Hair Hair Hair - Another question

jbokland

Feb 2014 and September 2014.   Almost back to where I started!  (Almost .....)

IamNancy

when my hair came back it was so dark black and had a lot of body and some curls -so easy to fix .. I really loved it. but  today I dyed my hair .. its the first time in 2 yrs I have done that... and the chemo curls are gone and my old hair is back...its straight, not a lot of body but its my hair... and Saturday my hairdresser is gonna put some highlights in my hair.

Lorbgoo

sherry I get my wigs at a store near my home. Ordering them online is a good option too. 

Everyone's hair looks great.  Loved the new cut and regrowth. I feel like I will never want to cut my hair again. 

My hair is starting to curl. Same as it did before. 

SharonDe

You all look beautiful!  I've been following along this thread, a little frustrated that my hair seems slow to come in (now 14 weeks PFC), but not wanting to whine too much.  I thought I'd get a little extra help from a friend (note, hair coverage on my head is a little thicker than it looks in the photo):

Allydp

Lisa, Jb, Lorbgoo - you are all looking beautiful! I can't wait to be that far out.

For those using Rogaine - do you use the men's formula? And how many times a day do you apply it? To wet or dry hair? I've read so many conflicting things. 

Allydp

I have another question for you ladies. Have any of you tried Toppik hair building fibers? I'm 11 weeks PFC and I would love to go topless, but I still have a small area of thinner hair on top. These fibers look like they could fill it in pretty well. I'm thinking of getting the travel size for 7 bucks and trying it out, but was curious if anyone here had experience with it. 

http://www.toppik.com/application

WinningSoFar

If I could redirect the hair on my legs to my head, I'd be good to go.  Now, why is that?

noonrider

I was in the study for the women's Rogain 5%. It didn't get FDA approval because women didn't grow hair any better on the 5% than they did on the 2%. That said, the two percent women's formula should be used twice a day, on a clean dry scalp. (according to manufacturer instructions and that is what we were instructed to do in the study.)  If you decide to use the men's 5% formula you can use it just once a day and get the same response as you would twice per day of the women's formula. 

If you're using the women's formula you achieve hair growth, once the density is no longer changing you can drop to once per day and not loose your hair. If you stop completely you will loose the regrowth that you had. 

I am using the women's formula twice per day. Before chemo I had moderate female pattern baldness. Two weeks after my last chemo I shaved my head for the last time. (got rid of all the weird stubble that falls out about the 2 week mark anyway.) I started using Rogain that same week. Under normal circumstances, using it when have a full head of hair, it takes a good 2-3 months before you notice a difference because you can't see the regrowth very easily. But using it on my bald head, I've now been using it for 9 weeks. My hair is significantly thicker than it was before chemo. I would say it has even density/distribution all the way around my head. But Rogain has a greasy feel to it, so once I think I'm ready to move to the maintenance stage I will probably move to the men's 5% formula once per day. 

Allydp

BosumBlues and Noonrider - thank you so much! I'm thrilled to hear you've had such great results! 

Noonrider - I too had mild female pattern baldness prior to chemo. Hearing that your hair is thicker than before chemo gives me so much hope. You mentioned once you achieve your desired thickness, you plan to drop down to the men's once a day. Does that mean you feel using the women's twice a day is more effective? I was considering starting out with the men's once a day and then dropping down long-term to the women's once a day. But if you feel it's more effective to use it twice a day, I'll go that route. Thanks again. 

noonrider

The twice a day with women's 2% is what is recommended for women. The dermatologist hair loss specialist I go to is the one who suggested dropping to the mens 5% once a day. She said actually I could do that at any time, but I just decided to stick with the women's formula. Right now my hair is about 1/2 - 3/4 inch long so the greasiness of the rogain doesn't bother me, but once I have length I don't like that greasy feeling. That is why I'll switch. 

lago

The Walgreen's generic brand isn't greasy.

IamNancy

BosumBlues, I lost the curls after about 10 mths .. I was getting regular haircuts -trims .. if I hadn't gotten it cut, I would probably still have curls but eventually my own straight hair would have made the top flat..

noonrider

If only I would think to take these pictures during the day when my husband can help me instead of the middle of the night when I have to do it myself. LOL Anyway, I took these tonight. I am 11 weeks PFC. My hair is about 1/2 - 3/4 inch long. You can't tell in this lighting but the sides are all salt and pepper. They were not pre-chemo. The top is mostly dark. It has come in pretty evenly all around. Even my thin area on the crown (I had female pattern baldness pre-cancer) is about the same density as the rest of my head. Also, you can't tell in this picture but the hairs on top of my head are starting to bend. Maybe they will curl? Who knows! LOL And see my eyebrows are back now too! 

jbokland

noonrider- your hair looks great...and soft !

