First date with oncologist

Hi Lou. I know the news of having to have chemo can be a real shock. My lump was 1.9mm. I had negative lymph nodes so I thought I would get away without having chemo. Alas, no. I too am hormone receptor negative but I am also HER2 positive. So 4 rounds of TC chemo every 21 days for me as well as Herceptin every 3 weeks for a year. I never had cold caps because they were not offered where I had chemo. My hair started loosening on day 14 of cycle 1 and was falling out by day 18. I have done two cycles so far. To date I have lost it in very select areas - mostly behind my ears. I didn't lose patches on top, rather my hair thinned a little up there. My scalp however started to really hurt. I had hair half way down my back and I think it was the weight of it that was causing the pain. I cut it to just above my shoulders and it was fine for a few days but then just started hurting again. I ended up shaving it and got instant relief from the soreness. Since I shaved it, it has actually kept growing. I have short red (my natural colour) stubble now, so maybe I won't lose as much as I thought I would. If it stays like this I think that if I hadn't shaved it I could probably have hidden any hair loss with what remains. In my case I don't regret shaving it because it made me more comfortable and I didn't have to clean up stray hair everywhere. My oncologist nurse told me up front that not all women lose ALL their hair, even those on the same chemo drugs can have different degrees of hair loss. Maybe you won't lose all of yours. Getting it cut short before chemo can help some women adjust. I now love my bald head. My work colleagues and friends are really used to it and we joke around about it quite a bit. Hey if it's good enough for guys to be bald why not girls? My new motto is Bald is the New Black. It has given me a really good excuse to splurge on new makeup, jewellery and wardrobe. I am also noticing for the first time more and more women, young and old, out and about who are rocking the bald look. It just doesn't seem as such a big deal as I thought it would be which has really surprised me. However everyone is different. I wish you all the best. Nadine