Starting Chemo Aug 09

msmpatty

We haven't talked about hair for a while.    Mine is really thick, about 1/2" to 3/4" long, curly, curly, curly and a peculiar silvery grey color.   Except for the thickness...it is completely different from my "original" hair!  All my body hair is definitely back.   The only hair that is definitely taking its time is the eyebrows.   Although my eye lashes are only slightly ahead of the brows...scraggly little white things. Ugh x2! 

How's everybody else doing on the hair front?   (Lilah, you should be able to comment on this!)

Patty

Lilah

Patty -- LOL -- yes I can comment on this!  My hair is around 1/2 inch long -- covers ALL of my head but not quite long enough to be curly (which it isn't).  This either means it isn't going to come in curly (which would be surprising since I did have curly hair) or it's just not long enough yet for that.  ATM it's bone straight.  It's NOT thick yet either... but seems to be filling in more and more (filling in almost MORE than getting longer at this point).  I can't remember if you finished chemo at same time as me or not Patty and too lazy to scroll back   When did you finish?  I have a vague memory of you finishing after me but I could be remembering someone else.  I finished November 9.  My eyelashes and brows are all normal now (all grown back).  I am still wearing my wig (it's damn cute)! but looking forward to having enough hair not to.  For me that means having enough to look like I might have actually CHOSEN short hair... so it's gonna be awhile.

Lilah

PS -- Oh I forgot to add: the color is black (looks darker than my old hair) but it seems to be lightening up.

NavyMom

Ditto on what Lilah said.  My last chemo was Dec 1.  I had bone straight hair before and was hoping for some waviness but right now it looks like it will be straight.  mousey brown color.  My lashes are full but short.  R brow is full and left is not, but very much there.

Good luck to all trying to grow some hair!  But beware........sometimes you get more hair in places that you wish you had less!

Navy

jenn3

Hair.............I was in a pissy mood and wrote about my hair on the Stg III board - today I'm better. 

My hair is about 1/2 - 3/4 inch, getting really wavy and the longer pieces are curling - I think it's going to be curly and thick.  Prior to this I had thick, but not too thick brown hair with natural red highlights and good body- no grey.  Now I have light brown hair, with white all over.  Oh well..........I'll just have to get used to dying my hair and learn to work with curls for now.

Eyebrows are growing like mad - have had them waxed/shaped twice in the last 4 weeks.

Eyelashes are growing in pretty good, a little more outward than they were and not quite as full, but with mascara and eyeliner at the rim they look pretty good.

Navy - now that the hair is growing back, I feel like I'm shaving every other day.  That wasn't the case prior to this - craziness!

Wanted to mention - the hydrocortizone is really calming to the radiation burn - I love it and use it once a day.  Also, I was in the drug store and decided to look at the Aquafor to see what the magic ingredients are.........the main ingredient (something like 80-90%) is petroleum jelly.  Not that I'm going to use it, I'm happy with my Lubriderm, Miaderm, Aloe plant and Hydrocortizone, but am wondering why people would pay more for Aquafor when Vaseline/Petroluem Jelly is so much cheaper?  I know in the past when my dermatologist has done some minor work she has had me use Vaseline - she said it's more natural healing and less scarring.  Oh well........just my brain at work - scary isn't it?

PauldingMom

Peeking in to check on the August Amazons. Just a little bit ahead of most of you in treatment and my hair is about 1 1/2 inches, straight and looks like a gray squirrel. I have found some non-perm. hair dye and it's working well. Now it's kinda brownish with red highlights. 
Hope you all keep doing good and healing strong. 

Lilah

Jenn - I don't read the stg III board so I missed your rant but am sending you hugs about your hair.  BC is a test of one's patience.

Lilah

jenn3

Lilah - I was just in a fussy mood and not in the mood to hear how good it looks or someone telling me do I know how wavy it is and so on.  I was just in one of those moods...........you're right BC is a test of our patience, which I usually have.  But........I woke up (for no reason) in a bad mood yesterday.

Paulding - so glad to hear from you and glad you're doing well - thanks for checking in.

msmpatty

Paulding - What's the brand of the non-permanent hair dye you are using?  I hadn't thought about that.   I'd really like to get rid of this strange metal-colored hair!

Jenn- Rant away, girl.   I'm getting heartily sick of this whole process too.  Then I think...caaaalm thoughts, paaatient thoughts.   My rad Onc said definitely do NOT use petroleum jelly and then promptly handed me a sample of Aquaphor.  Go figure!

