I have IBC

I know what you mean about the dead-looking hair thing, Wendy. I was told that my hair would fall out by my second chemo treatment. I remember getting a tingly, sore scalp for about a week before the treatment, but it didn't fall out. I remember going in to see my onco and saying, "Look! Hair!" His comforting response was that it would fall out soon.

I kept it for another week after that by not touching it - didn't brush it, didn't wash it. Luckily, this was midwinter. I can remember sitting having a coffee with my husband and watching hairs slowly drift away one by one and thinking, "You silly moo! You're just prolonging the agony." So the next day I got into the shower and rubbed it and rubbed it for about 20 minutes. Every time I looked at my hands they were covered in hair that looked like a Jex pad when you've left it in water too long. I can remember taking the long, long walk to the mirror to see how I looked and being surprised to see how much was left. The really strange thing was how strong and jubilant I felt. I was so excited when I rang my husband to tell him what I'd done. Even weirder was his reaction. He was as excited as I was!

The next morning my darling husband flooded the bathroom when he had his shower. I thought I'd cleaned out all the dead hair, but apparently not. So there's a side-effect of chemo not much spoken about!

Best wishes

Sue