Hair Hair Hair - Another question

bareclaws

I know I could still lose it again, but so far, so good. It feels strong and I brush it and massage my scalp vigorously.

Midwest_Laura

Looking great, Bareclaws!!!

Dianarose

Looking good Bareclaws! I had my sideburns shaped today. They were looking like fuzzy wings.

seq24

Well I did it! I am on day 4 without the wig. Had to take a short road trip at the beginning of the week and there was no way I was going to wear the uncomfortable skull crushing wig so I went without. My dad told me I need to keep my hair this way, that he liked it. Fat chance!!! I'm going today to get it colored and to see if it can be trimmed into somewhat of a style although there's not much to work with. Will post photos later. The wig has been my security blanket but quite honestly it was starting to look and feel very unnatural, even though it was human hair. My own hair still looks pretty bad in my opinion but although short, it's my own hair and my head is no longer bald. Going on vacation in a week and a half. Very excited to get away and think about something besides cancer for once.

mistyeyes

bareclaws- Your hair is growing in so nice and evenly. It looks great!

seq- I am glad that you are going on your vacation, It will be great to have fun and relax. I am also glad that you are feeling more comfortable with your own hair. It must feel like such a great relief to be headed on the "back to normal" road.

Snowfall

Way to go, Seq24! Major accomplishment! I'm so glad you're over that hurdle. Better days ahead

coachvicky

All,

I know cancer and chemo suck ... BUT not having leg or underarm hair to shave is really great to me. I sure hope it does not come back to those areas!

Coach Vicky

lrwells50

Well, got my hair buzzed this afternoon, and I'm here to tell you 3/4" is short! I haven't colored it in 2 months, so all that was cut off. It's not as gray as I was afraid it would be, so when it grows back I'll stop coloring it

Midwest_Laura

Good for you, Seq.  I'm glad to hear that you are freeing your self from that cranial burden.  What a great way to welcome in the Summer!

12paws

I went through US security the other week with a close fitting thin beanie on and did not have to take it off, nor have any trouble re looking different to my passport photo. I told the security person I had no hair and asked if I could not remove my hat and they were fine with it.

You are not being whiny at all. It's bloody awful this hair business. I totally understand. I'm consumed by my lack of hair and it's ruining my days. I just want it to be over too.

coachvicky

About Coloring ...

I don't mine the grey hair but the white is so not me.

I bought a soft black color and a pull thru cap. DH will pull through for me and then I will "highlight" with the soft black.

Wish me luck!

Coach Vicky

seq24

19 weeks PFC and day 5 of no wig. They will be packed away and I hope to never see them again. Had new color put in yesterday and a slight trim. I'm adjusting to this new look a little more every day. I just wish the top would fill in. I hate to think that it's going to stay this way. I didn't get a good photo of the top but here are the rest. It looks curly but I think it's just because I put gel on it and scrunched it up. Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

NotHerToo

Oh thank you for posting that pic. Your hair looks GREAT! You give me hope. I would ABSOLUTELY ditch the wig if my hair looked like that. I hope mine is that long by 19 weeks so I can go back to classes sans wig. Thanks so much!!!!

KarenInCanada

finished my last Herceptin in April, port out and hair is growing! Don't mind the blue, off to a Blue Jays game today! Also...really feeling so much better. Just some days sore back and knees, but I stand all day at work butand lift a lot!

anotherNYCGirl

!! You both have so much hair!! Look terrific!!

l_brain

Hello All, I have a question for any weekly Taxol gals out there. I just had week #6. Hair recently started shedding. Did anyone have any luck slowing the process down with diet or topical??? Or did anyone that's only thinned notice any new growth while on Taxol? Oncologist said I could lose it all or it could just thin. He's seen it all. Thanks.

Dianarose

My hair is coming back stick straight! Never had straight hair. I want my curls back

lrwells50

Mine has always been a little wavy, although it's not noticeable because I keep it so short, but now that I've cut it to 3/4" so it's not so gross when it falls out, I can see how many cow licks I have. Really hope mine comes back curly, or it's going to look weird for a long time

Drained6513

Ok...so I am 10 1/2 weeks post last weekly taxol. I am on Herceptin for a year. I've posted on here before... I am just kinda panic stricken about my hair. Its still not very thick..and the front sides and front top you can see my scalp... it looks so wierd. I have some hair on the crown which is thicker...then it gets sparser getting nearer the top front. I could cry. I am really tired of all of this. Seq..I've been following these posts and I understand your distress and your hairs alot fuller than mine. I know you have 9 more weeks on me. I am so afraid mine is not going to be thick and full... this is worse than all the surgeries I had. I take vitamins...try and drink my vegetable juicing daily...and try to eat right. Did the Nioxin..and Rogaine. Tired of the hats and wigs. Went for my Herceptin treatment last week with nothing on my head. And even had looks from some nurses and the other ppl there. This is soo horrible. Any encouragement or words of wisdom or advice on this?

