Trying to get through the journey of growing my hair back
Hi all I am 6 months post chemo and I have hair, which I'm very happy about, however I am struggling with what to do with it. I used to have long brunette hair that I straightened every day (it had...
Women sometimes feel guilty about getting upset about hair loss. I was told that how I looked was the last thing I should be worried about during cancer treatment, and cold capping is a waste of time, it doesn't work, don't bother, it's not worth it,' That oncologist got sacked. For me ,and I'm sure for a lot of people, there was that element of appearance, but a lot about losing your privacy and having everybody else know what's going on. Yes, there are more important things but that doesn't make it any easier to get through. I have yet to meet any woman where losing their hair is not one of the first thoughts that go through their head when they are told they need chemo. There may be some, but I haven't met any. It's very personal and it affects some people more than others. Don't feel bad about it. Cold capping is difficult. It adds a whole extra level of stress for the entire time. You are so hopeful that this thing is going to work that each strand that falls makes you doubt it. The success rate is variable (they don't know why yet). The figures are roughly 50-60% success. That rate is considered keeping 50% or more of your hair. Everybody loses a lot of hair a day but we never pay any attention to it, add the extra shedding from chemo and that equals a lot of hair drop to freak you out. It is unfortunate that you really have to go in knowing as much as you can for yourself about the caps before you start. Some nurses are capping champions, some are not and some don't like them because it adds in more work so they aren't very particular. In some countries 80-90% of hospitals have caps and it's more unusual to not use it. The best person to control what's going on is you. I have put up some pictures so you can see how much actually shed out. It really didn't look like I had lost that much until it started to grow back. 1. Day 14 after chemo 1. Xmas day actually 2 Last day of chemo 3 About 4 months post final chemo, curly bits coming through 4. Probably about 12 months after chemo. That's the amount of hair that had shed all over which was a surprise.
All the best lovely. If you want any info just PM me. Happy to help if I can. xoxoxo
