Who didn't cut their hair before it fell out?

Kombigirl
Kombigirl Member Posts: 47 ✭
in General discussion
I know most people cut their hair when it starts falling out, but I'm wondering if anyone chose not to cut it.

Comments

  • primek
    primek Member Posts: 5,392 ✭
    My sister in law didn't. She had cut her hair to a bob before starting chemo. Her family complained finding it everywhere. In the fridge. In food etc.

    I only got mine shaved off once it was coming out in chunks. I was at the swimming pool when it started...came out in my cap. Then chunks in the shower stall. I got home...put on rubber gloves and pulled and pulled on it to get loose stuff out. Within a few hours and despite this I virtually had a second layer of hair below my bob line...all the hair that was detached. I found it distressing. So I called my hairdresser and had it buzzed off. Felt so much better. 

    I did have AC chemo. My hair partly grew back on weekly taxol so if just that it might be different. 

    Cold caps are different and some people just thin with that. Entirely your own choice. Just have a plan for if you can't stand the fall. Kath x
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 ✭
    edited November 2017
    Hi @Kombigirl, I used cold caps and when they didn’t work as well and my hair started to thin out on top and patches appeared, I didn’t cut it because I had a bit at the front and the back, which worked well under a beanie. It looked terrible and it was always falling out in the shower. I wish I’d just cut it all off early in the process. I was late for work during my second week of chemo because of sweeping up hair from the floor and cleaning it from the drain. I was never entirely bald. Hair falling out everywhere and the pain of cold caps were the worst parts of chemo for me. I had ACT chemo. 
  • Harlee
    Harlee Member Posts: 106 ✭
    I cut my hair into a very short style as soon as I realised I was going to need chemo. 
    My initial plan was to keep the short style and just see what happened but when my hair started falling out during my first FEC cycle my husband used his clippers and got rid of it. It was actually my GP who convinced me when she laughed and said "I know a lot of cancer patients and if you think doctors are expensive - wait until you get the plumbers bill for unblocking your shower!"

    My hair started growing back during my last cycle of Docytaxel. I was overjoyed but sadly that's when my eyebrows and eyelashes fell out! 
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 ✭
    edited November 2017
    Good point @HarleyB, you need a hair catcher thingy in your drain. They are super cheap and do wonders at catching the hair when it starts falling out. 
  • Fiona2
    Fiona2 Member Posts: 69 ✭
    I didn't shave mine off as I was having the cold caps and hoped that I might keep my hair.  Sadly, it wasn't to be and it just steadily dripped off over about 5 days after the second FEC treatment.  I was too scared to wash or brush my hair over that week for fear that I would enter the shower with hair and emerge from it bald! It only just slightly delayed the inevitable.
  • MKitty68
    MKitty68 Member Posts: 261 ✭
    I had bum-length hair & I didn't cut it until it started falling out, then I got my son to cut off the matted mess that it turned into whilst trying to wash it, then i clippered it myself as my scalp was painful. I ended up shaving it all off as just the small amount really hurt my scalp. It was much less painful being bald. 
  • Brenda5
    Brenda5 Member Posts: 2,423 ✭
    I had long hair and thought I wouldn't be able to cope seeing my lovely long locks falling out so I did get it cut short so I had a little bit of time to adjust. Believe me, even short hair it seemed like an awful lot of hair falling out. It was ok though as I would go through what was left and gently pull on what was left and any that was ready to go, I could get rid of at home, rather than when I was out in public. I kept a little bucket beside my desk at home and near filled it lol. Stage by stage I learned to cope.
  • Glen19
    Glen19 Member Posts: 9 ✭
    edited November 2017
     
  • Glen19
    Glen19 Member Posts: 9 ✭
    I was planning to keep what I could as I thought it would look better under a beanie or hat.  But the reality was that my scalp became so itchy and sore and the hair so matted I couldn't stand it and cut it all off as close to the scalp as I could.  What a relief to be able to slather my scalp with Sorbolene several times a day!  Then when no longer sore I finished the job with my husband's electric shaver but didn't like the prickly feeling I ended up with.  Since then more must have come out but I still have prickly patches so probably wouldn't have shaved it if I had realised that.
  • Jellybean
    Jellybean Member Posts: 3 ✭
    Hi Kombigirl - I decided not to cut my hair (probably half hoping that maybe I wouldn't lose it lol). I didn't have a sore scalp either so just decided to go with the flow.  It started to fall out exactly on the day everyone said it would.  Just started to fall out gradually and I would twist my fingers in the hair and have it come out.  Was a clean process, didn't lose lots of little bits, so no drainage problems in the shower or on my pillow.  There were wispy bits left around the hairline so was great for beanies in the winter.  It has started to grow back now and any stragglers that were still there have fallen out with the new regrowth.  Good luck with your treatment and whatever way you decide to go.  There is no wrong decision here. xx
  • primek
    primek Member Posts: 5,392 ✭
    @Glen19 The prickly patches can be hair regrowth between cycles. 

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