hi all
im due 2nd chemo on tuesday
my hair is really falling now,got a bit upset
so do i have a number 4 clip all over? or what do i do
do people just let it fall and wash down the plug to keepit as long as possible
my hairdresser cant come till monday anyway
i have already had a short crop
i have a birthday party to go to in a bit so im going to keep a baseball cap on. im so sorried it will fall out all over i will be so embarressed
my head is sore
Hi Lincs Lady,
So so sorry, Know how you feel.
I was on Epi and my hair started to fall out on day 14. I couldn’t bear seeing it in the plug hole or coming out when I brushed my hands through. I had my wig at the ready and then took the scissors to it and cut it as short as I could. I felt so much better for taking control. A couple of days later, I got a friend to shave my head!
I was so relieved that that inevitable bit was over. I could then concentrate on how to deal with the treatment. The thought of hair loss had been my overriding concern.
I think it is best to take control. If the hair is going to go it is going to go!
I am now on my second round of CMF and my hair is coming back quite healthily.
Good luck
Sheila x
thanks sheila
even though i was ready for it, it is horrid
i will have to bare it until hairdresser monday
did you have a number 1 all over or a bit longer?
helen
Hi Lincs Lady,
I remember this clearly and looking back it was a very traumatic time.
I had my second FEC on a Tuesday and by the Thurday I looked like I had Mange, what was left of my hair had an awful texture and looked very untidy so I went to my hairdresser who cut my wig (he’d done the Trevor Sorbet course) then gave me a number one all over, how I sat in the salon and didn’t cry I don’t know, it was full of ladies having their lovely locks preened, but I did feel better afterwards as the inevitable was over. That was 5th December last year (memorable day) I never did wear my wig.
On the bright side now almost a year on I have thick very curly hair about 3 inches long.
I feel for you
x
My wife Janet asked me to do it for her and it was nice that i could do that. I gave her a no.1 with small electric clippers (beard trimmer). It was only about 3 days after it started to fall out, but was already becoming noticeable.
I think she felt better for losing it on her terms rather than having it slowly deteriorate. By the time another week had gone by, there were some patches where there was no hair at all, so it would probably have looked bad if I had taken any less off. It saved me from keep having to unblock the drains as well. 
She is actually having fun with it all now. She has bought some cheap, brightly coloured wigs for parties and meals out (£8.50 from a stall on the market), and a range of nice hats and scarves for other times. She is taking great pleasure in watching people (strangers) squirm when she takes her hat off after they have said something really naff.
She is rather amazing, but I know the attitude she adopts is helping her a lot. She says that if her eyebrows go when she starts the tax next week, she will draw on some angry zig-zag ones.
Hello Lincs Lady
My thoughts go out to you too. I remember it well. When my hair suddenly came out(it all seemed to come away from my head at once when I washed it and hung there like a matted birds nest!!)my hairdresser was most unhelpful and couldn’t see me for an emergency clip!! (Now my short curly locks are starting to appear I have taken my business elsewhere!!) Looking back this was a good thing as my sister-in-law managed to cut my hair off short that day at her house and then later that evening my husband took the clippers to me (like Gingery I looked like had the mange - very brave of you having it done in the shop by the way Gingery!!)
Have you booked a headstrong session yet? I really do recommend it! The ladies there are so very helpful and can teach you how to look after your scalp as well as various wonderful techniques for tying scarves and wearing hats and hair pieces. I found a baseball cap ok for around the house but I felt too exposed around my neck to comfortably wear it out and about. Everyone’s different though. However, at headstrong I was shown options that I never new existed!!
Good luck Lincs Lady!!! Below is a link to the Headstrong page…
breastcancercare.org.uk/about-us/our-services/local-support/headstrong/
E x
Hi
I have just had my 3rd fec my hair started falling out just before my 2nd. Like many of you I thought about shaving it but due to other commitments I could not get to hari dressers.
I could not get on with the wig and I am no good a tying the scarves so I found some thin beanie hats in Millits which I am wearing. I still have some hair around the fringe area which is good because I can wear it sticking out the hat.
I had not expected to feel bad about losing my hair and was suprpiresed by how it effected me. However one I found the right haed gear I feel much safer and better.
Hi, Had 2nd FEC and cold cap last week. Losing lots when I run my hands through it! (something I’m trying not to do!) But also crown area is very thin!! Wearing hats and scarves tied into headbands at the moment!! But I can ssee the day coming that I say bye-bye to it all!! …and it hurts sooo much!! really just want give it a good scratch!! Still not sure what to do on the wig front or just stick to scarves and winter hats??? Although lots of you on here look like you have fab ones, you really can’t tell!!
