Hair Hair Hair - Another question

pejkug3

Haha - I had someone offer me some shampoo that wasn't working for them.  They claimed it would work great for someone with my hair texture and style.

Um, ok. LOL

My normal hair is really curly.  The wig I was wearing that day was short and straight.

I did tell her that I have no hair.  Then she remembered and we both just laughed.  She couldn't believe that I had a wig!  Seriously?!  That wig was nothing like my normal hair.

LisaGH

Hi! My hair is short short and sparse- definitely not full coverage of my big old head! I just started arimidex- like you my MO wanted me to have a wash out period. I asked to start after the surgery so I would be on the med while I was off work after surgery.

I have had 2 H alone. I don't seem to have a bad time- I do get tired and have a heavy feeling sometimes afterwards.

The permanent implants are so much better than TE. More comfortable (and my kids will hug me again- they wouldn't because of the TE- felt too weird to them). It still feels like not like the real thing- but much better. The TE were tough when they were fully expanded. I look much smaller than w/ the TE- but that's fine w/ me. Not very vain these days w/ all the body image changes BC gives us all.

DO hope the hair will come back soon. I started Nioxin 2 hoping that helps. BIotin is in the multivitamin I take- do look forward to getting my hair back. It didn't bother me much but now I just want hair as the no hair is a neon sign for us all isn't it??

lago

LisaGH I am on both Anastrozole (generic Arimidex) and Herceptin and my hair is growing right on schedule. OMG if my hair starts to grow any faster once I'm off Herceptin I'll need to set up camp outside my hair dresser's salon. Honestly I did not see any difference in hair growth speed once I started Anastrozole. I've been on it since March 1st.

I am taking 5mg of Biotin in addition to what I have in my multivitamin but I took that before BC diagnosis. I also use Minoxidil once a day.

dragonfly1

LisaGH I have a love/hate relationship with the wig too:) I'm so grateful that I can wear it to work and my patients/families/staff have no idea what I'm going through and I appreciate the ease of putting the wig on quickly and having perfect, styled, shiny hair every day. However, now that my real hair is growing, it's getting really hot under there and the wig is never 100% comfortable-it pinches sometimes in places...

SpecialK NO new hair??? Are you sure? Maybe it's because your hair is so light and it's less obvious-let's go with that. My hair is so dark that it looks a lot like Lago's early pics. I'll try to post a pic soon. I have even coverage all over although the top/front started about 2 weeks after the back/sides so it's a little shorter. You can still see my scalp all over but I think with 6 more weeks it should fill in. I'm not using anything-just eating my fruits, veggies and protein during Rads. I'm too scatter-brained to keep up with any more meds at this point and I honestly think it's going to do whatever it wants anyway. What's happening with your eyelashes/eyebrows? Mine keep thinning but are mostly intact-not too noticeable.

sweetcorn

I know about reactions to my hairstyle.  It just depends on who it is who is complimenting my "hairstyle" if I go into the story of the chemo/hair.  I do love the color and the style of the wig, but it is getting kinda ratty at the ends and there is some coming out every day.  I do love the color, and will take it to the hair salon for an exact replica of the color, as soon as possible.  My last chemo was yesterday, so I am ONE DAY PFC!!!

Jane

LtotheK

Lago, sorry to report at 10 months PFC I'm still "peachy".  I don't believe it'll go away, it may get better, but to me it's the hallmark of instant menopause.  I shave it, it's nuts otherwise.

DLL66

Congrats on finishing, sweetcorn!

Here's a link I found useful for keeping wigs looking better longer.

I am now 5 months & still wearing a wig in public. I really, really hate short hair! I thought I would be ecstatic when my hair grew back...yeah...notsomuch... It's a good inch & a half, but it is fug.

lago

LtotheK I asked my onc 2 weeks ago it this was from the Anastrozole/lack of estrogen or chemo. She said it was chemo so I still have hope it will stop. My mom isn't this peachy and she's 73!

