How Long After Treatment Began Did You Lose Your Hair?
Very quickly. Exactly 2 weeks after my first treatment
Did You Lose It Gradually or Very Quickly?
Very quickly. I lost it in thirds and it took 1 week.
What Was Your First Reaction When You Noticed the Loss?
I was very angry because I was told by my nurse I wasn't on the kind of chemo that causes hair loss(docetaxil and cisplatin (sp?)). It was incredibly disappointing. I lost it so quickly, in thirds so I had my hairdresser shave my head to stop seeing it in the drain and stop crying over so much loss.
Were You Tempted to Shave Your Head? Did You Do It?
Yes. it helped to lessen the depression of watching all my hair in the drain. I became empowered by shaving my head. I stopped the crying but it's 8 weeks since my last treatment and I still am bald! It's coming in fuzzy and white.
Did You Choose to Wear a Head Covering or Not?
Yes. People were staring at me so now I have 2 wigs. One long natural hair one that looked like my real hair for when I returned to work. Now I am wearing a more comfortable shorter fake hair wig. I get lots of compliments on my "new cut" so I tell people at work that I will be going shorter soon. I guess they can't tell or are being polite.
As soon as I get home I pull the wig off and put on a knit hat. I am much more comfortable in it and I sleep in it but never wake up with it on. I like to let my scalp breathe.
How Did Losing Your Hair Affect Your Everyday Life?
It was, and still is the worst thing to go through. Like adding insult to injury. I had lung cancer and the entire affected lung was removed leaving me cancer free but due to the large size of the tumor (10.5cm, stage 2b), I had to undergo 4 cycles of chemo. It was horrible. It still is. I won't see my boyfriend until I feel comfortable with enough hair growth. He says I am ridiculous but I just can't. It's like I am still going through treatment until I have some hair. I lost it on every inch of my body except a little eye brows and eye lashes. It's taking sooo long to get past this!
Advice
- Do your own research about the poison you will be getting. If the nurse tells you something won't happen, don't take her/his word for it. Check on it yourself. It would be easy to say relax and don't stress out but that can't be helped especially with the steroids that are given. There is nothing you can do to avoid it. If you start to see loss, go get a couple of wigs and make sure they are comfortable. I started wearing one with half my hair intact and it was very uncomfortable but once I shaved my head, it fit much better.
