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Monkeygirl's avatar
Monkeygirl
Member
13 years ago

Round 3 - Radiation

Finally finished my 12 rounds of taxol on the 3rd December, have my first radiation session tonight.  I did really well on the taxol, minimal side effects other than fatigue.  My hair even started growing back about 4 weeks into it.  Strange thing is though my  eyebrows and eyelashes fell out completely a few days after Xmas (about 3 weeks after my last chemo!).  I was pretty surprised by this (not that you could tell by looking at me, lol no eyebrow joke) however after reading up on it this happens to a lot of women after taxol.  Also discovered that they may grow back and then fall out again several times yet.  My hair is about an inch long now, however very thin and very grey, (was dark brown with a bit of grey before) so dont know if this is a permanent change or not.  Just starting to feel smug about being so hairy when the whole eyebrow/eyelash thing happened.  That will teach me.  I am trying not to worry about things that I can do nothing about, but feel very unhappy when i look in the mirror.  So yes I know, stop looking!  Funny thing is I never really minded when my head hair fell out, but no face hair really bothers me.  

4 Replies

  • LouiseTurner's avatar
    LouiseTurner
    Member
    13 years ago
    Hi ladies, I found you tube videos helpful to recreate eyebrows. No one notices they are drawn on unless I mention it. I also found on you tube how to put on false lashes. These are available at Priceline and some chemists, miss shop actually had the best ones to date. They last up to 4-5 times. Around $10. Really easy to put on after some practice. I use a dark eyeshadow to cover the adhesive area. Also, use the glue, not self adhesive ones as they have a dark line. Looking at yourself with no facial hair is horrible, the change with eyebrows and lashes is quite amazing. Cheers Louie
  • Monkeygirl's avatar
    Monkeygirl
    Member
    13 years ago

    I did the Look Good session, it was good but they never really covered NO eyebrows or lashes.  Tattoos sound interesting, i thought I might go to Myers or somewhere similar and buy an eyebrow pencil, and they can show me how to put it on.  Hmmm, not keen to be sitting there in public doing it, anyway at least it is something I can do right away.  I know what you mean about the makeup, and I must confess I havent worn any at all for a long time.  Thanks for the advice, I hope you are doing great now.  Jenny.

  • Monkeygirl's avatar
    Monkeygirl
    Member
    13 years ago

    Hi Janice, thanks for some good news!  I've read so much about people having ongoing problems with them it's nice to hear of someone who grew them back 'just as they were'.  My eyes water a bit but not too bad, hope they stay that way.  Hope you're doing well now.  Jenny.

  • lutte's avatar
    lutte
    Member
    13 years ago

    Hi

    Mine fell out half way through Taxol, I hated not having eyebrows and eyelashes, my eyes watered so much sometimes I could hardly see. As soon as I finished Taxol, within about 10 days they started to grow back very quickly. My eyebrows came back a lot thicker than they had been, but thinned out again, to be exactly like they were pre Taxol, unfortunately as I liked having the thicker ones. Everyone seems to be different. Cheers Janice