LtotheK

I'd be happy if it just "lifted" by about 50%.  Hey, I'm all about negotiations with my body post-BC!

IllinoisNancy

Hi Ladies,

I'm 12 weeks PFC and I came to work without a wig for the first time.  Everyone thinks I look fine and I feel much more comfortable without the fur hat, lol.  I also colored the grey yesterday so the sides matched the top.  I hope all of you feel comfortable enough to go without a head covering soon.  It feels so good:)

dragonfly1

Lago and LtotheK What's this about being peachy? Do you mean to tell me I'm going to develop peach fuzz in other unwanted places as a result of chemo? I don't have this issue yet so when does this start?

lago

I don't know when it started. I was just looking at my closet door (it's a mirror) and the sun was going down behind me. I suddenly realized I was glowing fuzz and lots of it a couple of months ago. It's like baby stuff. Even the hair on my head is just like it was when I was a baby according to my mom. She would try everything to get it not to stick up.

So far no one seems to notice it. You need to be close and the light needs to be intense to get the "glow"

Fitz33

Lago, I know what you mean about peach fuzz.  I didn't even realize the hair on my legs had grown about 1/2" because I would always rub my hand on my legs to feel if they needed to be shaved.  With the peach fuzz it's so downy that I just caught a glimpse of it in the light one day and was shocked that it was so long.  I couldn't even feel it.  Now I have to keep up with the shaving.  Then one day I saw it on my face. 

Still waiting for more hair growth on my head though and one side is now longer than the other.  Hair stylist said hair grows faster on the side you don't sleep on.  Not that I go to a stylist yet but a friend told me that. 

Everyone, my wig hair is falling out too.  I can't believe sometimes it falls in my eyes and it's not even my real hair. 

joystars

Hello everyone! I haven't post in a very long long time but here I am because I feel like I need to share this with you all. During chemo treatment I was really unhappy about loosing my hair. I started to wear a wig which I pretty much learned to love after a while (I even put a pet name on it) and this wig also got two haircuts during the 7 months I wore it. I got compliments on it and everyone thought it was my real hair.

Now, three weeks ago I decided it was about time to move on and leave all the "cancer" thing behind (if possible). I'm healthy as a healthy person can be after the big battle we all had, I have the scars of this cruel battle with me but one of them already started to fade... the bald head. 

Hair has been on a good length to be out without a wig since weeks ago, but I was not sure if I was really ready to go out like that. Insecurity I guess... but the lately warm weather in Oslo made me change my mind. I got a "haircut" to give a bit of shape and colour to my new hair.

This photo was taken last week, is 15 weeks PFC and I'm with my beautiful baby (who was a premmie baby because of my cancer) who is 7 months old and perfectly healthy.

The reason I'm posting this is because I want to tell to all those women who are going thru chemo right now, to all those who are starting to see the big chunks of hair falling, the bald spots here and there... I want to tell you that yes, there is light at the end of this tunnel. Hair will grow back (in very rare cases it does not) but hair will come back... and health too.

Last year was a big roller coaster of emotions and fears, this year came with better colors and I'm finally enjoying my new mom stage  

Yep, I gained some kilos because I started chemo right after delivery and because while on it I literally ate out all the time to avoid nausea but never threw up once. Tamoxifen is not helping on this matter eaither... but that's another story, I'm happy, healthy and enjoying my summer like I did not last year

Cheers to everyone and keep fighting the good fight!

