Hi everyone
I’m due to start chemo but as I’ve opted to go private (only because my company pay and the hospital is much easier to travel to) I will miss out on the NHS wig voucher. Can anyone tell me how much wigs are? Am i losing out on a lot by not going with NHS?
Do you manage with just one wig?
I know I have plenty of other things to worry about but I need to get this sorted - daft I know!
Linda
x
I am private too, my company pay for it as well, when I looked at wigs they were anything from £50 to £700. I am going for a consultation tomorrow so I can let you know more then if it will help.
I started chemo yesterday so very new to all this too.
Jo
x
Hi Linda I am also having private treatment thanks to employers health INS so I had to buy my own wig. I was worried about the cost but the synthetic wigs range from about 100 to 200 pounds for really lovely wigs, and you will have the VAT taken off which will make it a bit cheaper. I have only bought one but I am only just losing my hair so don’t know how well it will last- hoping as it will be spring and summer through treatment I can get by with sun hats and scarves at least some of the time! I paid £97, not much more than it cost last time I had foils to colour my hair so I didn’t think that was too bad
Sue
Hi Linda,
I did a recce to try on some wigs a couple of weeks before chemo started. From what I saw you can pick one up from approx £80 and they looked ok. As I’m not on any benefits I had to pay the NHS prescription charge of £60 towards my wig - as I knew that would be all I would pay, I didn’t have to think about the cost and just concentrate on the comfort, style & colour. I believe mine retails at around £160, so it was good to have the voucher.
I only got the one because it can be washed & dried overnight and, I’m hoping not to need it for too long. I also wear scarves & a buff.
There’s various specific wig shampoos & conditioners that I was lead to believe would hike the cost but luckily, my supplier said mine can be washed in regular Dove shampoo & dipped in normal fabric conditioner. It might be worth asking about that when shopping around.
Hope this helps xx Chris xx
Thank you everyone - some really useful bits of info
I think I’ll go and do a bit of research this weekend - my BCN has given me the names of two shops.
Why I thought you need a collection of wigs is beyond me! All my common sense seems to have left me at the moment - did this happen to anyone else?
Jo - please let me know how you do - everyones ideas/thoughts etc are so useful to me.
Love to you all
Linda
Will do. My common sense and memory have totally gone since my diagnosis. I keep walking into rooms with no idea why I am there and having the same conversation twice with no recollection of the first time. Its awful I feel like I have lost my mind!
Jo
x
I also had my treatments privately and when I asked my BC nurse about wigs I was given a voucher for the local wig shop. I got my NHS wig and bought another one for £320 - don’t really know why - I just needed to at the time. I used the cold cap and consequently didn’t need the wigs as I managed with hats and scarves. I intend to donate my NHS wig and looked at selling the one I bought but the prices on ebay were really low. Never had much common sense - now it’s non existant and my memory isn’t too good either!!
Hi cadi- I assume you know about the WIgbank? The people there are always very grateful for unwanted wigs
I am now on my 4th NHS one! I am allowed 2 per year at £60 each and personally have been very satisi-ifed with them - though certainly very unhappy about still needing a wig. I’m one of the rare specimens whose hair has not recovered, 2 years down the line, from chemotherapy (and now on Arimidex) - so I still wear a wig whenever I go out- not being a fan of the pink scalp and whispy strands look.
I idd pay £200 for a better quality wig from a specialist shop but was very disappointed with it- it was fine in the salon but after an hour’s wear was stopping the circulation to my head! As it had been trimmed etc there was no chance of a refund and even after stretching it was still too tight- a very expensive mistake - but at least someone else did get to wear it in the end.
Hello
just to add, i also had my initial treatment privately and was told by my BC nurse at the private hospital to ask my GP re the wig token.
Also when i did look at wigs I took a note of the names/sizes and styles and found the same much cheaper on the net direct from the supplier. I did this because the wig seller i went to turned out to be really not very nice and a bit of a con.
lastly some cancer organisations like Haven/Maggies re cycle wigs ( they are washed etc before being handed out recycled)
rx
Hello Ladies,
Im too having my treatment privately, my insurance company said i was covered what they call a ‘appliance benefit’ which was up to the value of £250.00, and guess what yes a ‘wig’ is classed as an appliance, i got myself 2 wigs and claimed for them both back in full,
so give your insurance company a ring, its worth a phone call
best wishes
Donna
xx
Hi Everyone
Can I ask you to look at my posting on the chemo site with regard to ‘My New Hair’ Trevor Sorbie is coming to the Wigan area to talk about wigs and cutting them. (Not sure if anyone lives in the surrounding area) x
Hello,
I bought a new with tags Raquel Welch wig on ebay for about £20.00 it was the best thing ever, I wore it all of the time and I swear no one ever noticed as I had my hair cut in the same style prior to it falling out. I also had a NHS wig which was good, but the Raquel one was really good, and looked good too.
