Need Chemo - How do I prepare?

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shelbytroy12
shelbytroy12 Member Posts: 26
edited June 2014 in Managing Side Effects of Breast Cancer and Its Treatment

I will be starting chemo in the next 2-3 weeks and I work full time.  I am told hair loss happens within 2 weeks by my oncologist.  Do I go to work until it starts falling out? What do you do to prevent being at work and a piece of hair falling out?  Do I take some time off after the first treatment and go back after it is all gone? Work at home? Any help is appreciated. 

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  • lago
    lago Member Posts: 17,186
    edited August 2013

    I found it starts to shed first. I never really got clumps just more and more shedding. Started for me on the 15th day. 15th day I cut my hair short because it can get messy if you have longer hair. 7 days later I was still not wearing a scarf but I had a ton of hair so it took a 5 more days before I had to cover my head. I wear scarves and love the look.

    My hair really came out when I combed it and especially in the shower. It's not like it just falls off without any encouragement.

    You can always start wearing scarves on your head now so people can get used to the look. 

    BTW I'm doing taxotere/carboplatin/herceptin

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  • ruthbru
    ruthbru Member Posts: 57,235
    edited November 2010

    If you want a wig; try to find a salon that specializes in them (ask your hair dresser for a recommendation) and get it fitted and ordered now. I had mine ready & when the first strand fell (it doesn't just drop off, but when you comb it, strands come out with the comb) and it was two weeks after the first chemo, just like they said; I had the wig lady shave it, plopped the wig on & nobody knew the difference unless I told them. I worked all the way through chemo & needed to look 'normal' for my job and for my own psychological reasons too. Make sure you check out the American Cancer Society 'Look Good, Feel Better' program. You spend an afternoon with experts who show you how best to wear wigs, scarves, turban etc. and how to apply makeup to your best advantage, and give you several hundred dollars of high quality makeup for FREE. It is really nice. Best of Luck! Ruth

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  • 1WonderWoman
    1WonderWoman Member Posts: 2,065
    edited November 2010

    Hi-I think the worst thing I did before chemo *was* prepare!  Now I have all these head wraps I never wore, hair that was long and started to fall out causing a 3 cigar size snarl in the back of my head (!) and I purchased products I have never used once and I am on tx 4 of 6 next week.  My best advice is take it as it comes.  If you have someone in the house who has clippers, borrow their's if and when your hair starts to go.  If not, you can get one at Walmart for like $20.  Once I started to knot up, I buzzed it.  In the end, I got 2 wigs, one of which I wear way more than the other and I also live in the northeast so, as the weather cools, my new favorite is knit caps and a trapper hat!  Also, when wig shopping, make sure you get a monofilament cap.  Not only does it appear to be more scalp-like, the cooling effects on your head are a huge benefit!   Feel free to come by my thread (!) which is the August 2010-anyone started chemo besides me.  I wish you the best.  BTW, as for work, you really don't have to worry so much about sitting at work and clumps falling out.  Your hair likes to come out but it also needs to be prompted (!) like by washing and brushing.  You will notice that is when most of it is going to come out.  Don't forget not everyone loses their hair, however.   Plan to lose it but remain cautiously optimistic you will not!

    Best of luck-

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  • carol1949
    carol1949 Member Posts: 562
    edited November 2010

    My hair also just kind of was shedding... no large clumps.  But, the hair lost it's vibrancy and softness and felt dry and lifeless, so i ended up shaving it.  I did have a few wigs, but most of the time, I just wore a baseball cap or newsboy cap if I went out.  Around the house, I wore nothing unless I was cold, which does happen and then I wore those little turbans.  Most people are so aware of the hair loss thing that it is no big deal anymore.  As far as preparing for chemo, I would suggest some healing tapes,  Deepak Chopra, Bernie Siegal, Caroline Myss, Louise Hay,  Patrick Quillon's Beating Cancer With Nutrition,  etc.  The hair is no big deal... focus on your mind and spirit and before you know it it will be history and you will feel perfectly normal again!  I would highly suggest for you to do your research and prepare your mind for what your body is about to go through!

