chemo and hair regrowth or the lack there of.

atarione

atarione

Super Member
hey...

sorry in advance for the possibility of the over-share here.. but I'm a bit flustered and have been for awhile..

starting with the perfect and great.. my wife is 2yrs~ on from chemo and just once again got a clear result when checking in with the oncologist... so nothing to be anything but grateful and super happy about there..


obviously this is a much less terrible problem then things could be, we had good insurance and didn't incur crushing debt and the treatments went well..

There is however a issue, some people, including my wife have slow /incomplete hair regrowth. Before cancer my wife had literally (admitting i might be bias) the most beautiful hair in the world long and full ... really nice.

since chemo her hair has been slow to come back and basically she has a bald spot on the top of her head, this causes no end of upset for her (however don't be mistaken she mostly is fine and she works sooo hard and really isn't sitting around crying about things.. she is generally very happy and positive and inspires me.) The dr's have tried rogaine and various supplements (sorry don't know all of them).


so i guess I'm asking if anyone here has any experience with this type of thing and any suggestions / solutions that have any of y'all may be aware of working for others with this issue.


Thank you in advance... for any help and or reading this.. or whatever.
 
Register to hide this ad
Hi atari!

Yea, Carolyn lost her hair before she passed in August from breast cancer. She wore some very nice looking wigs while she worked. After the surgery to remove the brain tumor she decided to just go bald. I still loved her deeply & to this day!

A dermatologist that specializes in cancer treatment may be an option for her. There may be a grafting treatment available.

If this is not an option, then just being thankful for being cancer free can be a building block to focus on that & not so much of the hair loss. I know you & others will be supportive in keeping her spirits lifted. She has so much in love & hope that lifting her head to carry on is to be treasured!

I am glad to hear she is recovering & my prayer is that it will be total.

Rome
 
Rome said:
Hi atari!

Yea, Carolyn lost her hair before she passed in August from breast cancer. She wore some very nice looking wigs while she worked. After the surgery to remove the brain tumor she decided to just go bald. I still loved her deeply & to this day!

A dermatologist that specializes in cancer treatment may be an option for her. There may be a grafting treatment available.

If this is not an option, then just being thankful for being cancer free can be a building block to focus on that & not so much of the hair loss. I know you & others will be supportive in keeping her spirits lifted. She has so much in love & hope that lifting her head to carry on is to be treasured!

I am glad to hear she is recovering & my prayer is that it will be total.

Rome
Click to expand...

hi Rome.. thank you for the replies ... yes both mrs atarione and myself are always mostly just so grateful that the cancer seems to have been caught early and dealt with.. I'm sorry for your loss... I am going to see if my wife is willing to consider the hair transplant options or whatnot.. I guess.. she doesn't care for the wigs ..and I can't say as I blame her it is way to hot here for wigs I think (SoCal).
 
A bald woman can be QUITE sexy...See the 1st "Star Trek" movie from '79..Maybe a "Shorter" wig for when its REALLY hot..
 
If she can live with being "bald" for the time being, I would suggest keeping her head shaved until the bald spot starts to grow, then let it all come back at the same time.

And I'll bet she's beautiful with or without the hair!:thmbsp:
 
hey thanx .. she is quite sexy indeed... I just wish I could figure out a solution so that she didn't have to deal with it. but mostly it is fine.
 
I never imagined I would find this on AK. I am a cancer survivor. I was diagnosed with Lymphoma in 2012. I did 16 rounds of chemo and 25 rounds of radiation. The hair will grow back eventually. I am a year out from my last radiation and still have a patch of hair on the back of my head and a portion of my beard that still doesn't grow.

That is the least of my worries. I hope she hasn't dealt with the memory loss, cognitive issues, neuropathy and all the other cool long term side effects. Congrats on her clean scans!
 
VegasNick said:
I never imagined I would find this on AK. I am a cancer survivor. I was diagnosed with Lymphoma in 2012. I did 16 rounds of chemo and 25 rounds of radiation. The hair will grow back eventually. I am a year out from my last radiation and still have a patch of hair on the back of my head and a portion of my beard that still doesn't grow.

