That's what an old friend from college said to me this weekend as we were sitting around, catching up with each other's lives. I wasn't wearing my hat and, since I still don't have much hair on my head, my "noggin" was easy to see. I am fortunate, I guess, to have a nice head shape...there are no ugly scars or bumps...just a nicely rounded head with white peach fuzz growing all over it. But I'm ready for the real thing now...lots of silky, RED hair and it doesn't seem to be happening very fast.
My oncologist took notice of my lack of hair at my last appointment and set me up to see a dermatologist about the possibility of my having chemo induced alopecia. Now wouldn't that be just my luck? Just one more "possible" side effect to add to my list. But according to Dr. Amy, my hair should have looked like this back in June, so I was all for finding out what was going on.
I had to wait a couple of weeks to get in, so in the meantime I continued taking my prenatal vitamins. I started taking them a few weeks ago after a couple of people said that they had noticed a difference in their own hair growth when they took them. I figured, what can it hurt? I take a multi-vitamin anyway, so I just switched to these. I had some explaining to do, tho, when my son-in-law saw them on the kitchen counter!
I finally saw the dermatologist on Monday, and she took a small flashlight to my head and looked closely all around it. She told me that my follicles looked healthy and that there were lots of teeny tiny hairs starting to come in. The fuzz that I'm now seeing is the new (baby) hair that first appears. It will then get stronger and will fill in and have color. She thinks that my hair probably had a double whammy "fall out" reaction...first to the chemo, and then again about three months after chemo was finished. Of course, I thought to myself...my usual chemo "sensitivity". The good news, tho, is that I don't have alopecia! She suggested using Rogaine to help spur on those little hairs, so I stopped and bought some that day. It's a foam that you put on once in the morning and once at night. Smells good, too.
So, between that and my prenatal vitamins, I should look like Lady Godiva in no time!
Hang in there! It's been over a year since my last chemo treatment and my hair is still pretty short (3-4 inches). My oncologist said that I could only expect 1/4" growth per month and that is about what I have. Fortunately, I can now get a curling iron around it and actually style it. I may grow it a little longer, but I will probably keep it short because I'm finding that I like the new length. I remember the colorless peachfuzz stage. I was afraid that it would stay that way, but it did change to my usual dark blonde color after a couple of months. I was kind of looking forward to some changes....new color, thicker, curly, but it came back the same way it was before. You'll get there, but I know how hard the waiting is. The hair is a constant reminder of what you have been through and you just want to feel and look normal again! You're doing great!
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Janet
HA! I can't imagine the thoughts running through Matt's head upon finding those pills... Hilarious!
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