Hair Hair Hair - Another question

MinusTwo

LesSpring - I got my RX for Latisse filled at WalMart and it was $160 for a TINY bottle.  It was originally developed for glaucoma & I think insurance will cover for that only.  During my 9 months of chemo (extended for 2nd round of different poisons)  I used it on my lashes & brows every day - one drop in the lid & brush on.  I'm pretty sure I ended up using 3 bottles.  I never lost all my lashes or my brows although they got thin a few times.  I can't even imagine how much you'd have to use & spend to cover hair growth on the head.

Notbuyingit

thanks!, MM -yes, i did color - but i was actually sorry i did - so i am going to grow out the white/gray again - almost ready for another shape-up trim. My daughter's wedding was in July so i was anxious to have hair for that! Still haven't got pictures...

hang in there, ladies!!

noonrider

In order for Latisse to be used on the whole head it would need a different diluent and formulation. I did find several hair loss websites that were selling it off label for use on the scalp. They were recommending mixing it with something else. I can't remember what. Might have been Nioxin. 

jbokland

I bought my Latisse from the PS.  175 for the 'larger' bottle. 

I use it religiously every night and the lashes are nice ant thick, the length  is coming along.  I think if I used mascara now, it wouldn't do much because the lashes are not long enough to start curling up.

My eyebrows came in with a vengeance.   but so has the white peach fuzz on my face!

HomeMom

Note to self - ask PS about Latisse

Kite

I used Nutraluxe Lash MD. Works wonderfully!! $40. Takes about 10 days to see results. Also using Hair Surge $50 for my slow growing hair. Went from having very sparse light coverage to almost fully covered in 2 weeks. 

HomeMom

Kite where did you get these things?

HomeMom

Kite I see these on Amazon. What size did you get and when did you start using them? I have two more Taxol treatments then rads. 

Kite

Home mom-- I got the smallest bottle, not sure of the ounces at the moment. (I'm not at home)

I began using the Hair Surge a month ago. I was becoming very discouraged about my hair growth and in a week I was impressed how much more was coming in. The lash enhancer was something I got about a year ago. I have small thin lashes to begin with so I picked some up to see if it worked. Within 10 days or so my lashes touched my eyebrows with mascara on. 

HomeMom

Kite I went ahead and ordered both on Amazon. I guess I will wait until I'm done with Chemo to start using them. Thanks!

Lisaj514

new hair update. 4 months PFC. And I'm liking it! and got my first compliment from a stranger. A young stylish, pretty waitress said she liked my "haircut"! I just said thank you, and then got tears in my eyes. And yes, I had curly hair before, so it's normal for me. Just not gray (well I colored it so maybe it was this gray before)and so short. My family says to keep it like this

birdlady222

Beautiful, Lisa!  Love the curls!  Mine was straight before, and it is coming in curly.  I don't know what to do with it, so I just put on a little gel and let the curls hang.  I am hoping when it grows out I can get it cut into a "style".  I have to admit that having curls is easier :-)

Bow1965

Lisa, thanks for posting your photo and time PFC - I think it's so important to see progress while in the midst of treatment! I will do the same & post my hair photos as it grows in - I have my last dose dense Taxol next week and I have a bit of stubble already. Lisa, yours looks great - something for me to look forward to, a pixie by Christmas.

HomeMom

Lisa that looks great! I can see the difference for sure. I look at my head and see stubble spread out but I never lost all of my hair so I don't know if it is the hair that never fell out, or replacement hair. It is extremely short and I had my head buzzed (not shaved) the second week of June. My hair normally always grew fast. Two to three weeks after a hair cut I would have issues getting it to fall right because it would have grown out some. I'm hoping the stubble is new!

KAT4856

Allydp,

When I started to get my hair it came back thick in the back of my head, than went to the sides and finally it filled in on the top. The top was definitely slower than all the rest. It has been 4 1/2 months since I finished chemo. The top of my hair has filled in completely no holes showing but it is still somewhat shorter than the back and sides of my hair. Don't know why it comes in like this but it all fills in after awhile. So don't worry you will get hair on the top of your head!! LOL

Karen

HomeMom

I went to my weekly sales meeting and one of the women who hadn't seen me in a while commented on my hair/wig. She was like "Oh I love what you did to your hair, I love the color!" Then she asked like three questions in a row, one of which was if she could touch it! I ignored that question and answered the others - When did you do that? Do you love it"? I bet it's cooler!

oy vay.

IamNancy

Lisa - so cute ... glad you are liking it as it really looks nice and stylish..

Lisaj514

birdlady, glad you're liking the curls. I have learned to accept my hair (always had curly hair) and using a good curly hair gel and just using your fingers to shape it is exactly the right thing to do. I don't have quite enough hair yet to gel and scrunch, but soon!

Bow1965, I thought I'd never get hair and now I keep taking pictures and looking in the mirror to make sure I really do have hair, and it's so different in color and length. I had basically no growth for 4 weeks PFC so this is 3 months of growth. You will definitely have a cool hairstyle by christmas, probably before!

Homemom, sounds like you will get fast growth as you are seeing some regrowth already. The hair comes in so fine and almost colorless (like the hair on your arms) in the beginning.