Also, not to mention the huge chipmunk cheeks you get, I'm guessing is from the steroids they give you with the Taxol treatments. Friggin nightmare.

mistyeyes

Drained - I am 10 weeks after chemo.  Mine looks like a 5:00 shadow.  It is less on the front sides and top.  I also am on Herceptin.  I think it will thicken up and grow - I bet every couple of weeks you will see some change.  I can feel some little "sprouts" coming in so I think it will be thickening up.  I don't feel like I had anything the first month.  I really didn't expect anything because the chemo has to get out so hair cells can start working again.  Your system goes through a lot during chemo.  Be patient with yourself, you are healing.

12paws

Drained I feel exactly like you do. I am only 4 weeks after my last taxol, however my hair started coming through early on with the Taxol. It's pretty thick everywhere except the front and top of my head. I look like I have a badly receding hairline. I so thought I'd be wig free by now and I'm devastated I am not. It is worse than the surgery and all the chemo. Medication helps all the physical side effects of chemo but nothing can help this. I'm sorry I am not offering words of wisdom or encouragement but at least know you are not alone. My Physio who specialises in lymphodema and so sees lots of ladies like us tells me she sees this pattern of regrowth all the time and it always comes back, eventually.

seq24

12 paws--My hair was like yours and started coming back during Taxol. I didn't have much by the time I was finished but it was there. The top and the front is still pretty thin, as you said yours is. To me this just doesn't seem fair. We go through chemo (being poked and poisoned as I call it) and everything else that follows. We finish all that, start to feel like ourselves again yet we are still running around with a bald or near bald head. It is very hard. When I was first diagnosed I had an unwelcome visitor to my house who was telling me stuff like "cancer is a blessing", and "you'll be a better person because of it". I'm still trying to figure that out. Maybe years down the road when I have my hair back and look like myself again maybe I can make some sense out of that, but definitely not now.

Dianarose

Cancer is not a blessing!! They would have been shown where the door was very quickly! People sure say stupid things. Makes you wonder how they made it this far. I had one friend who every time I saw her would ask how my breast were not me. They are freaking gone as they kept trying to kill me. Had one person ask me if it hurt when they cut my breast off. Really!!! Sick of stupid

seq24

Oh geez Diana! That's terrible. People say the dumbest things. The person who told me what I posted earlier went through treatment herself many years ago. They did not discover her cancer until it was stage 4, so of anyone, you'd think she would be the most sensitive to the emotions that go along with this. But all I got from her was a load of stuff I didn't not want to hear. I was just complaining to my neighbor about this person yesterday because they also know her. There is actually a book called "Cancer is not a Blessing and it Didn't Make Me a Better Person". The author pretty much shares the same sentiments about everything as me. The person who recommended the book told me that it sounded like I should have written it. It's available on Amazon. Parts of it are very sad though as the author's mother also had breast cancer and then right after, the author herself got it too.

12paws

Cancer is a blessing seq24? OMG I would have exploded

seq24

12paws--Oh yes! I was told this numerous times by different people. The first time was from an uninvited guest at my house a few days after I was diagnosed. She had been through surgery, chemo and radiation years before but you just don't tell someone who is newly diagnosed how much of a blessing cancer is. I just stood there and cried when she told me that. And just a few days later someone else called me and told me the same darn thing. Then they went on to say how much better my hair would be after cancer, how much I would appreciate life after cancer, how I would learn what my priorities were and how much of a better person I would become. A lot to look forward to according to them, but quite honestly I don't think I was lacking in any of that before cancer so how in the world was it going to improve my life afterwards?

lrwells50

My hair will probably be totally gone in a couple of days, which will be a blessing, as the itching has been driving me crazy. I'm just praying that it comes back, as permanent hair loss is a possibility with Taxotere

mistyeyes

Irwells- I had Taxotere and was worried about my hair growing back. It is growing back, so I worried over nothing. I asked my doctor and he said that he did not have any patients that their hair did not grow back.

lrwells50

mistyeyes, my MO told me the same. He also said he only had 1 patient that had any permanent neuropathy. He's not much younger than I am, so he's been at this a lot of years, so I'm encouraged by that. I only have about 5-10% of my hair left. I wish my hair was darker. The hair that isn't already gray is a light brown, so I'm thinking I won't look like I have any even once it comes in until months out. Maybe the chemo will make my hair come back dark and curly with no gray! I can always dream!

Dianarose

So I ordered a messy hair bun from Amazon. I figured where I don't have much for bangs I could wear a wide headband and Bobby pin the bun to what hair I have and to the band. I am determined to look like a woman for my sons gr