Hair Hair Hair - Another question

panamajayne--wow!  I'm surprised you haven't lost hair yet.  Has it thinned at all?  Most of the ladies' hair seems to start growing again on Taxol, but I guess you won't need to worry about that.  Looks like you missed one of the worst SEs of AC.  Ask you onc if maybe the dose you're getting is "low."  (I haven't a clue what "low" would be, btw My onc said if I didn't lose my hair on AC (which I did), she'd question the dose.

I've sure been enjoying all the gorgeous pics on this forum.  Lovely heads of hair with lots of personality and spunk under them!  I've been hiding under my wig with my very ash/gray "Brillo Pad" that's getting thicker and curlier by the day. Just waiting to have more than 2 inches to dye, thin out and possibly straighten.  I miss my long, straight hair, now that "someone else's hair" is growing on my head.  But I'm still very, very grateful to have it, even if it makes me laugh and cry at the same time

NormaJean  I just paste that smile on my pictures… It's not mine.

I'm kidding of course. It's the first thing my husband noticed on me too. Thanks for the compliment.

Lago... did you not lose your brows? I thought you did but the ones in the pictures look real... not penciled in. You also look like you have more consistent coverage than me so it makes me worry,,, I am 6+ weeks out and my temples are pretty sparse... and brows haven't started coming back yet.

Lago, my hair right now looks like your early march pictures. I've got one more taxol, then onto herceptin for a year. I'm hoping the hair will keep growing good while on herceptin or it's going to be a long year for me.

PSU,

I had #6 TCH. Still had hair "hangeroners" at the end.  Nothing that you could say you could comb through. Eyebrows thinned, so did the eye lashes. Now the peach fuzz is coming but the eyebrows are disappearing....

joann

psu222-  I had TCH and never lost my hair until after the third round, half way through.  Nurses were very surprised it held on so long and then it really came out fast, but never lost all of it, so I only cut it short, no buzz cut.

I am now 4mo post chemo and my hair is coming in great, thick, and the top has finally filled in.  the top definitely took a long time to fill so that my scalp wasnt showing  Cant wait for my DD to come home next weekend and see my new "do"

carrol2 , I do my own hair as well , my hair pulls a lot of reds so I use an ash color so it doesn't look so red and brassy. I am only 4months out and I feel like I am wearing a brown football helmet LOL !!!  I like the Loreal brands,  most colors with ash have an number with an A like 6a is light ash brown . I think with our hair being so short we can play around a bit.  Good luck with it.

Looking great saralmom!!

I am 13.5 weeks PFC and was seriously frustrated that it wasn't growing fast enough, even though everyone said it was and I could see in pictures that it was.  Anyway, I decided not to look at my head for a few days and, LOANDBEHOLD, it IS growing!  It really is!  I still can't go without a scarf, as it's too thin on top, but it is filling in.  You ladies look great!

 (Letlet, how much protein are you eating?  Protein is important for hair growth.  I also am using the Nioxin scalp therapy and  a thing called the "Seven Star Needle."  It's a Chinese hair growth thing that you can buy in Chinatown in NYC.  Plus, I am doing a ton of yoga (inversions) to get the blood flowing to my scalp.  Can't hurt, might help!) 

baf4292, I love your staging comparisions of hair growth.  I am 8 weeks PFC, and I am somewhere between concentration camp survior and Obama, but like you said, at least its progress.

Lisa, 

here is the website: www.nioxin.com

You have to get from a salon or order online...check online like Amazon for deals too. Seems like most are using system 2, but not all. There is shampoo, conditioner, and a follicle booster. My salon owner told me the scalp booster is really the one she thinks is the most important. Expensive! But she has offered to sell it to me at cost. Have not compared what that would be compared to Amazon or others. But I bought it 'retail" for $20 for 1 oz! I see Amazon has for $15-not sure what my stylist's cost is. But a little goes a long ways.  

My hair didn't start falling out until about a week or so before my 3rd chemo and then it went fast.  I never minded it too much because I had about 3" or 4" around my forehead, sides and neck.  It never occurred to me to look in the mirror until one day when I saw my crown was pretty much bald.  Then I had to laugh at myself thinking I was doing so good.  The "fringe" stayed until after my 5th treatment and then everything went.  What a disappointment!  My eyelashes and eyebrows joined them.  I'm now almost 3 months out of treatment and the hair is growing in very unevenly.  It seems like it's coming in so slowly and I've always been known to have fast hair growth so I don't know what's going on.  My brows are all over the place.  Did anyone else have that happen?  They're like winged little devils that I can't train.  My eyelashes are growing every which a way too.  Drives me nuts but I'm so glad to have them back.  Due to the eye leakage se I rub my right eye a lot and so those lashes are less than the other eye.  What a beauty I am!  lol

Marjie... At first my brows stayed with me and then they were very light (like the chemo made them lighter than they normally are) and then they started to thin... and that was about half way thru chemo (after 3rd of 6)... so now I am 6 weeks PFC and don't see much change, but even with my head hair, I have to wet it to see progress... some of it is so light I can't even see it when its dry... of course what I can see looks gray, so that doesn't make me happy.

Lago... the brow pencil works well... I went to Sepphora to buy the powder but the girl didn't know what I was talking about, so I just went with the pencil... My lashes are holding on and its now 6 plus weeks... I have been using a lash/brow gel and it appears to have worked with the lashes... They aren't lush, but I have 2 full sets with few gaps.

My eyebrows 9 months PFC are about 1/3 as robust as they used to be.  And, some of you have heard me pine for them:  they were one of my better features.  I use exactly what Lago does.  It is fantastic, the pencils are just such a drag by comparison.  I brush this on, and bingo.

The only other issue I have is that I have a bit of male pattern thin spots in the front of my hair.  It's not too noticeable, but of course, since I want everything to fall perfectly with my latest cut, I notice it.  At first, it was alarming.

I have heard it can take up to 2 years to get everything back on track.