Sarah xx
Hi Lincs Lady - my hair started falling out two weeks after my first chemo and the day it started really coming out we were having friends up. Whilst they were around i phoned up my hairdresser who was amazing (he had already cut my hair to a bob for nothing) told me to come straight in and gave me a No1 ( my photo is taken shortly after) and i have to say i really liked it - it was horrific on the day but you get used to it. I had a wig ready, i have only worn it once to one of my daughters plays at school but i found it really uncomfortable and have been bald most of the time, i really enjoy finding scarves and hats - matalan do a good range! XX
its horrid. mine went on day 17 as my head throbbed and i felt the wind blowing it off my head so my husband shaved my head. we went to a number 1 in stages. it felt much better altho i hated looking at myself. i am now 6 weeks post chemo and i have about 1.5cm of hair- more than in the picture. I like it!! its a bit patchy and brown and white but its coming back fast.
That will be you as soon as all this is over and to be fair you do get used to it and the most irritating thing was deciding what to put on my head to go out!!
The sore head feeling does last a bit even when you shave it as the stubble rubs on your pillow but it didnt last.
Good luck for the rest of treatment
S
Thanks,
Its really nice and reassuring so see others on here going through the same thing… and especially coming through it!!
When you first find out you think you are the only one… It’s good to share our thoughts and worries with others that truely understand
S xx
Hope you dont mind me hopping in…I finished my chemo 18 months ago and now have the thickest lushest loose curled hair ever. I absolutely love it. Much better hair than I had before, bit darker but its great!
Good luck to all you ladies going through treatment at the moment, I thought it would never end. Now it seems long ago
xxxxxxxx
We set up a “Just Giving” sponsorship page to raise money for this charity, to do a sponsored head shave - we raised about a grand in ten days!
take control and get in there and shave it is my best advise.
thankyou everyone
well i sat at the party with my cap on hoping it wouldnt shed all over my jumper lol
so i came home rang my friend with her clippers
we started with a number 4 and finished with a number 2
it is still coming out so im sure will be bald before long
its ok actually im just worried about school runs
i worry too much about what people think im sure
thanks for the link too, elsbeth i think it was
i will look that up
Hi Lincslady.
I was very worried about what people would think, but I have to say no-one at all comments on the wig, and I have been told it looks just like my own hair, although it doesn’t always feel like that to me. I am a teacher and have been going in to work wearing the wig. The children have not batted even an eyelid and they do not hold back with their comments. Many a time it has been suggested I get my roots seen to!
It is awful at the start but you will deal with it and it will be over one day.
Take care,
Sheila x
hi
well i put wig on to walk the dog today
i hated it
i got a headache with in 5 mins
i dont like the way it sits
if i pat the back of my head the whole thing goes in, its hard to explain
and i feel there is too much on top but if it was thinned down you would see through it?
i dont know what to do
people are used to seeing me with a baseball cap so do i just do that? its pretty obvious there is no hair round the back though
oh i hate all this
Hello Lincs Lady
I hated it when my hair fell out. I had a nice wig which also seemed to have too much hair in it so my hairdresser thinned it out and it looked much better. It wasn’t ever really comfortable though so I only wore it for best.
I’m copying below some notes I put on this forum a few times with advice about good places to get different types of head coverings.
‘I have bought stuff from Headcovers.com. They are American but their stuff arrives very quickly. Especially nice are their sleep caps and the terry cotton sleep cap I got from them is the most comfortable thing I’ve got and I wear it around the house during the day. I’ve also bought some lovely Indian cotton scarves from theindiashop.com. (You need to phone the number on the site to order the 3 scarves offer). Their scarves are pretty and also soft and comfortable. Under my scarves I sometimes wear a cotton quilted skullcap I got from headlinehats.co.uk. The skullcap gives more shape when you wear a scarf and also provides extra warmth.
There is a very good leaflet from this breast cancer site – if you call the helpline – about hair loss which also shows you how to tie a scarf.’
Good luck. Anthi x
thankyou
i will look up those sites
lincs lady - I have used Bohemia fashions on line, but the best things I have bought are the pashminas (you can normally get 3 for £5) and loads of colours and wrap the longer side back over your head and rouch it - I have so many comments when I where these. The rouching gives your head a bit of height and looks quite nice. I tie it to one side!
Jayney
xx
I bought a thing called a Buff from Black’s outdoor shop.They have them in different fabrics and colours/patterns and come with a leaflet of different ways to wear them.I had a very soft jersey one in orange and black but you can get fleece ones too for when it is cold.I had 2 wigs and I hated them,I only wore them a couple of times.I never had any comments when I went out bald and found I didnt care who saw me like that.