Best wishes to all,
Rachel.
I also have a Rachel Welsh wig and I agree it has been fantastic, very realistic and have been out in all weathers and it has never blown off lol.
Topsymo… I too am someone who’s hair is not recovering after chemo, I am now 7 monthes since last chemo and am like you, pink scalp and whispy strands. I have been told that I am only entitled to one NHS wig per treatment of chemo so will have to buy my own from now on. Where do you get your 2 wigs per year from? Is it from your GP? Am wondering if it’s a regional thing.
Tigs x
Hello Tigs: I have been treated at the Leicester Royal Infirmary and the reduced price wigs there are available to cancer patients there for as long as they need them-as far as I know. I just have to ask- don’t need a note from my onc or to be seen by anyone. The chemotherapy dept. there is pants - but the wigs are good- swings and roundabouts I guess!
I’ve now had 4 NHS subsidised wigs over the past 2 years: my hair IS growing but is still very thin, particularly on the crown- nothing like it was pre BC. I am hopeful that it may continue to thicken - a little - but whilst I’m on Arimidex it’s never going to be good enough for me to feel comfortable, going wigless.I understand my age is also against me- I was 65 when I had chemo. My wig is a Henry Margu and I have had compliments about my hair style - before I’ve revealed my guilty secret!
Hi Linda, I had a consultation on Friday with the most lovely lady ever. She is going to cut my hair short for me on Monday and fitted me with a real hair and something (I can’t remember what!) mix wig which was almost exactly my hair colour which she will cut into style as soon as I need it. She was very knowledgeable and sympathetic (I cried for the 1st bit) and saw me in a private room.
She fitted the wig for me although I have very thick hair at the moment so it didn’t sit as well as it should but that will sort itself out when my hair goes. I do feel slightly better about the whole thing but will still be crying when my hair is cut on Monday and will be in pieces when it starts falling out. What area are you in? Let me know if I have forgotten anything that you want to know.
Jo
x
Tigs,
I understood from the get-go that we’re all entitled to an NHS wig every six months - if still required & Macmillan Info Leaflet ‘Coping with Hairloss’ (page 25-25) seems to confirm this. However, the following is from NHS Choices Website “There are no nationally set limits on the number of wigs a patient can have from the NHS. However, there is nothing preventing local NHS organisations from setting their own limit”.
nhs.uk/nhsengland/Healthcosts/pages/Wigsandfabricsupports.aspx.
Hope this helps. Chris
am yet to start thinking about wigs but think my brain has gone as I read the above post as having “Raquel Welch” wigs… and started to wonder who else i could get… do they do lady gaga?
I got my wig with the help of Toni and Guy hair salons. I got my wig in October 2009. Since then they have gone in partnership with macmillans. They will help you select a wig and style it.
Th stylist came to the wig shop with me and spent over an hour with me and my daughter trying on different wigs. She advised me on style and colour as well.
My wig was lovely. Only trouble was winter of 2009/10 was very old and I didn’t wear it as much as I thought I would as it was too cold. Ended up wearing my scarves more than my wig.
They are certainly worth a look, you can find your nearest salon via macmillans website
Marian
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Hi everyone, if one more person says to me “ooooh I like your hair”,
I think i will SCREAM,
No seriously my wig is so good, even though I say it my self, it looks like my real hair,
I got it from a place called Trendco, in Birmingham, I dont know where there other outlets are but I am sure they have some,
now when I say my wig looks exactly like my own hair thats a bit of a lie, because my own hair was very dark and short, my wig is a graduated bob, and chocolate with frost hi-lites, when the lady bought it out to me and said “this will look beautiful on you” I looked at it and thought n0, but when I tried it on it looked beautiful and I thought do you know what by the time i need to wear it I am going to NEED to think I look good,if that makes sense, so whilst a complete change wouldnt be for everyone, I went for it because do you know what? the treatment took my own hair, but I dont care about that anymore because I cheated the treatment my new hair looks even better, lol
All the best ladies, go for it, love Liz xxxxx