That is the least of my worries. I hope she hasn't dealt with the memory loss, cognitive issues, neuropathy and all the other cool long term side effects. Congrats on her clean scans!
Click to expand...

hi Vegas.. thanx for the reply.. sorry for your troubles also btw but I'm glad you are still standing..and thanks for sharing that and all.

my wife has some Neuropathy also.. but not too bad.. but a bit and some memory issues also, we joke about it and she has memo apps on her smart phone to remind her of things that need done and all.

we both (my wife and I) have to acknowlege of course that of some of the problems the ones we have faced could certainly be worse ..it is just a bummer for a women especially to have the hair not regrow all the way.. but honestly if that never changes as long as the scans stay clear we could both deal with that certainly.
 
atarione said:
..it is just a bummer for a women especially to have the hair not regrow all the way.. but honestly if that never changes as long as the scans stay clear we could both deal with that certainly.
Click to expand...


That is exactly right. I am thankful for every day that I get on this side of the grass! :thmbsp:
 
Hair - full hair - is so important for women. So I can understand that this is really an issue for your wife. Great that all in all she is fine!!!

My father, suffering from blood cancer, was totally bold after his chemo but when we stopped the chemo because it was in vain he died some months later having his full black hair again.
 
Last edited:
Due to similar health issues, my mom had a little bald spot on the top/back.
She wore a small, clip-on wiglet to cover it.
Its pretty amazing what is available in small, add-on hair pieces for that kind of thing.
You'd never know. Check with a specialist.
 
I recently had breakfast with a friend in her 70's. As we are sitting at the table, someone mentioned that she had begun to shave her head instead of coloring. She pulled the wig back to show us. I would have never known.

It has to be traumatic and I have seen others, including my late FIL, who lost their hair to cancer. Life, hopefully, goes on and there are so many other beautiful things to see instead. Focus on the good and fill your life the best you can.

Good luck.
 
the only time my wife cried throughout the whole process, diagnosis, surgery, chemo, was when her oncologist told her she would lose her hair (she was so brave). now she is cancer free, thank god. and her hair has grown back, not as full but don't underestimate how important that is to your wife. just try to be supportive, it will grow back.

and f@#k cancer!
 
My prayer for those suffering with cancer and/or going through the trial with someone is that you stay commited to become better & that your testimony will inspire someone else to carry on!

Rome
 
thanx again for all the replies..

the last 2.5years or so have been hard..I'm glad I have been able to be there for my wife .. I can't say i have been perfect but I have given my best efforts to help her the best I could.

I went to the grocery store (i know right.. where is the parade ..=p) when she was too sick to do it, as she has generally done through our relationship. I cooked, I cleaned .. I went with her to every dr's appointment.

honestly it doesn't make any difference to me if the hair never grows back I would love her every bit as much....I just wish I could fix it for her so that it wouldn't be one more thing she has too worry about.
 
My son (25yrs) went through 2 months of chemo for testicular cancer a year ago in Goodyear, AZ. and his hair did fall out. About 4-5 months after his treatment ended it started coming back in a lot thicker, curlier and much darker than it was before.
After his treatment began it started falling out so like a lot of people we just shaved him bald but as you can see in the pic - he is clear of his cancer and has more hair than before it all started.
Me, I'm just happy to still have him!
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    73.7 KB · Views: 12
Last edited:
iwilson said:
and f@#k cancer!
Click to expand...

Chris said it when he said how important a woman's hair is to their self esteem.

My wife has mild thinning, and it is a constant source of self-deprecating statements. I tell her I don't care about that, but it is what it is.

Definitely F@$k cancer. I live in Logan County, Ky, and it has the highest cancer rates in the state, because of Red Kap and Rockwell dumping PCB's into the water for decades. Universities send people to study our county due to the ridiculous rates of cancer.

Mother in law just got over losing a breast. My deepest sympathies to those who have lost loved ones to this insidious disease.

And rome, I'm sorry I didn't realize your loss last August. My sympathies.
 
dosmalo said:
My son (25yrs) went through 2 months of chemo for testicular cancer a year ago in Goodyear, AZ. and his hair did fall out. About 4-5 months after his treatment ended it started coming back in a lot thicker, curlier and much darker than it was before.
After his treatment began it started falling out so like a lot of people we just shaved him bald but as you can see in the pic - he is clear of his cancer and has more hair than before it all started.
Me, I'm just happy to still have him!
Click to expand...

Awesome story! Glad he made it through!
 
Rome said:
My prayer for those suffering with cancer and/or going through the trial with someone is that you stay commited to become better & that your testimony will inspire someone else to carry on!

Rome
Click to expand...

Sorry for you loss, and thank you!!

From a survivors standpoint, I can tell you that there was nothing more sobering than making my own funeral arrangements with my wife. It reminded me how hard I had to fight and how much life that I was letting pass me by. A positive outlook and a great circle of friends were paramount in my treatment.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom