Until recently I felt like I had gotten past my pity party. I had decided not to dwell on this thing. Had my 2nd radiation treatment. Then started to feel tired, then had a seizure the week after I had the treatment, now my hair has fallen out in about a 4 inch diameter on the left front side of my head. Kind of hard not to feel all depressed about that! I can hide it for the most part but I can't pull it up for work like I used to do. Which is something we have to do. It also is obvious when the wind blows my hair around. As long as the wind isn't blowing it is fine. Need some suggestions as to what I can do so that no one really can see it no matter how I have my hair.
Hi, Joyce - I'm sorry about your hair. I would be sad, too - it's the physical reminders that set me off, especially at the beginning, bc looking at my weird hair things or the scars from the trach or PEG (food tube) were just confirmation that what everyone was saying was true (I didn't believe them at first). I have not had to deal with hair loss, though - they just shaved some in the back, and there was a pokey thing in the front from a drainage tube but I've got a LOT of hair so I was able to hide it until I started wearing a ponytail for rehab and I had to clip up the shaved-but-growing out part weirdly. When we got home, though, I tried to convince my sisters and Mom to shave my head entirely. I thought it would be less work for Mom since I couldn't wash my hair myself yet. They refused, and now my window of credible opportunity is over. You, however, have a legitimate reason to shave it if you wish. A couple of my cancer-surviving friends shaved their heads once the hair started to go, and rocked wigs or just went bald. If you don't want to be so drastic how about a nice soft head wrap? I think they sell chemo-wrap like turbans, or you could just do a pretty headscarf. It's surprisingly common to see people wearing these items now, but if you still feel funny about it try a new hairstyle, e.g. pinning it 1/2 up, and using a curling iron for "distraction" so it's in place even if the wind blows. Hang in there! I also suggest wearing big jewelry to cheer yourself up.
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