My anxiety about my hair
Comments
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For me having short hair is a reminder that I went through BC. I had long hair down to my bra line for 15 years with no intentions of ever losing it or having a short hair style. I am still going through anxiety issues and am on anti-anxiety medication. I hate the constant reminder when I look at myself in the mirror as to what I endured in 2009. BTW - we were diangosed within 2 months of each other.
(((((Hugs))))))
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jancie, thank you for your post. Our diagnosis dates were really close. Have you grown your hair without cutting it? Having short hair is a reminder to me too of I went through so I think that might be why I have so much anxiety about it. The good thing is that the way it is cut, I should be able to grow it out to a nice blunt style in the next six months. I'll just leave the layers in, I think, and let it continue to grow out until next May -- should be chin length by then, I hope. How long is your hair?
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I started doing "baby trims" at 6 months. My hairdresser knows me prior to BC so she is always hesitant to cut any of my hair but I needed the chemo hair to be cut off.
I go every 6-8 weeks for a baby trim which means I get maybe 1/8" cut off my hair - some places 1/4" but never any more than that.
I finished chemo the end of May 2009. My hair is now about 1" longer than the base of my neck - a little longer than my shoulders. I can now finally wear it in a ponytail and actually look normal.
I did have to get it colored. It was a beautiful natural blonde before. It came back a mousy gray so now I color it every 2-3 months back to the blonde look. My dh would rather me not color my hair and let it grow natural but that reminds me too much of BC. I finally feel like myself again and am working to get rid of the 30 lbs I gained during chemo. I have lost 6 lbs in the past 2-1/2 weeks but I have a long ways to go. I think once I get my weight off I will feel so much better.
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jancie,
It sounds like your hair grows fast and the current length a little longer than your shoulders is a nice length! I should have let mine grow without all of these cuts and trims. Oh well. I was just looking at some photos I had taken last year: one in June 2010 and the other in October 2010 both taken on haircut days with no cuts or trims in between and in that four months, it grew a lot so now I'm hopeful that maybe by September I'll be much happier with my hair.
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Java - it is hard to be patient when you want so bad for your hair to grow out! The one good thing is that I have much more hair than before if that is possible and it is not so darn baby fine. Maybe this time I can grow it past my bra line. Before that is where it would just stop growing!
The entire time I was going through chemo I refused to look in any mirror in the house. I hated being bald. Then when I finished chemo I swear I looked in that mirror ten times daily checking on hair progress
I did that for months on end.
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jancie,
it is possible because that's what happened to me too. my hair used to be so baby-fine and after it grew back it was much thicker which was a pleasant surprise! when i grew my hair long years ago, i wasn't able to grow it past by bra line either and didn't know why at the time, now that it's thicker I want to try to grow it as long as possible. you are right, it is hard to be patient. i can't wait until it gets longer. i've been so impatient and kicking myself for getting a haircut last week that i decided to set some goals and make plan for how to achieve it. this is my first goal and plan:
goal - by sept 2011, it should cover my ears
plan includes many tips I read on the internet:
- good nutrition
- drink water
- regular exercise
- good sleep
- eliminate stress
- avoid excess products
- skip some shampoo days
- use shampoo on scalp only
- use conditioner on ends only
- avoid heat from appliances i.e. blowdryer and hair straightener in my case
- trim only split ends as soon as they occur
- scalp massage
- avoid styles or accessories that would break the hair
- avoid chemicals i.e. colouring products
Having a goal or goals and a plan of action gives me the feeling of control even though I can't make my hair grow faster I can try to get it in the best possible condition/shape possible while waiting for it to grow longer.
I can't wait until mine is as long as yours!
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