Hair Hair Hair - Another question

way to go Nat!

Tina - you look beautiful!

Went wigless at 4 months, no cut or color yet.

mommaof4, your hair looks terrific, and it seems you have a lot of it, one year pfc.

I started going topless 8 weeks after chemo.  It was in the summer, I don't work in the summer, and we were going to Lake Erie, about 3 hours from home, where I wasn't going to know anyone.  I sure didn't want to sit on the beach in the hot wig, so I took the opportunity to get used to being wigless while I was around strangers and just a few family members.

Can't remember when I first got it trimmed, but it was just a tiny one yet shaped the hair and made a world of difference.  And I colored it pretty soon after the last chemo with the 28 day hair color mousse.

Thank you all for your responses... My husband thinks I have enough hair to go topless now, but I think I need some more hair on the sides as there isn't a lot of scalp coverage there yet.

I am taking my Biotin and using some "follicle stimulating" products which makes me feel better, but it is probably not making any difference. I'll never know since there's no control group!

Well I am still -3 weeks PFC and I went hatless for a while at the mall as an experiment.  Nobody really seemed to be looking at me at all.  The most noticeable look I got was from a bald guy.  I have shadowy growth all over my head now so it kinda looks like a super-short buzz cut.  The essential thing is eye makeup.  I don't do big earrings but I like to have a scarf around my neck to help make the whole thing look more like a deliberate style.

Next step, the grocery store!

7 months PFC and still not going topless/wigless. My hair is thicker on the sides, thin on top, and extremely thin on back of top. No haircut yet, but have considered having the whole thing shaved off and starting over, maybe that will wake things up The texture is so unpleasant. Not quite straight, not quite curly. Just frizzy and ugly. Might start first with getting the ends trimmed and see how it works. Eyelashes aren't bad now, brows are very soarse

jenlee,   I am 6 months PFC, my hair is exactly the same way as yours. My hair is coming in very white,so you can really see how thin the back and top are. I was hoping to go topless for christmas,but I won't  be ready. Ughhhh..

One year PFC and no haircut yet!  I use Frizz-Ease and Fructis products with a flat iron to style.  Every 3 weeks it seems like a new hair style :-).  I color with Clariol #2 level that has less hash chemicals, but have finally reached the point where I can touch up the roots and not go all out on the full head of hair.

jenlee, perhaps with some product, you can get a bit of control.  When my hair wasn't as full, I sort of slicked it back with Clearly Defined styling gel by Frizz-Ease.  Before BC, I had long straight hair and NEVER used product and rarely used a blow dryer.  I didn't even own a flat iron!  The Fructis moroccan oil (very inexpensive) helped get my half curly half wavy hair to have more softness and control.  Hope some of these tips can help.

schatzi, I've colored my own hair since I was 17, well over 30 years, so I vote for color.  Once my hair began to grow back in after chemo loss, I colored it with one of the non-ammonia products. I did it at two or three months PFC, can't exactly remember, but I didn't wait long. I figure the non-ammonia stuff would be easier on my scalp.  I used that every six or eight weeks for about a year, now I use whatever I feel like.  

I stay in the same color range, but try different brands, or whatever's on sale. My natural color is a bit darker with some gray which does nothing for me.  

My hair is over 5 mos PFC, about 1.5 inches long in most places. I thought I would be ready to be wigless but I'm not. Eyebrows and eyelashes ( which I had all through chemo but they thinned way out 4 weeks after last taxtotere) are sort of coming back in. Fortunately there was always enough that eyebrow pencil and mascara plus glasses and wig bangs kept things looking ok.). Pubic hair mostly all back, leg hair too. Feel like I may need o wear wig the whole school year since wig looks ok and I dont at all know how to fix my hair, no tricks.

I timidly tried putting gel on it and making a gamine boy hairstyle but my curly hair (always wild and curly, I had it about shoulder length, hard to tame but it was like a signature look) is very ornery and laughs at gel. Well see. When my sister has time I'll have to ask her.

Hey, how did you figure out how to put your Oncotype score on your stats? i couldn't find a way to do it. Mine was 31. Lovely.

Tonight was a little chilly, so when I went out to the store I put on a hat for the first time this year. I then remembered that 2 years ago I was wearing a wig AND a hat on a daily basis. It's amazing how quickly the time has gone by and how the memory/trauma of being bald has faded. Hair loss is extremely difficult for all of us, and we each deal with it in our own way. I was extremely traumatized to be bald, and I chose to keep my head covered at all times. I did not allow anyone to see me bald, ( although my husband and little granddaughter each briefly saw me once by mistake!) and took no pictures of myself bald. I waited until I was 8 months PFC tot go topless, and even then I looked like a cross between Lyle Lovett & an emu... But now, 2 years later, my hair is exactly the same as it was pre-chemo. Since I have no picture of myself bald, I really don't remember how I looked with no hair. All I have are bad memories, and they are fading.



All I really wanted to say to all of you currently in chemo is, "Hang in there", " this too shall pass", And "soon this will all be a fading memory for you too"

I so agree with blindsided I say as often as I can ladies. I look back and can't believe I was bald. I kind of don't want to wear a hat now but I will when it gets too cold. Remember it is all temporary. The sides effects will fade the hair will grow back, and all will be as it was except you will have beat cancer. Get some great winter hats to match your sweaters, and big earrings. Do whatever you need to do to feel good.

Hang in there I know it's tough.

I never wore hats before BC, but now that I've gotten used to them, I can see why many ladies do.  They look kinda cute and when you don't want to style your hair for the day, on goes the hat and you're good to go!

Kristen:  Your hair is adorable. People say the same thing to me--keep it short. I am kind of liking my new "hairstyle".

i'm waaaay behind in reading (page 591 of 593!)but i have to say karen (kjliberty) wow- i'm at 5 mos PFC now and this avatar, while sideways cuz i can';t get it to turn!) is me this past thursday at my unvieling! your hair is so much longer and fuller at 5 months than mine!

divine mrs m- awesome- i love the smile -that's probly cuz your son took the photo and we tend to smile well for our sons!