Iamnancy, thanks, looks like you are a curly hair lady too. Was it always curly? But yours is dark

It's still fine and thin but I'm loving having hair. I feel kind of modern and edgy (I'm thinking annie lennox) and it's great for the summer. And I love earrings and now they all show. Big earrings look really good with short hair

jbokland

looks great Lisa!!! I too have a slight wave.  Not sure what to do with it, but I am forever grateful for it!!!

noonrider

My hair was nearly black and stick straight. Right now I have peach fuzz that is either colorless or white, I can't tell. So far it s standing straight off my head. It catches the light and looks like chicken pin feathers. LOL I'm praying for curls. And I don't even care if my hair is white, I just want MORE hair than I had pre chemo. I know this is unrealistic, but I'm still hanging onto that hope. ;-)

Our social worker who did our adoption home studies had straight blonde hair. When we were doing our 3rd adoption she was going through chemo for BC and was bald. Then a year later (January 2014) we were working on our 4th adoption. Her hair was back. It was the same color but now in ringlets and about chin length. 

Another friend of mine went through chemo 3 years ago. Original hair was straight, new hair has remained curly. She found this book to be very helpful in learning  how to manage curls. http://www.amazon.com/Curly-Girl-Handbook-Michele...

Deborahanne

Lisa - your hair is looking great!!! I need to take an updated picture as my hair is getting longer. It's now possible to wear it over my ears.  :-) 

lespring - thanks for the book suggestion!  I hope I can get the hair style of the girl on the cover! 

I've learned a lot about curly hair online. The main rule is DON'T use a hairbrush unless you want a "puffy look". Water is what helps the most. If my hair is getting too puffy because I've been running my fingers through it (something I do when reading), I just lightly wet my hair and the curls return beautifully! 

IamNancy

Lisa - I had straight hair before all this and brown... it came back wavy n curly and very dark black... I've had it cut many times this year to keep it short and manageable ... so its sorta straight again but has lots of body.. and is mostly black and is now sporting some gray too.....funny thing is, I cannot get bangs -it grows straight back and no matter what I do I can't have bangs..

HomeMom

I have had to wear a sleep cap at night the entire time because of the stubbies. I have two more Taxol, I wonder if they will fall out. Hope not. I have spots where there is no hair at all and the stubs are dark and some are grey just like my hair was. If I run my hand up the back of my head, I can feel more hair at the bottom and some small clusters around the crown of my head. Very weird. No fuzzies, no chicken fuz looking stuff, just stubbies.

noonrider

I kept the stubble shaved off otherwise it drove me crazy. I told my husband, "If you want to know if you have OCD, just go through chemo and have your hair fall out." I was constantly picking to see if anything was falling out, or feeling the stubble, or - now that its coming back in - I'm always finding my hands on my head looking for hair. LOL

HomeMom

Crazy isn't it? I saw  a longer white "hair" on the top of my head while putting my make up on one morning. It couldn't have been 1/2 inch long but I was excited! I haven't been able to find it since. It may have been a fuzz or something from my towel! 

Kite

I love reading this thread! I never see any bald people and always feel alone but I come on here and immediatly I feel so much better! Thank you to each of you. 

I was struggling about a month ago with my hair and it taking so long to come in. It's been fuzzy and not even like real hair. I have started using "Hair Surge" I don't know if it's helping or the hair has decided to grow but I do finally have coverage. I'm 13 PFC. The first time I went through losing my hair it came back quick, full and wavy. It wasn't slow, sparse, and fuzzy. 

Anyway here are some pics.... I want to know your opinions. Would you go too less if your head looked like mine?? Be honest, I can take it!! 8))

It's also way darker then my natural color.

Lisaj514

kite, that's just where I was when I started going topless "most" of the time. I found restaurants and grocery stores to be cold so brought a cap. Stick one in your purse and you can put it on if feeling uncomfortable in certain situations, that's what I did. You'll be able to slowly get used to it. You have dark hair so at least it shows. I just looked like I had a white fuzzy halo for a while. You are beautiful, you have great cheekbones and you also have eyebrows (!) and it looks like pretty blue eyes!! Wear some great earrings, some pretty eye makeup to accentuate your pretty eyes, and you'll look gorgeous! You already do!

HomeMom

I just bought the hair surge and the eye lash MD you recommended. I will let you know if it works for me! I think if you went from fuzzy to that in 2-3 weeks that's amazing!

KAT4856

Kite

That's exactly how my hair was on the top all fuzzy the first six weeks of growth. Now it's been about a month longer and it does not have any fuzzy at all straight and thick. I have about 1 inch and I am almost five months since the end of my chemo. What I use which I do not know if it helps but it seems to is Protein Powder. My brother who is a health nut insisted I try it and I believe it has helped with thickness.   I thick the hair on top is fuzzy because it is the last hair to come in. At least for me it was I had a lot on the back and sides and than the top came in. You look great just tell yourself at least I have hair!! LOL

Karen

Kite

Lisa and Kat-- Thanks for the kind words and encouragement! I appreciate it so much. 8) I think I will start slow like you said Lisa. Baby steps. I am told a lot my face is good for the short hair so maybe I should start believing it too! Lol. 

Homemom- I am so glad you got the shampoo and eyelash enhancer! Let me know for sure how it goes for you. I follow the directions exactly. They aren't difficult but I wanted to make sure I was doing everything I could. 

Again thanks ladies for the kind words! I've been in a slump and I'm slowly climbing out. It helps so much to feel cared for and supported!