To shave or not to shave - that is the question...

kjsimpson

Chemo will start very soon.   Should I just shave my head now or wait for the first clump?

I'm leaning towards shaving it the week after chemo starts because I think seeing it come out in clumps, even small clumps, would be bad on my psyche.

Thoughts from warriors who have gone before me?      <--nice that we have bald smileys.  ;-)

tinkers2

Hi kjsimpson..

I shaved my head after my 2nd chemo.  My hair was coming out after 2-3 weeks in clumps.  I shaved it, but left about 1/8".  I wanted a little something to run my hand over. And i even shampooed it, just to feel normal. 

Donna2012

I started chemo with 12 weekly taxol/herceptin. My hair thinned a lot, but was able to make it thru about 8 treatments and still had enough hair to look good sticking out from under a hat. Glad i didn't shave it too soon! It was around the end of the 12 weeks, when there was so little left that I did shave it.



Then I started 4 treatments of fec/herceptin - 3 weeks apart. Between the 2nd & 3rd treatment, my hair started to grow back!! I was ecstatic, since I didn't think this would happen until a few weeks after chemo ended.

ibcmets

My hair fell out around day 15 of chemo.  Started falling out in small clumps.  I then got it shaved.  I went through 8 months of chemo and lost my eyebrows & eyelashes on the last chemo, but they were the first to come back.

Terri

annika12

I waited til the day I leaned down to pet my dog and she had more of my hair on her then I had hers on me....... I left some on top and buzzed it really short everywhere else and Im glad I left some, to shampoo and it feels better under wig and hats  I miss my hair most at night.....but it will come back again one day and I will NEVER have a bad hairday again !!!

Sherlocked

If I could do one thing different during my treatment for IBC a few years ago, it would be that I would NEVER have shaved my head.  I ended up losing about 50% (on a "100%" hair loss chemo regimen). And when I went from AC to TH, my hair started growing back immediately yet, of course, I had buzzed it all.  A few bangs peeking out from under a hat can look like you have a full head of hair.   

I am really, really confident that many women shave their heads unnecessarily because the hair that doesn't fall out definitely seems to slow down with growth.  My best advice is keep a few-inch cut.  If it all falls out, decision made for you. 

kjsimpson

Right now I have a very short hair cut.  Coincidentally, I buzzed it (to 1") late in June... which seems like eternity ago, now, but was pre-cancer-awareness.  Now I know what BC stands for... Before Cancer.  AD must stand for After Done or After Doctors. 

Thanks, all, for your replies.

Met with the oncologist today.  Chemo to start next week after they biopsy one or two more lymph nodes (one in my neck).  They just want to be sure that they weren't involved in the cancer and are just coincidentally enlarged.  There are normal lymph nodes between them (I hope that made sense) and the cancer spiked lymph nodes.  Doc says I'll start losing hair at about 3 weeks on the cocktail he is prescribing.  Herceptin is one of the drugs. I forget the names of the other two.  One is an alternative to a drug that can damage the heart.

Speaking of the heart, they did a baseline echo cardiogram today.  Some were surprised to learn that I actually have a heart. 

Right now they are staging it at III, but if those lymph nodes are involved then it will be Stage IV.

Hang on folks!  It is going to be a bumpy ride!

lilsiskathy

I would say if you want to shave it go ahead.  I waited till it started to fall out.  I was in the shower and covered with hair, so decided it was time.  It's just such a mess if you don't.

itsmyjob

My hair started falling out on day 13 and i shaved mine day 14.  Perhaps I am such a quantitative nerd,  mine was cut to an eighth of an inch and have rolled a lint roller over my head each morning to give me an idea if i jumped the gun or not and from what i can see, it was right on time.

kjsimpson

Love that Robert Collier quote, itsmyjob!  Might have to steal it.  :-)

Thank you.  They said the hair would start falling out within 3 weeks.  Maybe I will wait a week.  Chemo started yesterday.

alicki

Hello,



Im just reading your posts and wanted to say that i admire your fighting Spirit.



Im still looking for answers (2 négative MRIs, one négative biopsy but showing b9 inflammation, 5 ultrasounds, 1 mammo, blood test currently going on). They think its got something to do with my immune system.



Anyways, keep up the fight and even if I don't know you, I ll keep you in my prayers during these difficult days.



All the best,

Alicki

kjsimpson

Thank you!  Keep being your own best advocate!  I'll pray for you too. :-)

alicki

Hi,

I will continue to be my best advocate, although the breast surgeon told me that I should believe and trust in her (grrh!). Because Switzerland is so small, breast surgeons come in very small numbers, and she's the most professional so far. If this is IBC, it's been incredibly sneeky. (No redness, just skin thickening in one area, one lymph node but not inflammed nor infilitrated and the stabbing pains which I had for the first 5 weeks are now completely gone). 

I hope you're as well as you can be and of course you have a heart!!

Take care,

Alicki

kjsimpson

I ended up shaving it all off in two stages this week.  First trimmed it down to 1/4 inch.  Just couldn't go further for a couple of days.  Then, on Friday, I shaved it smoothe (well, kinda sandpaper smoothe).  Might try the lint roller in a couple of days just to avoid any further buzzing in my ears from the razor.

GrammyR

KJ- I wish you a " smooth " pun- course. Back when my remaining hair got buzzed I felt prickly's on the pillow so I wore a snug little pink cap I bought online. The rest just came out in the cap pretty quickly. Which drugs are you getting besides Herceptin.(I did not get that one )I lost eyelashes, eyebrows the works.Eye brows were toughest as I was so bad w/the pencil liner.

Anyway just wanted to cheer you along ,big hugs.