Right, I am now officially a wig expert. As hair loss is one of the biggest side effects of all chemo-therapies, I think it is worth a mention or even a whole blog post! Not all chemos cause hair loss. Most cause some degree of hair thinning. Also all people react differently. I'm told I have a 90% chance of losing 50% or more of my hair. My eyebrows and eyelashes will also go (Eeeek!) as well as all other body hair (so long gilette venus my old friend, I will not miss YOU). A very good friend, on hearing my diagnosis, pointed out that I have spent thousands on laser hair removal. Stupid move, would have come out anyway. Hilarious, I love her.
Once chemo is over, my hair will regrow. Very fine at first, they call it chemo hair. This needs to be shaved off 3-4 more times and my own hair will return. I will not be allowed dye it for 6 months. It will take 12-18 months to get chin length hair. At this point I will be 30 years old. Wowzers. Should have enjoyed my hair more.
At this moment, I feel OK about the hair loss. When it comes to the day it starts coming out, or the day to shave my head I will not feel OK about the hair loss. Simple as that.
So my Mam, my Sis and I went to the wig place. A strange sort of environment, wigs everywhere, alopecia and chemotherapy patients. Overall a nice vibe though weirdly enough. We were taken upstairs by what turned out to be the owner of the shop, a woman in her 30's who had been treated for cancer for 9 years and had lost her hair and regrown it 3 times. Her father owned the shop before she was diagnosed with her first malignancy. Weeeeeird eh?
So, wig choices are: synthetic (don't need styling, cheaper, cant be worn past shoulder length as they get tangled and matted when rubbing against clothes) or real human hair (need to be washed and styled, can be any length, lasts 2 years). So i decided to try both. The worst part about this was when she put all my hair under the net - it showed what I'll look like bald. As expected, my head looks like a pea on an orange with my neck at its current size. Then came the fun part!
Settled on real hair - couldn't handle the shorter ones for some reason, they were unbelievably realistic but just too much of a change from my own hair which is long and curly. At the moment when I put it on I look like cousin it, once its styled it'll be just like my own hair. Not sure whether I'm freaked out my having someone else's hair on my head or not. Going to try not to think about it. Also, wondering whose hair this was and why they sold it. She told me all the hair was Asian hair. What kind of life must they have to spend years growing this hair to sell. Made me feel very lucky.
Moral of the story, appreciate your head hair, don't waste money on removing your body hair :)
Once chemo is over, my hair will regrow. Very fine at first, they call it chemo hair. This needs to be shaved off 3-4 more times and my own hair will return. I will not be allowed dye it for 6 months. It will take 12-18 months to get chin length hair. At this point I will be 30 years old. Wowzers. Should have enjoyed my hair more.
At this moment, I feel OK about the hair loss. When it comes to the day it starts coming out, or the day to shave my head I will not feel OK about the hair loss. Simple as that.
So my Mam, my Sis and I went to the wig place. A strange sort of environment, wigs everywhere, alopecia and chemotherapy patients. Overall a nice vibe though weirdly enough. We were taken upstairs by what turned out to be the owner of the shop, a woman in her 30's who had been treated for cancer for 9 years and had lost her hair and regrown it 3 times. Her father owned the shop before she was diagnosed with her first malignancy. Weeeeeird eh?
So, wig choices are: synthetic (don't need styling, cheaper, cant be worn past shoulder length as they get tangled and matted when rubbing against clothes) or real human hair (need to be washed and styled, can be any length, lasts 2 years). So i decided to try both. The worst part about this was when she put all my hair under the net - it showed what I'll look like bald. As expected, my head looks like a pea on an orange with my neck at its current size. Then came the fun part!
Settled on real hair - couldn't handle the shorter ones for some reason, they were unbelievably realistic but just too much of a change from my own hair which is long and curly. At the moment when I put it on I look like cousin it, once its styled it'll be just like my own hair. Not sure whether I'm freaked out my having someone else's hair on my head or not. Going to try not to think about it. Also, wondering whose hair this was and why they sold it. She told me all the hair was Asian hair. What kind of life must they have to spend years growing this hair to sell. Made me feel very lucky.
Moral of the story, appreciate your head hair, don't waste money on removing your body hair :)
Loving being able to check-in and feel like im part of all this with you. Cant wait to check-in in person though. Also cant wait to check out the new style. Did you go blonde? did you?? :-)
ReplyDeleteThat's gas about your laser hair removal Sona, you're amazing to be able to laugh at it. Love Xxx
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