Hair breakdown! Tell me it comes back

LisaAnn,

It will come back!

I and many others here know exactly how you are feeling.  My onc told me my chemo (CMF) would only make my hair thin out.  I had my first infusion a few weeks before Christmas 2006, and Christmas eve it was coming out in handfuls.  I was devastated.  Losing my hair was just as hard on me as everything else.  We feel "robbed" of our health, our normal life, and then to top it off we lose the hair.

I never went completely bald, just big patches of bald, and what remained was like straw.  Scarves and wigs were my friends.

When I finished treatment it took 2-3 months to have peach-fuzz enough to cover bald spots.  The new hair was so soft and healthy, and curly, too!  I am now one year out from treatment, and last haircut I had to have it thinned.

So, you can look forward to shiny, healthy, maybe curly, and maybe even a new color hair.

You are not a freak, nor do you look like one.  You look like a brave women doing what she must to re-gain her health.  Lift your head up, get some pretty scarves, and walk with pride.  You will prevail!! 

Hi Lisa"Ann,

Yes sweetie - your hair will come back.  Mine was gone 15 days after A/C - March 2007.  I guess it starting growing back in December and now I have a full head of Curly hair!  Never a day in my 47 years did I have any curl in my hair, but now it's been over 5 months and it is crazy curly!  I said I wouldn't complain & I don't, but I will be thankful if(please) it straightens out, and I will probably keep it short.

You'll be fine in no time, just look around here at our fellow sisters and we will all support you.

Love,

Sybil 

Hey, twink, nice pics!  I'm on day 19 of round one of TC, and I'm pretty much bald.  I didn't shave my head--I wanted to see how long it would last.  Well, it lasts about 19 days.  I look like a waif, bald on top but with wispy, thin fringe for bangs and on the sides.

I just pretend it's one of those "falls" you can buy, and I put on a cap and dangly earrings and go with it.  Today I was shopping and a clerk asked to see my driver's license.  She looked at it, and looked at me (wearing my cap), and said, "Your hair used to be a lot longer."  I said yes, that's true--I used to have hair, but now it's gone.  She said, "No!  It doesn't look gone."  I laughed and said it was, but I wasn't planning to take off my cap to show her.  Anyway, we ended up having a nice conversation about chemo and BC and getting along with living.

At first I was afraid to leave the house because of the Chernobyl-victim look.  Now, I've decided I have to get out and do the things I'm used to doing, hair or no hair.  (I still haven't bought a wig.)  And, it's OK.  Nobody stares.  If they do, I don't care anymore.  I'll admit that I still can't go bareheaded.  I was trying on some hats today, and I had to look around to be sure nobody was watching as I took off my cap.  I'm afraid they'll think I have mange.

otter

Edited to add:  I am going around bare-headed at home all the time.  My dh doesn't care--he is very supportive of me.  I think if he did object or react to my hairlessness (with any reaction besides hugging me), I probably ought to reassess our relationship. 

LisaAnn

 It does come back honey. Ya know that was the one thing that bothered me the most about the whole ordeal of going through treatment. Im not saying that to scare you I just wanted you to know that it bothered me to but here I am four years later and hair longer than it was before I even started treatment.

Nice pictures twink-they are adorable!!

Have a nice night ladies..!!!!!!!!

lag

YES! Your hair will grow back. Your family and friends LOVE you please don't be ashamed of them seeing you with no hair. You will feel so much better without having to worry about that. I finished 4 rounds of ac and 4 rounds of taxotere in March 2006 . i had my first haircut in July. How do you post pictures. I haven't been here in over a year???

Hon - it won't be a year. It will grow back. Even if you decide to wear a wig during your hairless times, that time ends faster than you might think. Your hair starts growing back as soon as that poison stops being pumped into you. As tough as this week is, seeing the stubble turn into teensy hair, turn into something you can run your fingers through, turn nto something long enugh to bend - it's a blast!

I had my last needle the first week of July 2007. My bilat. mastectomy and DIEP recon. was the last week of Sept. 2007. That's twelve weeks. I never wore cover again after that (well, except for warmth in the wintertime!). Yes, my hair was short, but it was there and fully covering my head, and kinda sharp-lookin'. The fact of my hospitaliztion and recovery time helped me set a 'drop dead' date - I mean, I wasn't going to fuss with a wig or hat when I had four drains! 

As Twink's pictures show, it's an evolution that happens pretty rapidly. I flew 3000 miles to a familyy funeral the 3rd week of Nov. and my distant relations thought my 'haircut' was intentional because they were unaware of my diagnosis. They loved it. I loved that I could be ready to go in 10 minutes flat each morning - no hair care routine

Anyway - long way of saying that yes, this is a nasty, tough time. But don't resign yourself to enduring a year of it. My experience was 6 months with scarf, cap, hat or wig of choice. Then freedom once again. And mine did come in darker and curlier, but not really curly - so that's another aspect of adventure. What will you get?!? 

{{{hugs}}}

Lisa

Hey, everybody,

Someone posted this link over on another part of the BCO boards (the "Moving Beyond Cancer" topic).  I couldn't resist posting it here, because of the questions about hair re-growth.  The person in the photos was recovering after chemotherapy, and she had her hair re-growth chronicled by photographs.  Someone said they were taken every week, but I don't know that for sure.  Maybe it says somewhere in the text.

Anyway, the links on this web page show progressive hair growth after chemo:

http://www.karinstack.com/hs/hair.html

otter 

It did say it was weekly...so with fifty photos, it's almost a year.  I noticed a slight regression between weeks 11 and 12. Not sure if it was just a "hat hair" day, or maybe she had a slight cut to even things up.

So according to this, I won't have any decent length hair (which to me, is at least to my chin) for at least a year from now, maybe longer.