Your Opinion on Hair Loss

Wish I Had...

In hindsight, I didn't loose my hair 18 1/2 years ago with my first chemo.  18 years later, I decided to wait and see.  I wish that I had shaved it.  I have thick hair and it took over 2 1/2 weeks and I kept using lint rollers to pick up the falling hair.  What a mess.  I was sorry that I foolishly hadn't shaved it.

Don't know if this helps or not.

Doris

 PS:  Click on my name SIROD - hit expression page and read about the "Pink Bus" whose history I wrote about a long time ago.  It was started about 2001 on another discussion board (now defunct).  When I came here, I was surprised to see the Pink Bus still very active with the same purpose of helping members by conforting them and being if not in person but in spirit with them as they go through an ordeal.

My Hair Loss Experience

Hi Lisa. I had a right mastectomy in Feb. 2010 and began chemo about 6 weeks later - 4 rounds of A/C and 12 rounds of Taxotere. I was forewarned that I would lose my hair. It had been very thick and shoulder length. It was very gray and I had been coloring it for years - about every 6 weeks. So  it wouldn't be a complete shock to lose my hair I had my hairdresser cut it very short prior to the start of chemo. On precisely Day 14 after my 1st chemo treatment I absentmindedly ran my fingers through my hair and came away with a handful. This went on for about 2 weeks and then it really just looked ridiculous so I had my husband use his trimmer and "buzz" off what was left. There is no doubt that this was a very difficult emotional moment for me. I cried. It took a long time before I could pass a mirror and not cry. From that point forward I wore a wig (which I got at my local American Cancer Society office) or a head scarf when I stepped foot outside of my house - even on to the front porch to get the mail. When I was inside I often didn't bother with a head covering unless it was particularly cold. Bald heads are not warm. I also had a very light thin cap I wore when I was in bed. My baldness didn't seem to bother my husband at all. At first it bothered my then 17 year old daughter but even she got over it. Our golden retriever seemed to like licking my head. Now that was a strange feeling.

By the way, it is not only the hair on your head that is subject to falling out. You may lose your eyebrows, eyelashes, hairs in your nose, your underarms, arms, legs and pubic hair. After chemo was over my head hair came in thick and curly. It had previously been straight. My eyebrows are more sparse now than they were before. My eyelashes seem shorter and are completely colorless. I have less hair than before everywhere else but that is OK. It took about 6 months for me to feel comfortable going out in public without a wig or head scarf once chemo was over. There are some women who post on this board whose hair never  grew back in very well and continue to wear wigs. Everyone is different but it seems that most people get back to some semblance of "normal" in the hair department.

Only you can decide what works best for you. There is no single answer. There is no right or wrong answer. It is an emotional decision. I wish you the best of luck.

IRENE

My hair was close to my waist

My hair was close to my waist when DX'd.  I cut it off into a Gypsy Shag (OLD cut/style).   It was really falling out after 2nd A/C so we had a head shavong party at the barn.  Son used the horse clippers on me and then he and other 'Sons' took turns clipping each other's heads.  2 days later was the first time 'strangers' saw me sans hair when I had to take wig off to put on helmit to drive my first Powder Puff Mud Bog (got 2nd) and had a blast doing it (actually got my old IH Scout II that I had given to Son to Mud Bog with).

Winyan -The Power Within

Susan

Double Whammy said:

Had mine buzzed

As soon as I ran my hands through my hair and came up with a handful,  I knew I couldn't deal with the experience of losing hair like that, so I called my friend who is a retired hairdresser and said "can you come over tomorrow morning"?  She did and she buzzed it - about 1/4".  When the rest fell out it was very nontraumatic.  I actually don't know where it all went - maybe down the drain in the shower??  It was buzz cut one day and then it was gone except for a few stragglers which eventually also fell out.  I was bald as a cue ball in a very short period of time.   For me, this was the way to go.  It would have been very upsetting to me to lose it at a longer length.

Suzanne

.....

I'm 3 years out and I can still remembe the absolute overwhelming
feeling when my hair started to fall out. I woke up one morning and it went. I
had read, talked with people who had it happen, etc. and I still sat down and
cried. I cried often during the period without hair. It was to me the first and
recurring thought of dying (my hair was dying) and I finally had couldn't escape
the inevitable thought: I could die. I also have thought of myself as not vain
but... I still looked like a sick person and I didn't want to think of myself as
sick. You are in a very scary place right now as we all were and are. It's ok to
feel scared, depressed, angry, the whole gamut of emotions. There is no right
way through the months ahead. Try to avoid the advice people give like: "Well,
just do it." "you SHOULD..."

You will find your own way the best you can. I always
suggest keeping a diary of not only medicine, side effects but also feelings. I
have often read mine in the years past and have a tremendous respect for the
awsome task we all undertook/take.

This is a tough road and for anyone to expect you to .........
 "whistle while you go merrily about the day" .... is protecting his/her own
reaction to your disease. Think about giving yourself permission to grieve the
loss of innocence, the loss of the happy image of living happily EVER after. We
all learn/learned we are vulnerable. Try to think of crying as a legitimate way
of letting the pressure out of your body when it is building up. If pressure
seems overwhelming, think of reaching out to a support group of people who are/
have been where you are. 
  
ask your local doctor, oncologist or hospital for a support group. We will not be judgmental about
conflicting emotions, etc. Been there, done that. Good luck.

Strength, Courage and Hope for a Cure.

Vicki Sam

 

I waited

I shaved mine the first time but waited until it started to fall out to do it. The second time I didn't shave it at all and it didn't all fall out!! Then It started growing back in a couple of months. I was happy about that because I have to stay on chemo now for life ( stage 4 ) If you really like the cut wait see what happens. But no matter what it will come back.

Take care Kay,

kmenurse said:

Hair

I will be going on Chemo as well soon. I have hair to my shoulders, I was trying to grow it out from a short cut but Ca had other ideas for me. So I had decided that at the first sign of loss, I was going to have my daughter-inlaw shave me.  Might be nice in the hot summer months.  God Bless! Kathy

I know it is really hard. 

I know it is really hard and I am so sorry that you have to go through this.

Lynne

 

Looks like I posted twice

Looks like I posted twice

I shaved

what was left of it when it started looking like the pitiful ads for St. Jude.  It is always hard when it is falling out, but it feels so much better when it gone.  For me it is always harder to try and cover the bald spots.  Comb overs just don't work very well! lol  This time it was 4 chemos in before I did it.  I knew that I would lose it on Adriamycin, but was still hoping it would just thin!  I don't give up too easy!!!

 

What I Did

I don't have super-short hair, but I had one of my regular cuts just before I started chemo.  I think that I had a faint hope that I would not lose my hair.  I was not going to sit around and wait to see what was going to happen.  I just went on with life.

About a week or so later, I knew my hair was starting to flee.  It did not take me long to be weary of the shedding hair I would find on my shirts and on the furniture.  So, I had a friend of mine give me a buzz cut.  I thought it would be easier to mess with bristles than with hair.  In thinking about it much later on, I would say that I probably handled losing my hair better because I was not losing clumps/wads of it. 

DebbyM said:

From your picture, it looks

From your picture, it looks like you've cut your hair already or shaved it?  You look great!  Hope you're doing alright on chemo.

 

I guess you did shave your

I guess you did shave your head as seen in your photo above.  I agree that you look beautiful!