maybe the next craft craze will be hair pieces for chemo patients!
  • groundeffect
    groundeffect Member Posts: 639 Member
    #15
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    Twice Shaved
    I cut my hair short, then my husband ran the trimmer over my head, then I shaved it, and continue to shave it to keep it optimally short.

    Wearing a hat or head covering is essential for me; the first time I had chemo, we had an extraordinary heavy snow winter, and now that I'm having chemo at almost the same time, it's winter, and I like to keep warm! I made a number of berets to wear at home from fleece with a free pattern from the Nancy's Notions site ( http://tiny.cc/CreativeKindess ), and I wear them at home, day and night, when I need to keep my head warm. I have a wig that I wear when I go out and some Isotoner berets (that's what I have on in my picture), too.

    Shaving my head doesn't scare me. Modern razors are so easy compared to the old men's razors that I learned to shave my legs with! I've had some minor scrapes, but shaving cream really seems to help, too.

    It's important to do what's comfortable for you! If I could collect a little sun with my bald head, I'd do it in a heartbeat-but we seldom see sun here, and it's typically very cold when we do!

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