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  • NatureGrrl
    NatureGrrl Member Posts: 1,367
    edited November 2010

    What chemo are you getting?  That greatly affects hair loss.  I had AC and at exactly 2 weeks from the first treatment, my hair was coming out.  I couldn't deal with watching handfuls come out day by day so had it shaved as short as I could. It did all fall out, and  I did scarves until I couldn't stand them any more but that's so individual -- many wear scarves or wigs -- I went  commando after not very much time.  

    I worked bald.

     I also worked as normally as I was physically able (PT, and I worked most days). Being bald had little to do with work; for me, the work limitations were physical (mainly fatigue).  If you want to maintain a hair look, get your wig ASAP.  The wig will hide any hair loss.I don't think you'll find it something that happens in an embarrassing way at work.

    It's really a personal decision. Check your state laws but the decisions about how you deal with this should largely be your own.  It's rough in ways, but it's managable. Warm hug!

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  • shadow2356
    shadow2356 Member Posts: 393
    edited November 2010

    Consider the Penguin Cold Caps if you want to save your hair. It was on Good Morning America about two weeks ago.

    Here is the link to the thread on here:

    http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/6/topic/735873?page=1

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  • Debby9989
    Debby9989 Member Posts: 3
    edited November 2010

    This is just the thread I was looking for...I start chemo tomorrow. AC every other week for 4, then Taxol weekly for 12.  I also think I'm preparing too much...already bought two scarves, a little fleece cap because I'm upstate NY and it's been 25 at night, and my wig is ordered!  It will be in this week.  I did however decide to have some fun with the wig, I have worn very short hair for the last 3 years, it looks great but I miss my long hair that I could put up in a clip so thats what I ordered, nothing wild on the color but when else will the insurance company pay at least some so I can get my long hair back w/o going through the growing process!  I have a job that is very public in my industry so I may also grab a short one in the event I do make some of my business trips but everyone in my home office knows what's up so I can show my face any way I want:)  It's the side-effect stuff that's got me in a tizzy.  Maybe after the first week I'll calm down a bit and hopefully it won't be too bad.  I also have a busy house, for 21 years of marriage I've been getting up and pouring coffee and packing lunch, usually between 4:30 and 5:30, the idea that I may feel too crappy to continue that is bugging me..it's what I do and I don't want to change it!  Luckily I can do my job from home if needed but I find I do better normally with a schedule so I may end up in the office more than I am expecting, probably a good thing....(?)

    They are giving me dexamethasone also, any comments on the weight gain issue because it's a steriod?  I've seen alot of comments other places about women gaining 20-30 pounds...

     Okay, we all know this subject way too well and can ramble on...

    Be back Tuesday :)

    Debby

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  • ruthbru
    ruthbru Member Posts: 57,235
    edited August 2013

    Eat what you feel like eating but not too much of it; that was probably the most valuable advice I got (from someone who had been through it). Most people actually do gain during chemo but I think it is because of reduced activity level and the fact that people tend to bring you 'comfort food'. There is no way ahead of time to tell how you'll react (I CRAVED hot, spicy foods & gobbled down jalapeno peppers. Chocolate tasted like chalk...which is no doubt why I didn't gain weight!). I would second the advice to keep your life/schedule as normal as possible....do the things you have to and want to do...skip out on the things that you don't. If people volunteer to bring you meals, say YES to that for sure. Hire a cleaning lady (unless you love cleaning), do more watching movies, watch them play video games, quiet activites etc.with the kids, if there is a long boring meeting that you don't really have to attend, tell them that you aren't up for it. Also, keep up an exercise routine; even if , on a day you don't feel good, it's just putting on your tennis shoes and walking around and around in the house. Once you've started it's easier than sitting around and thinking about it beforehand. Best Wishes! Ruth

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  • shelbytroy12
    shelbytroy12 Member Posts: 26
    edited November 2010

    Thanks everyone!  I am really nervous about the chemo.  Both the side effects of not feeling well and hair loss.  I feel so healthy right now. To do something that may make me not look and feel well makes it all too real that this disease is happening to me.  I know it is of course.  But the chemo also announces that to the world and you lose your privacy.  I will try to take one day at a time but it is scary.  If others can do this, I can too! 

