Hair Hair Hair - Another question

schatzi14

I am 4 months PFC and it is as straight as a pin...used to be wavy. I am enjoying it anyway...easy to shampoo and go. I pretend it's a charcoal pixie (shag) cut! I need some more in the front tho.

radioactivegirl

Hi Ladies!

I am new here . . . well, relatively new to cancer/chemo.  I had my first AC chemo on 5/16 and my hair is mostly gone now.  I am curious to know when my eyebrows and eyelashes will fall out.  Does everyone lose their eyebrows/eyelashes?

Thanks :-)  

lago

Radioactive mine thinned but I never lost them till 5 weeks AFTER my last treatment. I think the new hairs pushed the old ones out. I think my eyebrows and lashes were on a different schedule than my chemo so I was one of the lucky ones.

Rocket

Mine also fell out after chemo. Unfortunately they fell out three times AFTER my last chemo treatment over several weeks. I now have eyebrows and lashes, but they are much thinner than they used to be.

dltnhm

Radioactive - similar to Iago ... lago

I had AC DD 4x's and then a three week break and then started weekly Taxol. My brows started thinning about 5 weeks (between my second and third weekly Taxol) and I've always kept some of them - lost more on the outside than inside.

My lashes started going first on the bottom outside and then upper outside and then just sporadic. When I was down to just a couple on top I actually pulled them out. I was just about a week or so before my new ones started coming in. I have all my bottom lashes and they actually look fuller than before - albeit they are albino hairs ;-) My top ones are growing in also .... and they all came in together ... or seemed to do that. They are still growing ... about half the length of my normal eyelashes. 

I feel quite fortunate to have this happen this way. I've heard sometimes women lose them twice on Taxol or right after. That remains to be seen. My Taxol goes through July 11th.

schatzi14

Radioactive...welcome...sorry you have to be here but you will be extremely glad you found us when you have questions. We have an answer for everything. LOL Not always the same one but we try!

Like lago, mine fell out after chemo AND radiation...I am 16 weeks PFC and 6 weeks after rads and the brows are still not completely full. The lashes are OK tho. As you wait for your hair to grow back, you will learn patience because you have no choice. Not everyone loses all their lashes and brows but most do.

Myleftboob

radioactive girl

Mine eyelashes and eyebrows thinned alot during chemo but I never completly lost either.  About 3 weeks PFC my right brow lost some. I've gotten pretty good with an eyebrow pencil and then top it off with a bit of eyeshadow. I notice a few new ones poking through now. I'm now 6 weeks PFC.

schatzi14

robo47...did you get a rash with Nair? I am going nuts with this white fuzz...I am scared to do anything to get rid of it in case it comes back even worse! I think I will wait and see what happens with you. OK?  LOL

schatzi14

But what about regrowth? That is my concern.

Ossa

Radioactive.. welcome... I also lost mine about five weeks after treatment

summergirl1

ok ladies need some encouragement , I am now 5 mths PFC and am looking very much like bozo the clown LOL, my hair is growing back but upwards and outwards its not curly but very wavey and it is so uncontrolable at the moment, I had very long hair before chemo, I want it long again , I am still wearing my wig and so sick of people saying why dont you ditch that wig well they havent seen whats underneath its a mess and Im getting so depressed, approx how long do you think it will be until it gets to shoulder length its about 3 inches now , I feel like hiding in a closet for the next year , I have looked at some of your photos and they all look great  

Sandyland

Summergirl ~ I think it depends on whether or not you have "fast growing" hair.  My hair has always grown crazy fast, but I've often taken Biotin, Folic Acid and/or Juice Plus, which helps with hair & nails.  I think the rule of thumb for hair growth is like an inch a month.  My hair was super long at the time I was diagnosed and I'm trying to get back to that too.  Good luck to both of us!

Robo ~ Hey girl!  Nair?  Seriously??  Regular Nair of a special kind for your face?  If it works, I'm all over it.  I'm gonna get something tomorrow.

Radioactivegirl ~ I was a textbook chemo case.  I had TAC (Taxotere, Adriamycin & Cytoxin all at once) and they told me to watch for my hair to fall out days 14-17 on my first round.  Literally, on day 14 it started and by day 17 it was gone.  I kept my eyebrows until about round 3, when they started to thin.  I lost them completely by round 6.  Same with my eyelashes...totally gone before my last (6th) round of chemo.  My eyebrows came back really quickly, like within weeks of finishing chemo, but my poor little eyelashes are still kinda sparse.  I'm now 3 months PFC and they are growing in slowly and sticking straight out, instead of curving up like they used to.  Oh well, all things considered...it's not too bad.  Everything seems to be growing back in some fashion.

SAN

Rockym

Radioactive, eyebrows thinned a lot about 6 weeks PFC.  I also lost most of my lashes at the same time.  I thought I was going to be lucky since my eyes looked beautiful during and even after chemo until the loss began :-(.  Eyebrows came back within a few weeks, but they are much softer and a bit lighter then before.  Lashes just seemed to come in shortly after.

robo, I also want to do a Rip Van Winkle.  My hair was my pride and joy and such a big part of my identity.  I haven't had self esteem issues since I was a teen and here I am almost 48 feeling self conscience.  There are so many times when I kick myself for doing the chemo and then other times I remind myself that if I didn't, my life could have been in danger.  Funny thing is I never felt in danger from the cancer and even felt over treated.

Well, what's done is done.