IamNancy

wow-noonrider - its really coming back nice!

 

 

HomeMom

Noonrider it looks great! 4 weeks PFC and I'm all white fuzzies with more and more looking like white hair. I had thinning around the bangs area pre dx and it looks like that area is coming in much slower. When did you start the Rogain?

Bow1965

5.5 weeks PFC - not much, but it's coming! Using the Nioxin products and massaging with pure coconut oil twice a day. 

Bow1965

Wow noonrider, your hair is growing so fast! And I have eyebrow envy - never had much for eyebrows before chemo, so my expectations remain low. I didn't even notice that they had fallen out - same with my eyelashes until I tried to put on mascara, what a mess that was lol.

tucker3

I have just two eyelashes that have remained with me on this journey so far. Can't do a thing with them, but somehow they have become very important to me! LOL!

HomeMom

Bow - looks good.  I have the Nioxin products, including step 3 the scalp therapy. When do you use the coconut oil?

Another note: I went in the back yard today and could feel the wind in the little hairs lol

IamNancy

this is me when my hair was starting to come back -so dark .. and here I am almost 11 months later (today) and many trims later finally able to get highlights..

Bow1965

homemom, morning at night on the coconut oil, I wear a little nightcap still so it doesn't make a mess. I also let it soak in before I put in my skullcap and wig in the morning, which it am still wearing for work (I'm really quite over the wig, but not enough hair to go naked yet!) Someone on my June thread recommended massaging my head, so I do that too - don't know if it's contributing to my hair growth, but it feels good so what the hell. 

Nancy, I love your hair color! Thanks for the inspiring pictures, I can hardly wait to have that much (styled!) hair! 

WinningSoFar

Nancy, you're beautiful and that is in both pictures. 

HomeMom

Bow thanks. You started not much more time before I did. Actually almost the same time. I was dx end of March and started chemo begining of June

Another note. I went out in my backyard today and it was a little breezy. I could feel it going through my "hair"  

noonrider

Yep, me too. Diagnosed March 21st, started chemo May 15th and finished July 17th. SO GLAD to be done with that.

IamNancy

Bow - thank you..

HomeMom

noonrider - you have a lot more hair then I do, but you're also like 3-4 weeks ahead of me. I didn't finish chemo until 4 weeks ago. I'm hoping I look like you in a couple weeks LOL

Lorbgoo

noonrider and nancy y'all look great!

Yurmani

You ladies look great!  I'm behind you all but I'll catch up! Starting chemo this friday. Already have a "Bald is beautiful", (since "hey yall join me to whack my hair off since it's all going to fall out" didn't sound as festive! Lol) party scheduled for next week. Hair was the biggie for me since hubby loves long hair. Oh well guess we can't always get what we want! Can't wait to be on the other side of chemo and feeling the wind through my fuzz too! You all are an inspiration! Noonrider you and I have almost the same diagnosis and treatment. Mine was a grade 3 and Oncotype score was 36. I had the lumpectomy as well but am wondering if I should've done the mastectomy with reconstruction.  May I ask what prompted you to go that direction later? Nervous if this returns after chemo and rads that I won't be able to have recon done.  Im 45 yrs old and was blind-sided by this whole thing! Guess I'm second-guessing and looking for others viewpoints and opinions.  Thank you all so much for the photos and showing your beauty to us coming behind you!

noonrider

A couple of things influenced my decision to do the BMX. The biggest is that I have 5 kids at home who have Down syndrome. My kids will be in my home for many years to come and they need a mom here more than anything. Four of my kids are newly adopted and just got a mom! I can't imagine them loosing me when their lives are just starting to become stable. If I was diagnosed with cancer 5 years from now I would be saying, "If only I'd had that mastectomy". Also, I didn't have to do rads if I did the mastectomy because I already had chemo. Mostly it was for own piece of mind. I know it is not a 100% guarantee, but I want to be as close to 100% as I can get. And, I just found out a few days ago that if you have given birth to a child with Down syndrome after age 30 your risk of breast cancer goes up significantly due to the prolonged exposure to high HCG levels. I cannot take tamoxifen so ultimately with all things considered that puts my risk of recurrence around 30%. Too high for me to be comfortable. BMX is a coin toss for me. I choose to treat my cancer aggressively and know I did everything I could with the information I have. If I develop cancer again down the road I won't have regrets of "if only I'd done x".