I forgot to mention that my hair started falling out today in full force and not just the hair on my head. ALL my hair is falling out including *cough*Â down there.
It’s so weird. It’s just like in the movies when the person puts their hands up to their head and come away with clumps of hair.
My doctor said I would start losing my hair 2 weeks to the day of my first chemo. Well it’s only been 12 days … but I’m always ahead of the curve. 🙂
My head hurt when my hair started falling out (about three months ago.) If yours does and you can get your hands on some argan oil, it helped me. Which was weird, but welcome.
By the way, you will never need the card that came with your port. As one of my nurses told me, the big lump on your chest is more effective than the card or the key fob. I also dig (if you will) the purpleness of my Bard powerport.
By the other way, I am doing chemo the opposite of you – I just finished 12 weekly Taxol, and it’s totally do-able. I was pretty tired by the end, and I have some muscle soreness still, two weeks after the last infusion, but it should go away. I have minimal neuropathy – took B6 and B12, and the (very expensive!) L-glutamine powder to minimize it. (As with all things chemo, check with your oncologist before taking anything. Mine didn’t recommend it in advance, I had to ask about it after extensive consultation with Dr. Google.) Plus, bright side – most peoples’ hair starts growing back on Taxol. Mine, which I shaved when it started falling out by the handful, never fell out completely, and what didn’t fall out kept growing. Granted, I look like like Gollum now, but it’s hair and it’s growing. Anyway, I start FEC in a week, so I won’t look like Gollum for much longer. 😉
By the final way – you’re amazing. This too shall pass. I remind myself every day that chemo is temporary (last infusion falls on my 50th birthday!) and of all the reasons that I can bear it – the people I love and the future birthdays I want to celebrate with them.
Thanks for the tips and encouragement… It’s all so daunting sometimes.
ok – so apparently chemo hair grows back curly like a tight perm for lots of people (all of it – head, brows, ahem down there – but more so) one of my very previously sleek pals now looks like a pre-raphaelite goddess. So she made one of those darkly humorous jokes about ‘hey if this is the up-side – I’ll take it’ Now i know you know all about curly and you always look like a goddess and when you feel crap there isn’t necessarily an upside. But girl you feel so beautiful through each of your blogs. I just admire your singing soul. I’ve passed your site on to some of my non vegan friends who have been greatly helped – I thank you and uphold you… straight ahead sounds just about lickety spit spot on…