Hair growth pictures

honeygirl

Rocktobermom , Good for you!!! I can't wait to be sayin' the same thing!

my3girls

I am hoping for a short spikey hairdo by christmas...no matter how it looks!!

Hi newter...I have found another northeast ohio friend!

xoxo

Lisa

Anonymous

That was in September at the BC walk.  Its amazing how fast hair grows! 

myrenewal

Rocktober Mom - when did you finish chemo?  Your hair looks great - I can't wait to have a real 'do and I am almost 1 year out - it looks nothing like yours.

Your daughter is just darling!  Great picture.

Anonymous

ROCKO....YOU'RE ONE HOT MAMA!!!!! Oh, and nice hair too

~Marin

Anonymous

LOL Marin, thank you!

Sue, I finished my AC in 2006 and then went on to Taxol and Herceptin which is combined for 12 weeks.  Once I was done in March 2006 with that my hair started to grow slowly ..... I even had to go on 3 month break due to a low ejection fraction before I re-started my Herceptin.  So, I would say I had a year and half of hair growth in that pic ... I know Taxol really wiped out my eyebrows and eyelashes .... all body hair gone.   

myrenewal

Hey Rocktober Mom - thanks for the imfo - I am six months behind you and my hair actually will probably be the same length in another six months - except it is SCARY CURLY!  Which makes it look much shorter.  Oh well . . . just today my daughter's roommate who just passed her cosmetology exam told me how cute my hair is with my headbands, and my son told me yesterday "well, Mom, compared to last year it looks great!"  (All my neighbors look amused when they ask me "Is that natural - did your hair grow back in curly like that?")  But it is a fond amused!!

newter

... bump

Anonymous

So here's a hair growth tip that I read about in Elle magazine yesterday. It certainly surprised me. In an article on thinning hair and hair loss that occurs with aging, they consulted a derm in NYC who advocated the use of Minoxidil/Rogaine (no surprise there) to rev up roots and follicles, but also recommended "zinc-based dandruff shampoos, such as Head & Shoulders, which descale and calm...the scalp." He says that zinc is an anti-inflammatory and reduces swelling around the follicles, thus allowing new growth to push through. He also recommends taking oral zinc at 15 mcgs daily (that's the RDA in most multivits, I've noted).

So have at it, girls! Who knew?!

~Marin

abbadoodles

Well, it may not do anything for me, but my husband might be interested, Marin.

Tina

newter

b u m p

Anonymous

bumping again.........

newter

bump

newter

I have to say that my hair was always pretty much on track with these pictures.  I am 13 1/2 months out of my last chemo and starting to get happier and happier each day with my hair.  It looks a lot like my avatar (I am wearing a wig in the avatar) but my bangs are actually longer.  I am even happy with the bad hair days because "a bad hair day is ALWAYS better than a NO hair day".  JMO.  

I hope to have it down to my butt some time in the next decade because, I swear, I am never again taking a scissors to it.  It is gonna have to fall out again for me to get rid of it.

Harley44

I couldn't get in, because you need to enter your email address, and I don't know which email address is connected to the password  bcsisters...

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Harley

newter

Harley,

You must be talking about the Above the Clouds website.  I think it used to be different but I have not gone to it in a long time.  I tried today and it asked for more than just the password.

Fllorik

I love those photos of the woman after her treatments were over.

Anonymous

b...b....b....bump!

abbadoodles

Well, no picture, but I do have a hair story.

One of my friends never knew I was wearing a wig all through my chemo treatments.  Never batted an eyelash at my new hairdo.

Yesterday, she saw me for the first time in a couple of months.  I am no longer wearing the wig. 

She was in a total state of shock at my hair!  She even had to rub my head because she said it was so thick and curly it looked like a wig!!! 

BTW, it's been growing since the Fourth of July.

Tina

Harley44

Tina

That is so funny!

I went into a furniture store, and the saleswoman had seen me BEFORE chemo, so after chemo, when I went into the store, she asked me, WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR HAIR?  She thought it was my hair, but it was a wig.  I am still wearing a wig, and am hoping and praying for FAST HAIR GROWTH!  It has been 2 months and not much growth so far....

.....sigh....

Harley

LisaSDCA

Tina (abbadoodlles), you and I are on the same schedule! I can't complain about how my hair is growing back in - but it certainly has been an adventure!

I've always had very thick hair, some wave - enough to give it plenty of body and make it so it would hold a style or could be blown out straight. 49 at diagnosis, I had never needed to color my brownish/blondish hair, though I sometimes had it highlighted a bit in the fall and winter when I was not in the sun as much. It was past my shoulders - about to my bra strap in back.

But after all those months of my wig, various scarves, hats, hat + scarf combos, night caps, etc. I had thought I might start going topless around Hallowe'en - maybe a real style at Christmas.

