Hair

[DianneS]

growth......

questions here about hair.....I finished Taxotere/Carboplatin in March, 09. Hair on head is still only about 1" or so. Not much. Still wear a wig so people will know I'm a female. Hardly any eyebrows and eyelashes are patchy.

How loooonggggg does this take?????

Diannes

[Becky]

No matter how long it takes, its always too long.

I did not take Herceptin concurrently with chemo - I began Herceptin about 4 months after chemo and 2 months after rads. I felt after I started Herceptin, I did not need haircuts as often. That said, I had my last chemo at the end of January. At the end of May I had enough hair to have a trim and I stopped wearing my wig. My hair was very pixie short (I called it Art gallery owner short). I did not start Herceptin until June that same yr (2005) so that may be affecting you a bit. By the time I had my pixie hair, my brows and lashes were in. However, I had AC followed by Taxol. It may make a difference too.

Keep the faith. This is the worst time in my opinion. This too will pass and we will all be here to help make the time go by as painlessly as possible.

Big hug to you.

[Gerri]

I wore my wig for about 10 months. I finally had enough and decided to give it a go with only about an inch and a half of hair - super curly, I called it my 'bad perm from the 80's look' (Becky's Art Gallery owner look sounds more glamorous). I can't remember if my eye lashes and eyebrows were in to stay at that point (I lost them a total of 3 times), but makeup did a lot to camouflage the fact that they were missing. My hair came back darker than before and is as full as ever.

It all comes back, it just seems like it takes forever.

[DonnaD]

I finished treatment in March like you and I went without my wig for the first time in July (I had Taxol only with one yr of Herceptin not T/C). I always had straight thin hair and that is exactly how it came back. I was counting on curls. It was very fine and spikey to begin with. It did come in very gray but that did not last long. I did have a rinse put on and once that was out my original color was back.

As far as the eyebrows and eyelashes go they never did return like before. My eyebrows go to the arch and then nothing. This does not bother me. I have given up trying to use an eyebrow pencil, because they never matched. Lashes are half the lenght they were before and thin. I can wear mascara though.

I said once my hair was back I would never complain about hair again. That lasted about 3 months. That being said you will get back to normal honest, it just takes a bit more time. You are almost there and we are cheering you on!!!

[DianneS]

Thank you all..............you are all very sweet. You give me hope. For some hair to come back, at least!

Diannes

[StillHere]

Diannes, I dug up this picture for you. It is 9 mos post chemo and I had very little hair. It did finally come in over the next 6 mos. Hope this attachment works. It was from our trip to the Galapagos

[Yorkiegirl]

I had my last Chemo in August 2005, by April of 2006 I had to have my first hair trim to even things out. My hair came back in a little bit darker and a little bit thicker if you can call baby fine hair thick. LOL

[DianneS]

hi Stillhere,

Thanks for finding this photo of you! You look so happy in that photo and your hair is way longer than mine.

I was reading your dx and saw that you quit Arimidex too. Can you share with me why? I stopped after 3 weeks because of nausea. My former onc said she had given Arimidex to 'hundreds of women and none complained of nausea'......yeah? It is listed as one of the common side effects.

Anyway just wondered what your reasons were for stopping it, and how also are you feeling on Femara? Do you have to watch for osteoporosis?

Diannes

[DianneS]

Thanks for the encouraging words. I'm just tired of looking like a boy. Esp. when I take my boobs off (I had a double mast).

Cute Yorkies too! I am a dog lover - have two. A border collie/springer mix (adorable girl) and my boy, a Shiba Inu/husky mix that I rescued from a Canadian Indian Reserve where many dogs are shot to, they say, control populations.....anyway, they are my babies.

Do you breed Yorkies?

[DianneS]

Hi Gerri,

You have beautiful hair now, for sure! 10 months...that is about how long I will have to wear this silly wig. I'm on my third wig. No one told me about staying away from BBQ's and hot ovens. I kinda melted a few in the front, they looked frizzy and weird. This one is blond highlights & short, and I am not a blond so it's been an interesting experiment.

I sometimes put eyebrow pencil on my barely-there eyebrows which works ok if I keep my hands off so they don't smear, in which case I look rather deranged with eyebrows going every which way

Some people say their eyelashes never came back as full. Did you find that true?

Diannes

[DianneS]

Hi Becky,

You're so right! The time seems to just inch along as far as hair growth. Do you think Herceptin slows down hair growth? That could be a factor. I did 5.5 treatments of Taxotere and the carboplatin was not supposed to cause hair loss.

Thanks for being here and being supportive. You guys are super!

Dianne

[harrie]

Dianne, the first few months post chemo it felt like my hair was growing so slow. But after that it grew really fast.

[Terri B]

Okay, just for you... Here's what my hair looks like TODAY, 9 months after my last FEC treatment. On a side note, i had STRAIGHT hair before. I'm DIGGIN these curls and its so THICK!!!

[norwegian]

My hair was also growing so slow, and a was so fed up with my wig that i took it off when my hair was 1 cm. I looked like Sinead O'Connor I was told (know her?) I felt cool after the first couple of days..
My eyebrows and -lashes never got the same. Still - I laugh out LOUD, when I see the advertisements for Mascaras: " This mascara gets your lashes looong and thick"

Haha. It doesn't....

[suzan w]

I never did wear a wig...my hair started to come back, also very curly, about 6 months after chemo. When it got to be a few inches long...months later...the curl vanished. I have always had a very short haircut and was back to my normal look within a year of my last chemo treatment. Funny thing though, I lost all my hair, everywhere, and the first hair back??? That pesky one on my chinny chin chin...go figure!!! xo Suzan

[StillHere]

Diannes, Thanks for mentioning how happy we all were when we went to the Galapagos. It is bittersweet. I had planned the family trip so that my kids had great family memories in case I did not stay stable very long. Little did I know that God would take our son, Randy away from us last Feburary. Now I wish I had a hundred more pic's of him. Now to get to your question on Arimadex. I stopped not because of nausea, but because within two days of starting the medication I became dry as a desert (and I mean everywhere). My vagina felt like it colapsed in on it's self and closed shut. I had NO libido(and I mean nothing). It was like kissing my brother (very weird). My Onco wished I would stay on Arimidex, but agreed with my decision. I was on Tamoxafin for 1.5 yrs and everything was stable. CA27-29 started slowly and steadily rising so I agreed to go on Femara if I could get estrogen cream. It took about 1 yr for side affects from Femara. Have lots of large joint pain especially in Knees & hips. I was using estrogen cream, but have stopped due to slight increase in CA27-29 marker. Marker had stayed under 40 w/o the cream and I do not drink caffine before my blood tests. Someone on the site suggested to cut out the caffine before the test and it seems to make a difference. Hope this is not more than you wanted to hear. I tend to be very frank. I have had a couple of anxious momemts with markers rising over 40, but PET scans are always OK, so I have nothing to complain about. Peace Karen

[pibikay]

Hello Sisters
After a year Hema now has an inch and a half of hair and it looks as if she had had her hair trimmed

[Mary L]

I am so happy for her, it is a happy time when your hair starts growing in. How is she feeling. Mary L