Hair Loss

Hi Tonya, thanks for the compliment! i like the wig and have worn it to work and a few other places, but I am also loving scarves and my daughter reckons I really suit them! I even wore one out shopping this morning and felt fine about it! Hey, I have cancer, I have lost my hair, but I haven't lost my dignity and pride and if people don't like seeing me like this, then that is their problem, not mine!

So glad you can now pack your stuff away, lets hope it never sees daylight again!!

Take care xx

OMG Jenny- you look great! What a terrific wig and so natural looking. It's good to have one if you are going out somewhere special. I could only wear mine for a few hours at a time cos it irritated the hell out of me -would start scratching and get hot and sweaty.I sort of coped ok with the bald thing for 3 months and by then the novelty had well and truly worn off! My hair came through sooooo slowly that I had to cover my head for a further 4 months.In the end it nearly drove me nuts cos it was over summer and the heat cranked up the irritability. It's so liberating when you can go without stuff on your head.I've now packed all my head gear away in a plastic tub-packed away cancer so to speak.

Good luck with your next chemo.          

                               Tonya xx

OMG Jenny- you look great! What a terrific wig and so natural looking. It's good to have one if you are going out somewhere special. I could only wear mine for a few hours at a time cos it irritated the hell out of me -would start scratching and get hot and sweaty.I sort of coped ok with the bald thing for 3 months and by then the novelty had well and truly worn off! My hair came through sooooo slowly that I had to cover my head for a further 4 months.In the end it nearly drove me nuts cos it was over summer and the heat cranked up the irritability. It's so liberating when you can go without stuff on your head.I've now packed all my head gear away in a plastic tub-packed away cancer so to speak.

Good luck with your next chemo.          

                               Tonya xx

Hi Jen, so glad you've accepted your loss of hair well.   We are all so different, it can be a big thing to some and not to others.  I was like you, I didn't get overly emotional when I had my head shaved, I felt hair loss was the least of my problems at the time.  My pre-chemo hair was what I called "pancake" flat hair; took mega product and time to get any volume.   My post-chemo hair initially grew back quite wiry, but after a couple of months it settled down beautifully and now has so much more bounce and thickness, I absolutely love it and I wish the same for you.  Chin up, you are not alone. x

Just after my diagnosis, when I knew I was going to lose my hair to chemo, I asked my hairdresser to give me a funky farewell cut and colour.  So for the last few weeks of my hair, I had Lucille Ball red highlights and streaks on top of a milk chocolate base.  Looked good. 

My oncologist told me that I would start to lose my hair from about day 16 after I started AC and he was more or less right.  But before my hair started falling out my scalp felt horrible - itchy and sensitive and sore in places.  I thought that must have been the  follicles dying.  My hair was reasonably short but felt hot and heavy on my scalp. I went to my  hairdresser to shave it off but both of us chickened out and she gave me a really short cute pixie cut.  But I looked a bit like a brown and red chessboard due to the previous Lucy look.  A week later it was time to get it all off but I went to a different hairdresser and had what my nephews call a "number 1 all over".  The bloke that did it was shaved bald  so I thought he'd know what he was doing.

If I had to do this all over again (crossed fingers, toes and eyes that I don't) the thing I would do different is to have my head lathered and shaved down to the skin.  That's because until my hair completely fell out and stopped growing, which took a couple of months, I was picking tiny bits of stubble out of my hats, scarves, bras, etc.  That was so annoying.

I wasn't really keen on wigs.  Your wig looks great Jenny and I've seen some fabulous wigs on other women.

I picked up some hats and scarves from Myers and from Adelaide Hatters and a great online shop in Victoria called the Hat House.  The woman that runs it has had chemo too.  She has a great range and gets things out to you quickly.  I bought a couple of caps to wear to bed at night through winter.  My husband was better at the stylish scarf tying than I ever was.  I went a bit hat and scarf crazy and spent probably as much as a good quality wig but will probably wear some of this stuff this winter.

