Forum Discussion

gurneys's avatar
gurneys
Member
10 years ago

Chemo round two of six

Had my second round of chemo yesterday. It appears that my hair is starting to fall out quite considerably despite the cooling cap, as was suspected with this drug combo. You wouldn't know it if you didn't know me well as my head is still quite well covered (I usually have a LOT of hair) but those that do know me know how much it has thinned. And my family has seen the trail of hair around the house...lol

So I made the way to the wig shop yesterday to try on a few and bought a few headscarves etc. I'm anticipating that within the next couple of weeks I'm just going to say stuff it and shave it off. It will make life easier I think. Don't like the feeling of the cooling cap and it doubles the treatment time.

Don't let that turn you off trying it though if you are given the option. It works well for some, just not for others. :)

Did I mention I'm putting on weight? Not happy about that. Funny how I always associated cancer with weight loss but not with me. Weight gain it is. Yay (sarcastic). It just adds insult to injury doesn't it?

5 Replies

  • Yeah, chemo used to be all the nausea all of the time. A couple of kilos is worth avoiding that.

    If it makes you feel any better I gained 3kg rapidly after diagnosis and have gradually put on another 2 from stress eating. I haven't even started chemo! I'll be a whale on the other side so you're already faring better than I am in that department! Guess what. World can deal with it. Deal with my flubber butt. Flubber it around, flubber it at y'all. I wanted to shop for new clothes anyway. Hahaha

     

    xox Rebecca

  • Hi there,

    oh I hear you on the gaining weight front. Felt like I was the fattest cancer patient on earth (slight exaggeration but that's how I felt) Because of an existing medical condition for which I was being given steroids, and because chemo made me so ill, I was put on very high doses of cortisone for longer than normal. I was so bloody sick, couldn't keep anything down but was still gaining weight! Ggggrrrr. 

    I went nude nut when my hair fell out. The wig annoyed me and I think for me, it was partly me recognising and accepting what was happening to me. Plus I rocked bald! Good luck with it all. Karen xox

  • Hi, 
    I did the cold cap thing as well but still lost pretty much all my hair, and like you I had heaps of it to start with. I totally got to that point where I wanted to get rid of the last few straggly bits that were clinging on and stop doing the cold cap (I hated the extra time it added to the chemo too) but my husband and the chemo nurses convinced me to stick with it.

    I'm glad I did in the end because even though it didn't save my hair, it helped it grow back much faster. By the last chemo it was starting to grow back a little and about six weeks after chemo was over it was starting to grow back really well. 

    It's been just one year now since my last chemo and I have a full head of healthy hair that came back just as strong as ever. 

    So, whilst I still hated the whole cold cap experience I think it did help in the long run.

    Good luck and I wish you all the best :)

    Susan

  • Unfortunately it's not uncommon to put on weight during chemo. The steroid effect. I was actually "lucky" and lost about 8 kg during chemo, and a couple mor since. Plenty to go though, lol. 

    Cold caps weren't an option where I am, so my hair started to go day 12 of my 1st cycle, and had it clipped a couple of days later. 5&1/2 months after my last chemo, and it's still only about 2cm long. I got used the the ease of no hair, and don't plan on letting it get too long again

    Take care, L

  • Hi - I liked going the full monty on top - I think it looked better than the scraggly remains I had!  Wig is good too; what I have really liked doing is being a bit creative and sewing my own head scarves - now have a nice selection of polka dots, paisley, slinky satin, leopard print... I say go for it!

    Leanne