Hair Hair Hair - Another question

lago

I think my hair is coming in like Paulie!!! I don't want wings.

Dawn46

I am an avid reader on this thread.

lago-thats funny, my kids joke with me bcause my growth is super curly and seems to be growing up instead of down. They keep telling me pretty soon I'll have enough to do the Paulie D blowout...lol

heartnsoul76

I think my hair is coming in like Little Orphan Annie! I need to try some of that straightening stuff MBJ was recommending - it's on my drugstore.com list but I don't know if I can wait that long. I might just have to get some tonight.

I posted on another thread about finally coloring my gray. I forgot to ask my onc about how long I should wait, but since it's been almost 6 months since my last chemo I just dove in and put some Natural Instincts by Clairol on it, and it did fine. I put the conditioner on REALLY heavy and left it on about 10 minutes, and no frizz. Just thought I would mention that in case anybody's sitting on the fence about this like I was. It worked out fine!

I feel like I check my hair several times a day to see if it's grown any! I had NO idea this would be such a big deal to me! But, aargh! 

dutchgirl6

lago, that's funny, but true.  One of the girls I work with refers to my hair as wings, I prefer to think of myself as being angelic, lol.  But, it is a lot better than looking like Uncle Fester, which is pretty much how I spent the summer.

LtotheK

Me too, Heartnsoul!  My hair is really ridiculously curly, fine when it's a "Roman" cut, but now that it's getting a wee longer, eek.  It's going  to take management.

Carrol2

OMG! Lago! That is the wrong mob for a Chicago girl could get dangerous. You might need to move to New Jersey. lol

lago

Well the Calabrese family is in jail or hiding.

Fighter_34

I want to have hair to SHOW! Hopefully by next month I can post a picture.

lago

Fighter when did you end chemo?

Carrol2

Lago yeah you might wanna lay low lol

I think my hair still looks very GI Jane week 14 still no sign of curl except a little above the back of my neck. 

GuyGirl

Trying to post a picture  but not having any luck, anyone remember how far back the directions are.

IowaSue45

I go to my facebook picture page, right click on the pic. and copy and then come here and paste it.  Maybe you can do that from you picture folder too, I haven't tried it from there, but I think it would work. Some wonderful lady on here told me how to do it : ) I'm paying it forward.

saralmom

Just thought I'd let all you Hair Hair Hair ladies know my big news - I went wigless at work today!!! I was really nervous at first (I am a psychotherapist and didnt tell my clients about the cancer, chemo, wig, etc).  But it went fine - it's not like my client said it was amazing or anything, but she didn't freak out either.  Now I just have to go through the same nerves over and over until all my clients have seen it.

I did go last week to get my hair trimmed into a pixie that I think is pretty okay, and had the color turned a bit darker - I showed my stylist a picture of both Ginnifer Goodwin and Maura Tierney (post cancer herself) to use as a guide.  It requires alot of work (straightening serum, blow dry  - do bangs with tiny metal brush, flat iron bangs, and sculpting wax on bangs).  Notice the emphasis on the bangs - in order for the actual pixie look to work, it means straight bangs - and my bangs are boingy curly.  I HATE them.  

So anyhow - no more wig for me!   I had my head shaved in April last year, so this has been a long year, and is finally here!  Just new you ladies would get it.

Sara 

MBJ

Sara:  Congratulations on finally being able to go topless.  Your hair routine sounds like mine when I was first struggling with the curl.  Thank goodness for hair products and flat irons.

Fighter_34

Lago: chemo ended 2/3/2011/ Only light fuzz, but guess what the nalis are quickly coming back to normal.

lago

Fighter I was just before you. I have the hair but the nails are still an issue. Fingernails are starting to grow back. Toenails are still lifting. Eyebrows still falling out but I do seem some growth. Lashes don't seem to be growing back yet.

Shrek4

Iago, are you taking Biotin?

I'm 7 months PFC, and my hair is 4.5" long. I have curls, but not tight ones, and I love the way it looks. I had a lot of grays coming out, but as I'm dying my hair ash blonde, the whites make it look "frosted".Can't wait for it to get longer.

MaryNY

Haven't been to this thread in a while. I used to read it daily as I obsesses about my hair growth. It's taken a couple of hours tonight to catch up. So many great hair tales on here!

