Temporary hair loss but not forever alopecia

When my oncologist gave me the information sheet on my TC chemotherapy - Docetaxel & Cyclophosphamide - I did some research and read about male pattern baldness and the faulure to grow back at all. Panicke I contacted my oncologist and she told me that it was very rare, and the 6% figure. I don't actually call 6% rare...

I definitely think she was, and is, still 'handling' me as a patient. I wish she wouldn't. I'm an intelligent grown up and I should be allowed to weigh the pros and cons of my treatment myself. I'm a pretty compliant and obedient patient, which she should know by now.

As it turns out I like my bald look and have decided to rock a Sinead for a while... IF and when my hair starts to grow back. Docetaxel's a bitch.

Completely agree with all your comments. I certainly don't recall being told anything about the possibility of permanent hair loss , although I was aware it could happen.  I knew someone who now has very sparse hair oner the top of her head. Male pattern baldness, I guess. I'm not sure what chemo regime she had, but it was close to 10 years ago now, and that's as good as it's gotten unfortunately. 

To be utterly fair, most doctors see their role as preserving life. What makes a life worth living is extraordinarily varied, from person to person, circumstance to circumstance. And most doctors can't make that call for someone else. My oncologist gave me enough information about my chemo regime to scare me silent (no
mean feat). And written information too. At the time, I had virtually no experience with any serious illness, and like many people, no real idea of what I should be asking about. I have learned a fair bit over the years. As @primek once said on another matter, the importance of stats depends on which side of the line you fall. 94% chance of your hair regrowing sounds pretty good, unless you are in the 6%. Some people may be overloaded into not having treatment by too much information, others aren't provided with information they would value and need. We have for a long time placed much more emphasis on science and technique in medical training and not a lot on listening and empathy. One is most certainly not a substitute for the other but more of the latter may foster a climate of understanding about treating the whole person. 

Well girls I'm about to loose my hair for the 4th time. After being on chemo treatment for 6 years. It does upset me a bit , but being alive is more important.!!!   I'm  not  a wig or hat lover so I just shove something on my head before going out. This time I got to the stage where I could go without a cover up.but my hair will gradually fall out again. I think having no eyebrows worries me more. Then I remind myself that I'm still here and making the most of each day.

@Zoffiel I completely agree with your comments about the blasé attitude and vague comments of some oncologists, which sadly appears to be the case with mine.  I did not get told of the risk, in fact I was told I only had a 70% chance of losing my hair at all.  I do agree with your oncologist saying it can scare the hell out of some people with the horror stories, however if this drug is known for this permanent side effect, and there are other drugs that don't have the side effect, why are they still using it?  That's what I guess is upsetting me most - that this didn't need to happen to me or any others.  Thanks for letting me know there are other women who have commented about this on this site, I haven't actually been on an online forum yet to discuss as it's just been too difficult to face up until now, and I haven't scrolled through all the previous comments.  
@Sister Yes, I just trusted what was told to me, never ever thinking anything like this could ever happen.
Thanks so much ladies for your comments and support  :)

Again, it appears that we are too imbecilic to trust with making decisions about our own health and quality of life.  

@MarcieC I am so sorry to hear that. There are other women on the site who have similar issues and it is seriously affecting their quality of life. 

The rather blase attitude of some oncologists when it comes to 'non life threatening' side effects to some of these drugs is disturbing. I really like my oncologist, he's a great guy ( with a seriously distracting derriere that looks made for doing the Salsa ) but when the comes to some of the issues I'm having there seems to be an excessive amount of shrugging and vague statements that things will probably improve. Really? When?

I bailed him up last week and demanded to know what he does with the information I've given him. Where does it go? Is anyone keeping any stats on these peculiar 6% issues? Or are they just relying on the information the drug companies give them? Yes, there is a great deal of research dollars invested in the treatments, but what about all the weirdo things that happen. Why are we not given more information about the risks. His reply? It's hard enough to convince many patients to go ahead with chemo without scaring the hell out of them with horror stories. I'd like to think he was joking, but the smile was not convincing.

Thank you, yes I have seen that article, that lady has written a book about her hair loss from Chemo.  It seems like a lot of the articles are dated from a few years ago to back to 2006 (like you've mentioned) but not a lot since and nothing here in Australia.

I hadn't heard anything about permanent hair loss until my first appointment with oncologist who said she wouldn't use Docetaxol as it wasn't acceptable that some women's hair didn't grow back. I wouldn't have known any better if she was going to use it so am grateful for that. It would be a constant reminder & I don't think you would ever get used to it.

I was just trawling the net and found an article from the Telegraph from 2015 saying that people affected by this have been talking about it since 2006. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/wellbeing/healthadvice/11841436/I-survived-cancer-but-drugs-left-me-with-permanent-alopecia.html