I was never game to look at my bald head and kept away from mirrors and reflective surfaces in the bathroom.  Everywhere else I covered up, including in the house.  I actually kept a spare beanie in my bag in case some lout ran off with my hat when I was out.  OK, paranoid I certainly was.  So, full marks to those of you who can go out in public bald.

As soon as I stopped AC last September my hair started growing back.  I was so pleased that I'd have hair for Christmas.  But after two rounds of Taxotere, it came out again, mainly on the sides and the back.  It kept falling out for a couple of months after I finished the Taxotere.  It was summer then so  I gave up the sleeping cap but had to vacuum hair off my pillow and sheets every morning.

January 13 this year was the day of my mastectomy and also the first day I started going out in public with my peach fuzz.  I'd seen a red carpet photo of Jennifer Saunders looking glamorous with peach fuzz after her chemo and she was my inspiration.

I had my first hair cut three weeks ago but it is taking forever to grow out.  It's too short to tell whether it's any curlier than before chemo but it is much, much greyer and maybe a bit thicker.  I've also got a solid grey streak now above my left temple.

All the best with your chemo, Jenny.

Helen.

Just after my diagnosis, when I knew I was going to lose my hair to chemo, I asked my hairdresser to give me a funky farewell cut and colour.  So for the last few weeks of my hair, I had Lucille Ball red highlights and streaks on top of a milk chocolate base.  Looked good. 

My oncologist told me that I would start to lose my hair from about day 16 after I started AC and he was more or less right.  But before my hair started falling out my scalp felt horrible - itchy and sensitive and sore in places.  I thought that must have been the  follicles dying.  My hair was reasonably short but felt hot and heavy on my scalp. I went to my  hairdresser to shave it off but both of us chickened out and she gave me a really short cute pixie cut.  But I looked a bit like a brown and red chessboard due to the previous Lucy look.  A week later it was time to get it all off but I went to a different hairdresser and had what my nephews call a "number 1 all over".  The bloke that did it was shaved bald  so I thought he'd know what he was doing.

If I had to do this all over again (crossed fingers, toes and eyes that I don't) the thing I would do different is to have my head lathered and shaved down to the skin.  That's because until my hair completely fell out and stopped growing, which took a couple of months, I was picking tiny bits of stubble out of my hats, scarves, bras, etc.  That was so annoying.

I wasn't really keen on wigs.  Your wig looks great Jenny and I've seen some fabulous wigs on other women.

I picked up some hats and scarves from Myers and from Adelaide Hatters and a great online shop in Victoria called the Hat House.  The woman that runs it has had chemo too.  She has a great range and gets things out to you quickly.  I bought a couple of caps to wear to bed at night through winter.  My husband was better at the stylish scarf tying than I ever was.  I went a bit hat and scarf crazy and spent probably as much as a good quality wig but will probably wear some of this stuff this winter.

I was never game to look at my bald head and kept away from mirrors and reflective surfaces in the bathroom.  Everywhere else I covered up, including in the house.  I actually kept a spare beanie in my bag in case some lout ran off with my hat when I was out.  OK, paranoid I certainly was.  So, full marks to those of you who can go out in public bald.

As soon as I stopped AC last September my hair started growing back.  I was so pleased that I'd have hair for Christmas.  But after two rounds of Taxotere, it came out again, mainly on the sides and the back.  It kept falling out for a couple of months after I finished the Taxotere.  It was summer then so  I gave up the sleeping cap but had to vacuum hair off my pillow and sheets every morning.

January 13 this year was the day of my mastectomy and also the first day I started going out in public with my peach fuzz.  I'd seen a red carpet photo of Jennifer Saunders looking glamorous with peach fuzz after her chemo and she was my inspiration.

I had my first hair cut three weeks ago but it is taking forever to grow out.  It's too short to tell whether it's any curlier than before chemo but it is much, much greyer and maybe a bit thicker.  I've also got a solid grey streak now above my left temple.

All the best with your chemo, Jenny.

Helen.