LtotheK

Dragonfly, don't borrow problems!  You may never get it.  I wish I could say when I noticed mine...but it was late during chemo and I realized in the light I had a beard.

bdavis

I am 9 weeks post chemo (almost 10) and no facial hair

lago

joystars You look amazing and happy.

carberry

joystars   Congrats to you on your beautiful little girl.  Your short hair suits you.  Just picked up my daughter from bus station from NYC and we went to the mall and shopped till we dropped.  Daughters are soooo much fun!!

stlcardsfan

I too got the peach fuzz on my face. I stopped the biotin that I was taking, and finally resorted to shaving my face. I used an electric razor and didn't press to hard. After the third time it stopped growing so fast. Now, it looks like it used to before all this crazy stuff started. I did also get some dark chin hairs, more than I had before, and did a few sessions of laser hair removal. That took care of that problem

15 months PFC - have cut my bangs three times now! I figured when I cut them, the curl would go away. No such luck. Humid St. Louis weather doesn't help much either! 

stlcardsfan

Looking good Joystars - and cute baby too!

dragonfly1

LtotheK No worries-I'm too busy studying my head to notice the peach fuzz anyway but I was curious about it...

Joystars Wow! You look amazing...Thanks for sharing the picture and your progress is very encouraging. Love your hair:)

YaYa5

could someone please tell me what 'PFC" means?  thanx.

YaYa5

joystars, WOW!  i think your hair is fabulous and as someone said, it seems to fit your personality. it's a beautiful picture of momma and her precious little girl.

dragonfly1

PFC=post final chemo

Carrol2

joystars you look great and the baby is adorable so good to see you are healthy and happy.

Claire82

Hi

The picture of me is 14 months after chemo. Last July I was bald. It's so thick and curly. I love it!

I feel practically back to me!

SpecialK

dragonfly - Yes, no new hair.  Just the old strange hair which is growing.  I have evenly sparse coverage, if that makes any sense, no real bald spots and the hair is a mix of gray and I'm not sure.  My eyebrows are OK - only slightly thinner, but still even.  Eyelashes are a mess.  Upper lashes have several areas of no lashes, am camoflauging with eyeliner.  I am mascara-ing them, but I seem to have some normal ones and then naked areas and then clumps of lashes.  Bottom lashes are pretty much history.  Totally camoflauging with eyeliner, not even trying to mascara them.  I figure why highlight the 3 lashes I have.  I had my second H only today.  They repeated my CA 27/29, so fingers crossed by everyone it comes out normal so I can stop thinking about it.  Won't find anything out until Monday because it is a send-out lab from their office.  Tomorrow is my pre-op for the TE replacement.  BTW, DD is skydiving tomorrow.  I hope they don't take my BP at the pre-op tomorrow - it might be high.  She is going right at the same time as my appt.  I asked MO about the muscle soreness after the first H only 3 weeks ago. He says it is still Taxotere wreckage, not from H. On a happy note - my arm pain seems to be getting better, so yay!

hdangelbaby

joystars!!!

you look divine!! i'm 30 also, and rocking the short hair too. i love big headbands then spiking my hair behind it, and wearing big earrings!

jancie

PFC - actually means Post F*#%$^ing Chemo.  At least back in 2009 that is what we referred to PFC on this thread.   "Final" is too nice of a word for chemo

It is so hard to be patient waiting for your hair to grow but the good news is that yes...it does grow back.  Not necessarily the same color, texture, or thickness.

I have more hair now than ever and it is not as baby fine as before.  My hair is pretty much the same as far as how it curls and straightens so in that way I am very fortunate and yes....the curls do relax as (1) time goes on and (2) hair gets longer but typically it can take up to 18 months for your hair to go back to the same curl/straightness it was pre-chemo.

dragonfly1

SpecialK I wonder if you are not noticing so much hair growth because you still had a lot of hair left during chemo and it makes it hard to see the change. For me, I buzzed it all off one last time 2 weeks after the last chemo to get rid of the weird stuff because I didn't have much anyway. As a result, the growth is very dramatic and my hair is very dark so as it's growing in it's very noticeable. I'll post a pic as soon as I get time...I can't believe that you are not going skydiving with your DD (HA! HA!) I'm convinced that my skydive on 6/18 stimulated my hair growth Let us know about the re-test on your CA 27/29-it has to be a lab error...