Lilah - I think I finished chemo several weeks after you...my last TX was 1/29/10.   But my hair started coming in mid-December, smack dab in the middle of my weekly Taxol's.

Sounds like everyone is making progress on the hair front.   Might not be what we had...or what we expected...or what we want...but it sure beats being bald.    Although I must say, Paulding, your smiley face is very fetching!

Patty

jenn3

Okay - I looked Aquafor up online and the petroleum product is more like 40% (my eyes must have been crossed in the store), the other ingredients appear to be calming things of some sort.  I'm still going to ask because I am curious.

Lilah

Jenn -- you rant and have a bad day all you want, girl!  You deserve it   I had a day like that last week where I just wanted to, I don't know, bite the heads off kittens (don't worry I didn't and I did remain gentle with my dog, but you know what I mean).  I can't remember now what ticked me off but it passed, like gas.

Ah Patty your hair is growing faster than mine!  Wahhhhhhh!  I find myself spotting women now with very short hair when I go out in public and wonder to myself: chemo survivor? 

Lilah

weety

I find myself checking out all the men haircuts in the magazines I'm reading.  Boy, can't wait to have HIS hair!! LOL!!

msmpatty

Lilah - Kitten heads.  Yummy.   But those little whiskers get caught in your teeth*.   I've been eyeing Ellen's hair on American Idol.   It is really short, but cute on her.  Add some earrings and I might be just fine with it.   I have a few months before I get even that "long", though.

Weety - LOL!

Patty

*Cat lover here.  Have two furry ones myself. 

Juli-CA

Weety-  Great idea looking at the mens/boys cuts.  I was people watching today in two airports as I traveled today, looking at women with short haircuts.  There are some cute ones and even some nice looking gray haired ones. 

My hair is about 3/4 of an inch long, gray with dark here and there= lots of salt, just a little pepper.  I may decided to not begin coloring it again but that won't go over very well with my 5 year-old granddaughter.  She says she likes my wig better, well so do I but I won't wear it for the rest of my life! 

While my hair was mostly straight with a little body, now I see some strange swirls and the top growing out at odd angles.  After giving my husband a hair cut last week, my hair is longer than his!!

Juli

Lilah

Weety -- I check out the men TOO!  LOL... at this point my hair is JUST about as long as my boyfriend's (haven't measured but seems longer than 1/2 inch but I'd not dare to say as much as 3/4 lol).  It's definitely getting swirly now though and I can actually brush it forward (so it sort of all lines up).... if I don't brush it I have MEGA bed head.  So that's something: I can BRUSH IT!

Patty -- OMG I've been eyeing Ellen's hair as well!  I wish I had that much.  It is cute though.  (I could do the black hair version I guess).

Lilah

PauldingMom

mspatty-I hear ya on the metal colored hair, what's up with that. I swear mine is violet when it's not dyed. I tried a brand from Sally's that you use weekly. I wasn't very happy with it. So I switched to L'oreal Healthy Hair that only takes 10 minutes and is suppose to last about a month. I also use a conditioner for brown hair.It has a little dye in it and keeps it fresh.  Personally I always chose the color I think I want and then get one shade darker.  

jenn3

I've been looking at short hair cuts too, but still have a long way to go.  However, I think my hair is going to be pretty curly, which throws another kink into what I'm going to do with it. Ha.... just realized what I said KINK.  OK - laughing at myself now - I've lost my mind.  As for my hair color - I will need to dye it, but still not quite long enough.

weety

Why is my hair kind of "fuzzy"  rather than silky like longer hair is?  Does it gradually get "silkier" as it gets longer?  I don't know how else to explain it except that it's like a mushy, fuzzy, matted-like look.  Is that just because it's new growth?

gillyone

Weety - I think new hair is always just fuzzy stuff. That's how mine came in. Now it looks like real hair.

Lilah - my hair is also at least 1/2 inch long, but not 3/4 yet. (4 months PFC now). DH took new hair pictures last week. I would post one if I knew how. Have to look into it. Don't even have an avatar.

Jenn - I don't have enough hair to tell if there will be any wave or curl. Pre chemo it was dead straight. Though I do have a "beautiful" cowlick at the front and it is totally white, rather than salt and peppery like the rest.

NavyMom

weety....my hair is fuzzy too.  Especially on the top.  It's not long enough to see if it will be curly or even wavey.  my neighbot lady called it "duck fuzz"  I don't really care what it looks like or how it feels.  I am just glad to have it.

