Hiya,
Well ive done it!,got my OH to shave my head last night, it was the hardest thing ever and I cried like a baby, but once it was done I felt better and my head doesn’t feel quite as sore today.Ive worn my wig for the 1st time today and my sister in law took me for a pedicure and the therapist commented on how nice my hair looked I couldn’t believe it!Why do we have to deal with this aswell as the rest of it,its just SOOO unfair.Ive got my 2nd EC tomorrow not sure how I feel about it,I hope the SE are not as bad this time but least this time tomorrow I can say 2 down 6 to go!!
xxx
Lorna I love your picture, I have a westie called Freddie & without him I dont think I would have got out of bed some days.Locket, well done on taking control of the hair loss, I found it the hardest thing of all , even worse in someways than chemo, it makes you look ill.My oncologist on seeing me in my wig for the first time after 1st chemo, said he thought I was having the cold cap, as my wig was the best he had seen, which made me feel better for a couple on minutes.My hair now starting to grow back, some 6 weeks after my last fec, but is white!! Just my luck. Good luck to all you who are having chemo this week, before you know it, it will be over. Lesley xx
Hi ladies. I was a wig wearer until two weeks ago whilst on a hot holiday I ditched the wig! I’m 3 and half months post chemo and I’ve got a great covering of hair. Yes it’s extremely short but I haven’t had people staring at me in the street so I’m happy with that! My eyebrows are back and I’m back shaving my legs very regularly (I really enjoyed not having leg hair) and my ladygarden is back in full bloom!!!
I just wanted to share with you that I found it truly awful and very upsetting when I lost my hair. I never shaved my head, it just all fell out when I washed it in the shower 21 days after fec 1 in January and I know 7 months seems a long time to be without hair and wearing wigs/scarves - it does come to an end. My hair is not grey but I think it will soon start curling and it’s soo soft like baby hair.
Another good website for scarves is surburban turban.
Keep your heads held high, we are strong women!
Rachel x
Hi I finished chemo 3 months ago and my hair hasn’t groen more than 1" yet so am still having to wear my wig . I find the velcro on it looses it’s stickiness very quickly and I have to sew it up to keep it on. I have also tried wearing hair slides to keep it on but doesn’t work so good when the velcro comes totally undone . You’d think they’d use a better way of fastening it. Anyone else have the same problem?
Hi Ladies, my first blog, am new to this and new to the Middle East. Bad timing all round really. Had my first chemo 10 days ago, and my scalp starting to feel sore in parts, is this how it goes before it all dissappears!!! have some hats and scarves at the ready, but where do you buy wigs? Any suggestions welcome.
Looking sensibly at things, I think I’m going to have to have chemo (will know for sure next week).
I know there isn’t such a thing as a daft question but where the heck do you get wigs from? I want to be prepared but don’t know where to start!!
Any help gratefully received!
Ax
my wig was a national Health one and got it at my hospital, but look on line too and Google shops, there are suprisingly quite a few out there! Hope all goes well!
My BCN recommended some shops that had private areas for chemo patients and I got an hour to myself with the wigger and my daughter. Some wig shops are for folk who just want a bit of a change, with a very public shop.
Thanks Ladies …I’ll start looking! Just drying my hair at the moment … Have a sneaky feeling that when it goes and comes back again …I’ll be grey!! Oh well in for a penny in for a pound!!
Ax
Hi, I had my first FEC on Wednesday, when can I expect hair loss and what comes out first?
Hello Angela68
It is the “E” in FEC that takes away the hair. Usually the hair lost starts on day 14 following the first FEC. I experienced a sore scalp and strands of hair coming out when I combed. There are quite a few posts in the forum about hair loss and coping with hair loss. I ended up shaving all my hair off as it became to upsetting for me. I got a wig prescription from the hospital and used a local supplier who had set up a business to provide dignity for hair loss sufferers. I wear the wig everyday and get some lovely compliments about it. Some people prefer scarves.
Good luck with everything.
Debs
hi,
i wear a wig all day quite often, the more you wear it the more used to it you will get.i could have sailed through all this but for the hair loss, that, frankly, is devastating.
tips;;
to refurbish a synthetic wig thats getting scrappy at the back where it rubs the neckline, steam it for a few seconds over the kettle, this works like a conditioner.take it easy at first, remember its nylon and can frizz.
get it trimmed when you have worn it a while , not straight away
wash gently by hand and use a bit of fabric conditioner .
izzy xxx
Thank you Izzy, I’m just starting to think about washing mine. Do you use normal shampoo?
I got special wig shampoo with mine but I think any gentle shampoo would do, and a little fabric conditioner in the last rinse.
only use shampoo if it’s human hair.
man made does well with a little hand wash liquid and softner. don’t brush it, just finger through it.
Hi there
I am 23 mths post diagnosis, and i can safely say that losing my hair and my breast was the most horrid thing that has happened to me so far!
As someone pointed out earlier, you would have thought that with all the money ploughed into cancer research, that they would have come up with some drugs that do not cause hair loss…
It is for some women, the most devastating part of the process…as it is not just about losing hair, it is about identity and self confidence also.
I empathise with all of you who are struggling with losing your hair right now…
Naz x
Chemotherapy attacks the cells that are most active and that includes cancer cells, hair folicles, mouth, and many others. As far as I know there is only the cold cap (scalp cooling method) that is said to help to prevent hair loss and that is only because it freezes the scalp and prevents the drug reaching the folicles. (excuse spelling)
I personally think that losing my hair will be a small price to pay to get rid of this cancer but I do agree that it has been one of the worst parts of the process so far (but I still have surgery to face)
I think it is because it is such a visible sign of what we are going through and I felt that I was losing my identity and with it all my confidence in facing my family, friends etc.
Having said all that, I have now been wearing a wig for 2 weeks and everyone is used to it, including me.
I agree with you Super. I would of course prefer not to have lost my hair, but was expecting it and prepared. I know it will grow back. To me it’s a small price to pay if the cancer is zapped and has little chance of recurrence.
By the way, I washed my synthetic wig this afternoon. As it’s drying it’s starting to look like new. Wore my stand-by wig this afternoon for the first time, which to me really looks wiggy, but OH really likes it and prefers it to my grown up one. At least I can ring the changes -one is blonde,short and styled, the other is longer, highlighted and layered, more fun, but i think a bit young for me - hey ho.
Slendablenda -if OH really likes it, then it must be good. Three years ago I used to spend a lot of time straightening my hair. We went to Italy one year and it rained all day and my hair dried curly. My OH said he preferred it that way, said it made me look more relaxed. So I stopped straightening it. I’ve yet to see a wig that looks like my natural curly hair so have gone for one that looks like my hair was when I straightened it. However, I ordered “cheap” wig off ebay that arrived this weekend. Very blonde - lets see what OH thinks of that when he comes home on Monday!
Hi I had a free wig on the nhs, which is ok, but I bought a better one from simply wigs,com for about £200, which is really good, everyone says it looks real. I wash mine in a bit of washing up liquid, then let it dry over night, give a shake and away to go. The hair lose is the worse thing for me, but its now coming back 6 weeks post chemo, but is grey:). I got a lot of bandanas to wear but never wear them out of the house as I dont feel comfortable in them, feel like people will know what Im going through & dont wont that.Anna bandana do really good ones that are not expensive, so if you dont wear them you have not wasted too much money.