Hair Hair Hair - Another question

I did 4 T/C 3 weeks apart as well. I understand the fear of shaving what little hair we get back. I left mine go until it was a little over an inch. The I had it trimmed. It looked a lot less like chemo hair and more like a super short haircut. After it grew out to an out 2 inches I had it shaped again.

Oky doky, sorry I misnderstood your question....I got to the cancer center at 8 and home by 12. 1. Blood tests, then wait 30 minutes for results. 2. Appointment with oncologist 45 minutes 3. Flush port, steroid in fusion 30 minutes 4. T or C 90 minutes 5. T or C 60 minutes (if they put it in faster I got a sinus headache 6. Flush the port and get next appointment times for labs, Neulasta and chemo 7. Go home. I am not sure about what you mean about icing. I am not sure which causes neuropathy it wasn't too bad for me, some numbness in my fingertips. I had horrendous blisters all over my feet after the 3rd and fourth treatment. I had prescriptions for it. Sorry you had to join the group...lots of help and support here!

I finally stopped having my husband shave off the scraggly regrowth a couple of weeks ago, and it's definitely coming back in. It's just insanely patchy, which to me looks worse than being bald. But since I head to surgery tomorrow I figured I'd just let it go and see what happened rather than continuing to buzz it all off until it comes in evenly. We'll see what happens.

And I think we need to make a policy that until we get our eyebrows/eyelashes back and have enough hair to be a style, the leg hair can just HOLD ON A BLOODY MINUTE!

Good luck with surgery, CarolinaAmy! You are absolutely right about leg hair, and the way mine is growing like grass with Miracle Gro.

Kate, I am having the same thicker and darker experience, though need to shave underarms daily. Biotin seems to be selective.

LOL, CarolinaAmy. I got so used to not shaving my legs that I keep forgetting to do it ... until I accidentally catch a glimpse at them when I am working out. Yikes! Good luck with surgery tomorrow.

I am finally getting some hair in front! Yay!

I iced, too. And I'm glad I did, though I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy!

I got a haircut today. Starting to get compliments, too--it looks intentional now. I've lost track of how many weeks PFC I am; 15 or 16.

Your hair is so pretty and straight, Kate!

Looking good, Kate. Losing track of "weeks PFC" is a victory. Time to start counting in months!

CarolinaAmy: I wholeheartedly agree! We should all be guaranteed that leg and armpit hair are the very LAST to grow in, for pete's sake. Somehow I should have known it wouldn't work that way. It's funny--I had completely ignored my legs for awhile and these posts today prompted me to give them a closer look. Now I'm sorry I did--but I still can't be bothered to shave yet. ;-) Good luck with your surgery!!!

KateB79, your hair is looking great! It just looks like you got a very cute pixie cut.

a quick question...

Starting chemo next week. I'm er and pr negative and her2 positive so will be given herceptin not quite sure what else.

What types of chemo cause the side effect of hair loss? I heard that not everyone will lose their hair but from what I can tell it's quite a common occurrence.

Nlunn27,

I had chemo plus antibody treatment for my HER2 positive cancer from October through late January. As Rainnyc notes, chemo is often a taxane. I was given the chemo drugs Taxotere and Carboplatin in addition to both Herceptin and Perjeta. Now that I've had surgery, I'll be moving to Herceptin only to finish out a year's treatment. Not everyone is put on the same regimen, so yours could be different, but that was my experience. As Rainnyc says, your MO should tell you what you'll be receiving and what to expect so you can prepare. Losing one's hair often happens very quickly and suddenly with these drugs. My MO warned me of that, but it still came as a shock. For me, it happened about 10 days after my first infusion. I was caught a little bit off guard, with everything moving so fast.

Just adding to the sentiment that I'm sorry you're having to go through this. But as a fellow HER2+ fighter, I can tell you that the antibody drugs in conjunction with the chemo tend to be extremely effective. I wish you all the best with your treatment.

Nlunn: I suggest you join a chemo group that starts in March or April. You will know down to the day when your hair will fall out. I am sorry to say that not many escape the hair loss part. Some do with cold capping. You might want to go read the threads. It is expensive and involved but it works for some women.

SoCalGirl, looks great! I am admiring how straight your hair is. I have a patch above my forehead that is looking more Medusa-like by the day. Still, needing a hair dryer instead of a towel is progress.

Socalgirl, your hair is cute. I can only hope mine comes in that good. What is the timeline in your first pic?

Duzy,good for you! I can't wait for the day when there is no hat and no wig!

My stubble continues to fill in--but still just looks like stubble. But seeing a bit of shadow on (most of) my bare skull gives me hope.

The slowest to come in, though, continues to be my crown down to my forehead. So right now I look like a dude with a very receding hairline. ;-)