I saw all three docs this week.  I am getting ready for my exchange surgery next week.  My port will be removed and an enlarged axillary lymph node on my bc side will also be removed and sent for a biopsy.  I have also made a huge decision.  I am going to have a mini tummy tuck.  I have always kept myself in good physical condition and chemo really took its toll.  So.........with everything I have been through in my life(more to my story than BC) I am going to go for it.  I will need to be "down" for awhile anyway with the exchange so I just said what the hell.........I deserve to look and feel the way I want to.  After a long talk with my PS I decided to do it.  My Dh supports whatever decision I made.  Yes it is expensive but I AM WORTH IT?  So there.  I will keep you all informed as to how things go.  Wish me luck.

Navy

Hope everyone is having a good day.

jenn3

Navy - You deserve the tummy tuck and I'm really happy for you!!!

Weety/Gill - when my hair first started growing back my DD said the back of my head looks like a ducks rear (different term used).  It really doesn't have a style to it, except the waves starting to form waiting for enough length to be curls...........

Lilah

Gilly -- well we are both 4 months PFC and it sounds like we have the same length hair, which is a comfort! 

Jenn -- you are making me laugh (Kink!) and I am so looking forward to having enough hair to cut/style -- even dye!  So far it's mostly black/brown... which is how it was before.  I think the only reason it's straight right now is it's too short to curl!

Lilah

msmpatty

Navy - Great decision on the tummy tuck.  Why the heck not?   I've always been afraid of plastic surgery because of the down time, but after the last nine months of down time, a few weeks of recovery from a cosmetic procedure now seems like a piece of cake!

Weety - I read that the reason our "starter" hair is so different than "real" hair in texture, color, curl, etc. is that the hair follicles are starting from scratch.  I think of it like baby hair...which usually changes in amount, color and texture as kids grow up.   Not to worry...the real stuff will come!

Jenn -  Sounds like we have the same problem with the hair!  Mine is swirling and flipping and going every which way.   

Patty

Kim09

My hair is about 1 1/2" and a nice soft gray color.  Mine is coming in straight and thick so far.  It has taken 5 months for it to get this long.  I finally started going coverless today.  I was going to wait a little longer but I had a major, major hot flash at work today and the cap had to go since I couldn't take my shirt off.

NavyMom

Kim....I can relate to that!

Marrhea

Hi everyone. I really do enjoy reading all your messages. I can relate to so many of them. My hair is coming in but not as thick as I would like. I love my wigs, so there will have to be a great improvement before I give up the wigs.

Just wanted to let you know that my weird feelings that I mentioned last month have all been eased as I have been off Evista, and I am a brand new person. You really do have to look into your medication when you "feel different."

Last Friday, I finally had my expander exchange! The old expander which was being filled up with saline was removed and replaced with a permanent saline implant. Surgery was very easy - really no pain. (The day was long as my PS was behind, and I was in the hospital ALL day long.) Came home a litte nauseous but felt better the next morning. Had to wear that nice tight binder (but a very pretty blue flowered one!!!), so that was the uncomfortable part. Tuesday, they removed it, and now I am "hanging free." The saline implant has to get into place, so I will be shown how to massage that boob! Husband wants to help!! Now this has to heal and then the next step!! Yes, it's the big nipple tattoo. I'll fill you in on that process!!! It's nice to wear a bra without padding, although I'm not quite "balanced" yet.

What a long process! However, we have to keep our spirits up and laugh as much as possible. I share all my "procedures" with my friends as, believe it or not, most people do not know all that we go through. I do put humor into everything!!!

So, ladies, stay strong. 

PauldingMom

Weety911- We called it Velvety, sounds so much better. I had a little 3 year old touch my hair when it was first coming in and she said very sweetly, "It feels like a kitten." 

gillyone

This is me! (4 months PFC) Had to call in the big guns (DH) to post this picture.

Lilah

Gilly you look great!  Your hair is nice and thick and actually looks like a DO!

Lilah

jenn3

Gill - I love the hair - thanks for posting.  I'm still not brave enough for a picture, but when I get up the nerve I'll share too.

I've been back since the first of the year and haven't taken a day off yet (except holidays) and decided that I'd take today off to get some stuff done around the house.  I work all day, go to radiation, come home cook dinner and don't have much energy left after that.  So........I figure I'll get those things done that need to be done weekly and have Sat & Sun to play!

Have a great day!

Lilah

Yeh Jenn I agree!  Play all weekend

Lilah