Hair, Hair, It’s Almost Everywhere
Tomorrow, August 18th will mark exactly 3 months since I finished chemotherapy. A lot has happened since then, like my surgeries, being put into chemical menopause and starting aromatase inhibitors and starting radiation treatment. For today I’m going to focus on hair.
My hair is growing in hot. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not “hot.” I’m now somewhere between G.I. Jane and a 12 year old boy in a pixie cut. I’ve bought some styling paste (circa late 90s, early 2000s) but my hair is still too short and fluffy for the paste to really have any effect. The top of my head is growing in different directions, which actually seem to correspond with the way I parted my hair before. The sides of my head are growing straight down, so there is a defined “fade” edge to the crown versus the sides. Given my new appearance, I’ve told B that I can give him a “sick fade” and to let me at him with the clippers and some scissors. He still hasn’t taken me up on the offer, but since he won’t be stepping foot in a barbershop anytime soon, I think he’ll give in and let me give him a haircut.
I’d previously read that when your hair grows in after chemo, it does weird things and grows in weird places. This is TRUE. I noticed small fine hairs growing under the corners of my eyes. Not my waterline, not my lashes, but underneath where eye bags would be. I was prepared for this because I’d read on another woman’s cancer blog that she experienced the same thing. But still, it’s weird. What did surprise me was how quickly my eyebrows grew back. I felt like they went from nothing to 5 o’clock shadow to full blown brows in the span of a week. Similar to the under eye hair, I’ve noticed that I’m growing hair on my face below my “side burns.” I don’t recall having hair there before. It’s as if my body is going into over-drive regrowing all the things it lost, and then some. I’ve made B promise to tell me if I look like I’m starting to grow a beard, and not to hold back. I will not tolerate any sort of weird beard hairs, long “sideburns” or anything of the sort. Those hairs will be eradicated! So far though, B has told me that he hasn’t noticed, and I’m hoping it stays that subtle. The hairs have been warned- grow too visible and prepare to be vanquished.
I also thought I had gotten away without losing my body hair (arms, legs, face, nostrils). I was wrong. Taxol, my last chemo drug causes total body hair loss. Because I’m not too hairy to begin with, I thought that my new essentially hairless state was my normal state. WRONG. I’ve now been reminded that I have arm, leg and armpit hair. Luckily, that has all come back in normally; there doesn’t seem to be any overcompensation of growth in those areas.
As my hair grows out, I’m sure it’ll enter some awkward stages. I’d say now is one of them since I can’t really do anything to style it. It’s super easy to maintain, and is truly 100% wash and wear. No blowdryer or brush required. 99% of the time I just go out as I am- no wigs. That being said, I’m not really going anywhere other than my doctor appointments and the grocery store (Please be prepared for a post/rant about dick-nose and improper mask wearing). If I do wear anything, it’s one of my two Dear Martha hats which are baseball caps with hair sewn into them. They are super easy to wear, pretty comfortable and the color really matches my natural hair color. The hats make me feel more like myself than any of the wigs I’ve gotten. For anyone suffering from hair loss, I highly recommend the Dear Martha hats. They have a bunch of different styles, and although the hair comes long, you can certainly cut it.
I’ll keep you all posted on this hair growth. It was a question that was high on my list as I neared the end of chemo.
My hair is growing in hot. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not “hot.” I’m now somewhere between G.I. Jane and a 12 year old boy in a pixie cut. I’ve bought some styling paste (circa late 90s, early 2000s) but my hair is still too short and fluffy for the paste to really have any effect. The top of my head is growing in different directions, which actually seem to correspond with the way I parted my hair before. The sides of my head are growing straight down, so there is a defined “fade” edge to the crown versus the sides. Given my new appearance, I’ve told B that I can give him a “sick fade” and to let me at him with the clippers and some scissors. He still hasn’t taken me up on the offer, but since he won’t be stepping foot in a barbershop anytime soon, I think he’ll give in and let me give him a haircut.
I’d previously read that when your hair grows in after chemo, it does weird things and grows in weird places. This is TRUE. I noticed small fine hairs growing under the corners of my eyes. Not my waterline, not my lashes, but underneath where eye bags would be. I was prepared for this because I’d read on another woman’s cancer blog that she experienced the same thing. But still, it’s weird. What did surprise me was how quickly my eyebrows grew back. I felt like they went from nothing to 5 o’clock shadow to full blown brows in the span of a week. Similar to the under eye hair, I’ve noticed that I’m growing hair on my face below my “side burns.” I don’t recall having hair there before. It’s as if my body is going into over-drive regrowing all the things it lost, and then some. I’ve made B promise to tell me if I look like I’m starting to grow a beard, and not to hold back. I will not tolerate any sort of weird beard hairs, long “sideburns” or anything of the sort. Those hairs will be eradicated! So far though, B has told me that he hasn’t noticed, and I’m hoping it stays that subtle. The hairs have been warned- grow too visible and prepare to be vanquished.
I also thought I had gotten away without losing my body hair (arms, legs, face, nostrils). I was wrong. Taxol, my last chemo drug causes total body hair loss. Because I’m not too hairy to begin with, I thought that my new essentially hairless state was my normal state. WRONG. I’ve now been reminded that I have arm, leg and armpit hair. Luckily, that has all come back in normally; there doesn’t seem to be any overcompensation of growth in those areas.
As my hair grows out, I’m sure it’ll enter some awkward stages. I’d say now is one of them since I can’t really do anything to style it. It’s super easy to maintain, and is truly 100% wash and wear. No blowdryer or brush required. 99% of the time I just go out as I am- no wigs. That being said, I’m not really going anywhere other than my doctor appointments and the grocery store (Please be prepared for a post/rant about dick-nose and improper mask wearing). If I do wear anything, it’s one of my two Dear Martha hats which are baseball caps with hair sewn into them. They are super easy to wear, pretty comfortable and the color really matches my natural hair color. The hats make me feel more like myself than any of the wigs I’ve gotten. For anyone suffering from hair loss, I highly recommend the Dear Martha hats. They have a bunch of different styles, and although the hair comes long, you can certainly cut it.
I’ll keep you all posted on this hair growth. It was a question that was high on my list as I neared the end of chemo.
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| One of my favorite Dear Martha hats |
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| Hair growth approximately 2 1/2 months post chemo. |
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