What Chemo do you have? Do you still have hair?

Hi Harebellle.

I lost all my hear after my first cycle of  chemotherapy, I had 4 cycles of chemotherapy and immunotherapy combined. My profile documents the meds. I finished my combined treatment at the end of April, and I continued with my cycles of immunotherapy for the next 18 months. 

loosing my hair didn’t bother me at all, it started to grow back mid August and it’s very healthy.  When I lost my hair I got loads of brilliant bright hats to wear and I loved that, I had some lovely comments about my hats and encouraged people to speak to me even if it was just to say that’s a nice hat. Just by people speaking to me about my hats made me feel a lot less isolated, so that for me was positive. Now my hair is growing back I have fun with friends and family by measuring weekly how much my hair has grown, at the moment I’m at about 3mm which means I’m doing better than some male friends and family who’s hair is receding, so my line is I might have lost my hair to this process but I get a chance to grow it back, I don’t know what their line is but they remain loosing hair, and I gain more every week.

to be totally truthful as it has been so hot this summer I think I benefitted from not having my hair, and I never entertained a wig, no offence but I felt wigs harbour gems and were unhygienic so I never wanted one. I was never precious about my hair so long as it was clean and well kept  that’s all that mattered to me. For me it was more about my makeup and perfume and dresses, sorry but I’m a bit of a girly girl. I never give up my makeup and perfume even on a bad day.

I hope this helps. 

Donna

That's okay who needs nose hair lol

Another factor to consider is the dosage.  If you are on a lower dose than "normal" then the side effects are less likely.  

I had radiotherapy and temozolomide and it was actually the radiotherapy that caused me to lose some hair not the chemotherapy. I didn’t lose all of it either, my oncologist said that chemotherapy doesn’t cause everyone to lose their hair anyway