DivineMrsM

summergirl, 3 inches is quite a lot of hair.  Pehaps it's time you went to a good hairstylist and got a slight trim to have your hair shaped.  It also sounds like you could try some different products to help control your hair.  I continue to use hair gel, paste, wax, clay, glue and freeze spray.  Maybe not all of them every day but at least three or four products to get my hair to look nice.  I started going without the wig when I only had about 1/4 inch of hair.  I can't imagine trying to squeeze three inches of hair under a wig all summer long due to how hot it gets.

I will be posting some photos soon of my hair growth process. 

lago

I do believe hair grows on average at about 1/2" a month. I have fast growing hair so I might be more like 3/4" per month. 1" per month is really fast.

goldie0827

This is a pic from our wedding. That is George and his wife, she is a teacher at a Catholic school, affiliated with their church.

Janet_M

Summergirl - 

I can relate to people saying 'ditch the wig'.  But I've found that people always have something to say about our hair no matter what we do.  I did ditch my wig. My hair was starting to come in, and once it started to come in the wig felt excessive - like wearing snow pants. Still, I didn't like the way I looked (grandpa) so I dyed it, and everybody had a comment about that. Since it's so short and dark I wear a hat (Ken Doll) whenever I'm out in public. And - guess what - everybody wants to talk about the hat. I just went back to work, and I'm told to 'take the hat off' several times a day.

But- 3" is a lot of hair! I'm not encouraging you to go full Bozo, but I bet a stylist could work it into something lovely. I saw your avatar - you're  pretty - and I bet you'd look fabulous with short hair.

I long to return to normal. I literally dream about putting my hair up. But 'normal' is a work in progress, so in the meantime you have to do what makes you feel comfortable, and work with what you've got. Of course (in my case) that may include the occasional crying fit, but thats' part of 'normal too'.

Jen78

Hmmm...so curls may still be in my future. I started googling hair extensions yesterday as I'm getting impatient to start feeling like my old self. I found a video of a girl who got them just a couple months PFC with just about 1/2 - 1 inch of her own hair.



I kept my eyebrows and lashes through chemo. My lashes started thinning after, but were hanging in there. I woke up from my mastectomy and it was like they'd waxed me! The tape over my eyes took the bulk of my brows and lashes with it when it was pulled off. Thankfully, they've grown back fast!!!

Momine

They tape your eyes during surgery???

Sandyland

Lago ~ Yeah, I might be off on that inch a month thing...I was going based on my own experience and I've been told by every sylist I've ever known, how fast my hair grows.  I'm grateful for this fact right now, except that my "monkey face" hair has ALSO grown at this rate!! Ahhhhh!

Momine ~ Yes, they often tape your eyes during surgey.  I hated the thought of that.  That and the tube down my throat.  I don't remember either, since I was asleep, but I hated the thought of it :-\

SAN

Momine

Sandy, I had no idea about the tape, seems weird, but I guess it is so your eyes do not dry out. I don't like the throat tube either, lol.

silviazara

My hair grows slowly.. it's been 8 weeks PFC and only now I can see some darker shadow. It's hard to tell though, since I never lost all my hair, it's just thinned a lot especially on the top and front. So I am having a hard time searching through hair for the new baby hair, they seem to be very fine. Eyelashes and brows are filling in.. never lost them either.

Sandy - 1 inch a month seems really crazy speed. Great for us chemo ladies, but I can imagine how upsetting it must be after spending few hundred dollars for a cut and color and be due back in just a few weeks. ;-)

Sandyland

Yeah, I always considered it a bit of a nightmare...now, my perspective has changed.  If I went 6 weeks between appointments to get my regrowth highlighted, I was pushing it.  Usually every 5 weeks.  Now, I have nothing BUT regrowth (mostly gray at that) and I'm happy for it!!

SAN

lago

You can go every 5 weeks! Before chemo my hair was longer. After 3 weeks I would have to touch up my part just to get to 5 weeks. Now that my hair is short I cut & color every 3 weeks. It gets pretty shabby looking.

Even when my hair was growing back after chemo it seemed to grow fast… and I was still doing herceptin. I noticed it sped up after herceptin ended even though it was fall. Now if only my eyebrows and nails grew… Oh wait, careful what you wish for.

Myleftboob

I'm around the 1/2 per month as far as growth normally.  I could easily get away with a trim and touch up every 8 weeks because I had a shoulder length hair including the bangs.  The streaks helped hide the growth.  I was speaking to my sister yesterday about her son's upcoming wedding and while a date hasn't been formally chosen they're thinking about September 2013.  I said "good, I might just have a full head of hair by then!"

Sandyland

Leftboob ~ My niece gets married on July 6th...a month from now.  Waaaaaay back in September when she got engaged, and I was only 1 month since my BC diagnosis.  I said, "Oh July is 10 months from now.  I'll probably be through chemo and have hair again!"  Ahhhh, the days of naivete and oblivion.

SAN

Myleftboob

Sandy

Notice I said "might" LOL!  I also "might" go for hair extensions too depending on how things grow.

onvacation

Yea isn't it funny that now everything is - well I should have some hair by then!  LOL  Oh well, I am seeing some peach fuzzy growth and I still have 2 treatments left.  Noticed this morning a couple of bare spots on my lashes, hope they hold on!  I already have to pencil in the tail of my brows.  Funtimes of BC eh?!

Sandyland

Onvacation ~ I found an eyebrow trick.  After several weeks of "penciling" them in, I realized I looked like one of the Angry Birds :-\  I now use a nice soft brown eyeshadow, applied with a firm, small brush.  Like the kind you would use to put lipstick on.  Works like a charm and is WAY less obnoxious looking

SAN

onvacation

Thanks San - will give it a try!