Iowasue44: thanks for the post about hair color. Mine came back in gray. A couple of months in, I did try Fancifull in a the lightest shades -- Bashful Blonde and White Minx. But I really couldn't see any difference in color, although it did leave a residue on my hair making it very stiff. But maybe it was too soon to color. If I didn't throw out the bottles I might try it again. 

This is my hairytale from last spring:

<snip>

I finished chemo on 2 Feb 2010, so the first photo was taken at eight weeks and the last one four and a half months PFC. By August I was like an old lady with a really bad perm and I trimmed it for the first time. For those of you who have just finished chemo, once your hair starts growing, you'll never feel it until it really takes off.

lago

Day I have been on biotin for years. I was taking it during chemo too. I am also doing generic women's Rogaine once a day. Typically Rogaine takes 3-6 months to work.

Mary thanks for posting. Your hair looks great.

christine47

MaryNy,

your hair is gorgeous at every stage, thanks so much for the photos.  I am 2/3 thru chemo and hair obsesesed.  Was your hair wavy prior to chemo?  My hair has alway been straight and short, I think curls for a short time might be fun.  I am not ready for grey, but thats what color is for.  Finish chemo end of april and hoping for enough hair to wear ball cap to on vacation to beach at end of June. 

Carrol2

Mary your hair looks great. I think I am somewhere between your 2nd and 3rd photo and I am 14 weeks. Do you now how many weeks apart your photos are? I feel like my hair is growing very slow but just glad it's growing. So far it's pretty straight and salt and pepper. Did you always wear your hair short? Are you keeping it short? 

ugh I can't wait till my grows. I still am wearing hats but it's getting warmer and it will be hard to pull that off soon. 

cc4npg

Mary: I agree your hair is really pretty.  I don't know if you had it actually styled in the last photo, but if you didn't, it looks like it.  Very nice... love the color.

Speaking of color, I'm going to call around and see what my options are for a natural, non chemical, gentle color are.  My hair continues to grow, and there is some dark hair coming in now, but the majority of the top is (as I suspected) white.  True, it would be a lovely color if it were all white, but the sides and back still have color so I might look like a skunk if I don't color.  I'll be posting pictures as soon as I figure out how to.  I know it's not difficult, but I'm trying to get my weekly pics side by side to show growth.  I wonder if I need to shampoo with something special to get the chemicals out of my hair so it doesn't turn green.

MaryNY

Christine: I think if your hair grows in darker than mine, it will look as if you have more of it by end of June and can do the ball cap for a while. If it's a beachside vacation, you would go with a straw hat. My hair was straight prior to chemo. But it came back wavy at first, then developed tight curls. It's staring to straighten out again now. 

Carrol, those are the actual dates below the pictures. I wish now that I took photographs exactly once a week apart. Also I regret not taking even one photograph of my bald head. I really find it hard to remember what I looked like then. I'd encourage you to take photos every week. Much easier to see progress that way.

cc4npg: To post photos in groups, I used the dates in the filenames so they would be sorted that way, then viewed as filmstrip in MS Office Picture Manager, then at bottom of the screen used SnagIt to save in groups. Then posted to Photobucket (or you could use Flickr/Facebook) and copied from there. And no, my hair is not styled in the last one, I just trimmed a little around the ears myself. That's just the way it grew. I didn't have to do anything with it at that stage, just wash and go. It became very unruly after that. 

MBJ

cc4npg:  I found that nothing "takes" on the white, chemo hair.  Glad to hear your natural color is returning.  As hard as it is to do once you start growing in hair, it's best to just cut off the white fuzz.  It's impossible to style or color and cause endless aggravation for me.

Shrek4

My whites do take the color, only in a lighter shade than the rest of the hair, hence the "frosted" effect.

MBJ

Day:  I imagine being blonde works much better then having almost black hair!  It's like getting a bonus weave without having to sit with foil on your hair!

GuyGirl

What a great feeling on Saturday.  I went to my nephews birthday party and he comes running up to me Aunt Ellen you got a haircut.  Boy did that feel good......

MBJ

Guygirl:  That's the best!

kira1234

Boy after looking at Mary's hair it makes me realise how lucky I am my hair is finally coming in at all. It's been 6 months since my 1 chemo treatment, and my hair is only about an inch long. It is very curly, and totally gray.

sling99

My hair is 2 inches long except at the forehead hairline where it only 1 inch long..arrrrgh! What young, hip, trendy hairstyle can I get?