Hair question

[AaronK]

Hey guys, first of all i just started chemo last week. Im into my 2nd week. So far... so good, got to say. Im not feeling that bad. But i know im going to start feeling the effects soon, which im ready to take on!

Onto my hair (which i shaved off yesterday!). Ive had long hair since like 11. So just losing so to speak something which is kind pf part me, feels weird and quite depressing.

For all you guys who have made it to the end of the tunnel, i was thinking how does the hair growth rate go? Could anyone be able to take an estimate on how long it would take from a buzz cut to my hair here :
[img=http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/732/502245521l5cg.th.jpg] Ignore the mess

Would it take the 6 months it would normally take or because of the effects of chemo it'll take longer than that? A year?!! 8 months? How did your guys hair growth rate go?

This is quite vain of me during a time like this, but i just miss having my mop on my head. I dont feel like me at all.

[ghjones]

Hi Aaron - all the best of luck with your chemo buddy - if you're not feeling too bad after week 2, you should hopefully sail through the rest.

I'm five weeks out of chemo and the hair is already starting to grow back - although it's a little thin at the moment - at the current rate I reckon it'll take me 8-10 weeks to get my full mop back. To get it to length in your photo may take a bit longer though. I know everyone's hair grows back at different rates - some people are unable to grow it more than 1/2 inch for six months to a year. Even if you aren't able to grow it back that long straight away, you'll be looking pretty good - as the hair tends to grow back darker and more curly (the girls in my life are loving it at the moment!).

All the best of luck with your treatment.

Gareth

[Alucard]

..the girls in my life are loving it at the moment!

Gareth

Hehe, I liked that. I'm also pissed of at my hair because the only thing that reminds me I have cancer is when I look at the mirror.

I use a bandana though and it rocks.

-Al

[dadmo]

AaronK:
Your hair in that photo is great. For a timline it will be 6 weeks post chemo before you notice anything a month after that you will most likely want to get it cut short (the new hair is baby hair). Now you're 2 1/2 months post chemo by then your hair should be growing at the same rate it did before chemo. I hope that helps.

[BREwing]

This is a great question!!! I'll be going through chemo soon and was wondering that myself. Granted that I do not have nearly as much hair as you do (damn you mother nature!!!), but I also do not want to look like Curly from the Three Stooges for that long!!! I guess I will have to wait and see. Take care and best of luck to you!!!

Brian

[Don]

Your hair will start to grow back after 3-5 weeks post chemo.. When it starts to come back in it will grow very very thin and fine like a babys hair.. iit usually starts to grow quite slowly.. after you grow in about 1/2 to3/4 of an inch it usually starts to grow like a weed.. You will have to cut off the first inch of hair because it will just flop around because it is so fine ..Plus it won't match the hair underneath.. Many people ,including myself find that your hair will usually grow back thicker post chemo... I don't know how long it takes to grow long because I either cut my hair High and tight or completly shaved anyway but I can tell you I went from having to shave once every 7-10 days before chemo to every 2-3 days now!!!!!!!! The only hair I really missed was the eyebrows.. with no hair people look at you and say "look at badly"--with no eyebrow they look at you with pity because they guess your ill..I would say "please people ,save your pity for those who lost the fight" Best of luck guys... The hair will be back soon....

[emetic]

Don't be surprised if it comes back a different colour. Prior to chemo I had brown and I now have jet black hair. Hasn't shown any sign of reverting back 9 months later either.

Oh I never lost my eyebrows. Not sure how [un]common that is.

[mikeygti]

Never lost my eye-brows either,but chest hair and pubic hair all went bye-bye


My (head) hair also is much darker and thicker post-chemo !

Best wishes

[Josh1982]

I finished chemo april 4. My hair is just starting to come back. It's comming back so thin it's ridicoulous. I'm sick of hats and beanies. It's so annoying after a while not being able to grow hair. The cool part is not having to shave for a long time. Shaving sucks..Anyway man, time will tell everybody is different. What kind of cancer do you have. I just got the all clear or the news I was cured about two weeks ago. Looking back bro, this website is a huge crutch to lean on. Obviously your smart enough to see that. Well good luck and stay strong. Short term hair loss is a small price to pay for a cure for cancer....still sucks though!

[AaronK]

Thanks guys for all the good wishes. Im going to make it. The only obstacle is just going through all of this to reach the end, but hey we all go through speedbumps and potholes in our lives. Mines has just decided to come now.

Hey Josh, i got 100% EC with quite a number of enlarged lymph nodes but no markers. Im going to go through 3XBEP and if the nodes reduce in size, i will not need RPLND... if they stay enlarged then RPLND is likely.