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  • 1WonderWoman
    1WonderWoman Member Posts: 2,065
    edited November 2010
    Shelby: the spooky and insidious nature of cancer is that we do feel healthy.  This is the problem with it.   Chemo has come a long way also.  I am on TAC which is a boat load of chemo.   Fatigue and a general sense of a rip tide coursing through my body have been my main SE's.   I say 80% is mindset.  Just prepare yourself to have an ok time with it and you will.  I laud those that can work through this.  My employer was very inflexible so I ended on disability.  More to this point, however, is I could not work through this.   I still try to workout but I will promise you with the trips to the bathroom, the fatigue and a number of other things I don't want to share with you as i don't want you speculating, it can take it's toll.  I really think the best thing you can do is take it easy.   Cancer seems to live off of stress and sugar so they say.   I would try to plan to rest and be at peace during chemo if you can.  There is the school of thought that you need to adhere to your normal schedule and march right through chemo and there is the school of thought to take time, let the chemo work, give the body rest so it can recover and heal.   It is really a personal choice but, for me, the choice was to avoid stress and try to relax as much as possible so my body could be at rest and let this med do it's job.  This, however, is not possible for everyone.  Cancer is very quiet and, unlike the flu which you totally need rest to get over, it will linger and manifest in a very surreptitious way.  Treat it like a flu with no symptoms and rest the body and mind.  Yoga also...good stuff.   I wish you well.  It is a lot to take in at once although I am confident, as the process unfolds, you will find your way.   There are millions successfully living longer lives because of the benefits of chemo and you will be one of them too Laughing
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  • ruthbru
    ruthbru Member Posts: 57,235
    edited November 2010

    Lizzy, I like your Mark Twain quote, here is a variation of it that I remember from somewhere, "All of my stories are true, and some of them actually happened." Smile

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  • Debby9989
    Debby9989 Member Posts: 3
    edited November 2010

    Thank you all :)  I raise rabbits as a hobby so I was out this afternoon doing my dirty work chores before I hand those off to the kids and I feel better...like I will and I can and just see how it goes.  Reading other people's experiences has been very good too!

    Debby

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  • 1WonderWoman
    1WonderWoman Member Posts: 2,065
    edited November 2010
    Ruthbru: that is definitely a variation on one of my favorite Twain quotes!  Good stuff
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  • sespebadger
    sespebadger Member Posts: 249
    edited November 2010

    I lost weight during AC chemo and kept it off while getting Taxol. Food didn't taste very good, some smells made me nauseated and I wasn't very hungry, especially during AC. I could tolerate only bland foods during first two weeks after AC. 

    If nurses have any trouble finding good veins, pursue the otion of having a port installed. After 4 AC treatments, I had port installed for final 12 Taxol infusions and it helped tremendously.

    I was happy to have friends to drive me back and forth to chemo. I enjoyed seeing them and they enjoyed helping.

    I found that chemo became fairly predictable and I was able to plan lunches out with friends, especially during Taxol, which was much easier for me. I found it good for my morale.

    I probably wore my wig ten times total.....hats were softer, less itchy and more comfortablee. I found cute, cheap hats at Target. If I still felt a bit bald around the marjins, sometimes I wore one of the colorful stretchy wide headbands I found at the drugstore under the hat. Big earrings and a cute necklace helped me feel better.  

    I rested lots and watched lots of movies.

    Good luck!

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  • ksegers
    ksegers Member Posts: 1
    edited November 2010

    I finished chemo and radiation just over a year ago.  The most frightening thing for me was the thought of losing my hair - even more than being sick from the chemo!.  I had really long hair that had taken years to grow out.  I went and chose wigs from a shop that specialized in wigs for cancer patients and had them pre-fitted before I lost my hair.  When my hair started falling out, the wig shop immediately cut my hair for me.  For me, this was a good move because I didn't go through the trauma of losing big clumps of hair in the shower and on my brush.  I started losing my hair about 2 weeks after the first AC treatment.  Your hair starts to come out slowly at first, so you don't have to worry about losing huge clumps on the first day.   I was afraid that everyone at work would notice when I started wearing the wig, but surprisingly only one person noticed (and she had been a former hairdresser).  You think everyone will notice and they don't.  You will survive this and your hair will start growing back before you know it.  And on the bright side....for a few months, you will have the luxury of not having to blow dry your hair in the morning!

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