Hairloss - shave it all off?

[wannalive]

eventually you get used to it

I got a very short cut before 1st cycle
and it start to fell of around day 12-14 slightly

then most of it is fell of during shower on day 15-16
hair lenght was about 1 cm
it took a lot of time to wash it off but it didn't stop
the more I wash and pull the more I got in my hands,

I checked on the mirror it was very sad to see my had partially bald
then I dry it, cut with a beard shaver and then with a razor

so I recommend a clean shave when you start to have chunks when you pull with fingers and then have a shower

at least I manage to cut on saturday so I get used to it before I go to work on monday, sunday was very sad of course

now I joke with colleagues, warning them before creaming for a sun glasses etc.

[kewlkane]

I went with a Mohawk! Didn't leave much & I always wanted to see how I'd look with one & was fun! Re: tanning - be careful - I hadn't seen my chest for 20 years & then I got to. You won't need deodorant as much when you don't have hair either! Wear a cap outside & nobody even notices! I lost my go-T, eyebrows, eyelashes everything & people still never noticied!! And it'll grow back!

[Vinny]

You may want to consider a hat and sunscreen.

Uh, yeah, that's the understatement of the century. I got an SPF 50 hat from our local gardening center. Stocking caps are a good idea for the fall/winter - you can get sunburned just as easily in January as in July.

I got clippered by the barber and then my wife shaved me. By the second or third time shaving my noggin, my wife had figured out how not to cut me.

And we kept Nair strips as well as a lint roller handy to get the stray hairs that showed up from time to time.

But what was worse than the face and head was the hair loss on the rest of my body. I lost hair everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE. I wore t-shirts to bed at night to catch the chest shedding to keep the bed somewhat habitable for us. But it was all gone - chest, arms, legs, pubes, even eyebrows and eyelashes. YMMV. You never think about eyebrows and eyelashes until you get caught in a rainstorm and your eyes get flooded.

[63days]

Thanks for all your guidance on this. I shaved my head a few days before chemo, and I think I look pretty good with this cut. It might be a little high maintenance, and I haven't totally mastered the shaving my head with a razor, but I might actually keep this look after I'm all done.

I look pretty badass!

[jason137]

Is it easy to tan a part of your body that has never seen sunlight?

Haven't gone through chemo, but at various times I've shaved my head. Once I did it before a July 4 picnic. In the afternoon of the picnic my Mom was telling me, "Jason, your head is getting really red, you should put some sunscreen on." "Nah, I'm fine." Let me tell you that a sunburn on the scalp is not fun, I had large flakes of skin peeling off. You may want to consider a hat and sunscreen.

For tanning, just go slow, you certainly don't want to burn, even getting red or pink is bad.

[rusty009]

A week before i started chemo, I took a #1 buzz attachment and took it all off before it took itself off. I feel more in control if I do it on my own time, not the chemical's time. My wife loves it!

[BREwing]

I decided to shave mine off when I woke up one morning and my pillow looked like a cat, there was so much hair on it. I didn't want to go through the shock of it all falling out, plus as weird as it sounds, it sort of gave me a little mental boost knowing that I beat the chemo from stealing my hair. I could then relate that to myself beating the cancer. I know, its weird, but it helped me get by!!!

Like the Nike slogan, 'Just do it!"

[Lori]

My husband shaved as soon as he could run his hand through and hair would come out. He went from ponytail man to bald man! Now I never want him to go back.

[Don]

2 Words!!!! Shave It... If not it gets messy-- Who cares what anybody else thinks!!!!!! Best of luck!!!!

[63days]

Thanks everyone!

Truth be told, I'm actually kinda looking forward to seeing myself with a completely shaved head. My hair has been a constant annoyance, and recently I've grown accustomed to wearing a hat, but this will be a much more permanent solution.

As I see it, tc is giving me an excuse to try out something I wouldn't dare do: make a blantant stylistic change, which will take months to undo. Exciting.

I'm thinkin my head will be completely white, and if I'm gonna make this actually work, I'm gonna have to change that.
Anyone try out any fake tan stuff?
or
Is it easy to tan a part of your body that has never seen sunlight?

Thanks!

[KRICKS]

As soon as I started noticing it coming out in clumps I first had a buzz cut (about 1/4 in.). When that started falling out I shaved it. I never realized how cold your head gets without hair! As reported here, losing your hair is one of the most difficult aspects to deal with mentally.

I found that my youngest son (10) was having great difficulty with Dad being "sick". He seemed to zero in on the hair falling out in patches as an indicator of how sick I was. He was very sad and cried a lot. After I shaved it, we actually had fun with it as I would have him shine it up for me. Not to mention that we are 3 Stooges fans. I also found that people at work accepted the bald look much better than patchy. Best of luck to you dealing with treatment.

[mk6439]

Before chemo, my husband had a full beard and head of hair. The day before he started chemo, he shaved his beard off bit by bit and we took pictures at every stage -- long sideburns and a goatee, just a goatee, handlebar mustache and a soul patch, regular mustache, skinny mustache. It was hilarious, it definitely took our minds off things. During the first week, he had the barber buzz it really short. He said he was going to do a mohawk, but I think he thought twice when he realized he was going to have to go to work like that for a few days before it all fell out. And when it started falling out, I buzzed it as short as possible. I think it helped to do it gradually.

[Chris'Mom]

My son's hair started coming out in patches...so we shaved it for him, me him and his dad, and we all tried to make it a positive thing....he looked good, and at least he didn;t have to watch it keep falling out....it came back after chemo a little darker and curlier, but now he keeps it quite short...what a difference from the pony tail he sported when he first started college! I prefer the short hair...take care...Mary Ellen

[dadmo]

Don't wait for your hair to fall out, my son did that and it was a mistake. He plucked a bunch out to show us how easily it came out, then latter that night when he shaved it the plucked areas looked different then the shaved and it gave him a very patchy look for the entire time he was getting chemo.

[stevenh77]

For a lot of people I've talked to, watching your hair fall out is the most depressing part of going through chemo. Personally I decided to avoid all that and shaved my head. I knew I would be bald either way, but at least this way I feel like I have some control over the process instead of just waiting for the chemicals to make it fall out.