Well so much for my plan - my billat. mastectomies and immed. DIEPs got scheduled for Sept 25th, only week 12 of teensy-tiny hair growth. But I was certainly not going to be wearing a wig or some sort of headcover in the hospital after that kind of surgery! My 'do' looked about like the karinstack thirteenth image - and not my color. It was coming back this odd mixture of brown, reddish, dark brown, and this kind of transparent battleship grey.

After my 10-hour surgery, my body went into hair-shock. Did anybody else's? My head-hair completely stopped growing. I hadn't had to shave my underarms for four years due to an autoimmune condition and putting on my deodorant the night befoe surgery, they were as bare as ever. The morning after surgery - I kid you not - my armpits had long silky grey-ish 4-week growth.Earth-mother-hairy-armpit-I-was-raised-on-a-commune-in-Boulogne type of growth. I was horrified. Of course, I shaved them once - and never again since. Maybe I should have taken pictures and sent them to the National Enquirer. 

Enough true confessions.

After about a month of just sulking, my head hair finally started to grow again. The battleship grey faded away, it still has hints of red in the sunshine, it has begun to have wave that I can coax into curls with a little gel, but not the ringlets that so many other women get. I am also noticing a few real grey/silver hairs here and there. The ends, especially of the curly areas are turning blonde again.

At week 23, it's hard to compare with karin's images, because it's obvious she's had a trim and shape up. I just want some bangs again! But the very pronounced cowlick up front that seems to be an even stronger hereditary link than our BRCA-1 means I'll be doing the same tousled look that karin does for months to come. And to top it pff, I have a double crown in the back. Wild hair!

Lisa

newter

bump

Anonymous

So newter....how about your hair? What's going on with it at this point? Mine gets "awesomer" every day and is now touching my freakin' shoulders! This past week, I actually was able (with a lot of extra clippies) to put it in a ponytail when I taught class! YAY! I can't wait until I can do a French braid....that's how I often wore it before bc, especially when teaching or skating.

So to those of you reading this and feeling envious, just remember that I was as bald as Mister Magoo too only 2 years ago! So take your vitamins, keep up the Nioxin and the massage and very soon you'll have gorgeous, flowing locks again! This is my wish for all of you for 2008 (in addition to your dancing with NED of course!)!

~Marin

newter

Hi Marin,

Well, I do have to admit that I finally do not "dislike" my hair anymore.  I think it is looking pretty decent.  It is about 5.5 to 6 inches and the bangs are actually too long to be bangs, yea.

I just upped my biotin unintentionally because I bought capsules instead of tablets at 5000 mcgs.  I had planned on cutting the tablet in half and silly me did not read the label.  All the other bottles I have bought have been tablets so I did not even think to look.  I am also using dandruff shampoo on your advice.  I have not used my Nioxin since I stopped wearing my wig.  Don't really know why I stopped.

It is great that your hair is getting so much more "awesomer".  I can't wait til mine is down to my butt because I do not plan on ever cutting it again.  At least that is what I tell people.  I tell them that it is going to have to fall out again for me to part with any hair.

Have a great holiday Marin, and everyone else reading this.

Anonymous

Thanks, Newter....same to you (and everyone also)! Maybe we'll get some clips and scrunchies in our stockings!!!!

~Marin

Harley44

WOW!!  I sure wish my hair would grow, and SOON!!  My hair is maybe 1/2" long, but it's been over 2 months since my last chemo... Oct. 9th was my last chemo, so Jan 9th will be 3 MONTHS!!  GEE, how long does it take, already?!

I hope to have longer hair on Christmas, but it is already Christmas Eve, and I don't think it will grow 12 inches overnight!

Hugs

Harley

newter

Harley,

Last year this time I was in the same situation.  My last chemo was October 20, 2006 and I did not stop wearing my wig until May 2007.  My hair was probably 2.5 inches when I stopped.  Be patient, hair will come.  I rememeber my mother in law telling my that by Christmas I would not need a wig.  Boy was I dissappointed. I was also the weird person that would not let my kids see me bald nor would I look at myself in the mirror.  I just hated it  and I probably went a little longer with my wig than most women.

Hope this makes you feel a bit better.

Anonymous

OMG, Newter.................YOU LOOK AMAZING!!!!! Look at all that freakin' hair on you!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!

Really, girl, it's a beautiful picture.   

~Marin

newter

Thanks Marin.

That is not even my most recent picture.  It was taken at the beginning of November.

honeygirl

Hi newter(fellow ohioan) , and Marin. Thanks for all your support here. Newter , your hair looks fabulous! And I think Marin , you said yours is shoulder length. Thats great. My last treatment was Aug. 1st. My hair is about 1and 3/4 in. long. But I have been without my wig since Oct. 19th. I just couldn't stand the wig and scarves anymore. Its really coming in thick. Does anyone know , if it comes in curly , about how long before you can tell? I'm hoping for my straight hair to come back. I think it is straight , if I put product in it , it has wave to it , I think. It is hard to tell at this stage. Take care ladies.