During the first week of chemo when the nausea was so debilitating, the thought of losing all my hair was diminished slightly, getting through the next hour was a bigger priority. But now I’m in the 3rd week of the chemo cycle & as I’m feeling much better, I’ve got to face it head on 😂
So I’ve took a few deep breaths & here we go
Preparation is the key to having some control so I’ve bought several items of head wear, think more Johnny Depp than Hilda Ogden. And I have to say that hipheadwear is a fab online shop & livebetterwithcancer also have some great bamboo based products which are so soft.
Apparently within the first cycle of chemo, in my case each cycle is 3 weeks, there will be noticeable hair loss but then during the second cycle there’s no escape & it’s gone.
So where am I with the hair loss?
Day 16 in the chemo house & general body hair growth has either slowed down or stopped altogether. But the hair on my head is moulting like no-ones business! If I run my hands through my hair a handful of hairs come away at a time & unlike normal hairs that come away these are dead i.e. they do not have any roots attached to them.
Also no lipstick 💄 on my pillow in the mornings just loads of hairs!
So I needed to sort out a wig & had an appointment for day 17. Now the NHS wigs for West Yorkshire are from a rather good wig shop in the Victorian Quarter, Leeds so I had high hopes of a decent wig. Top tip is to pick a monofilament wig as the construction gives the look of real hair growing from the scalp.
‘Pick a wig day’ arrives & I have to say it went really well. I’ve come away from my Orthotics appointment at St Luke’s with a fabulous monofilament wig with a lace cap (double bubble apparently), in a lovely bob style called Dream Deluxe – it looks the dogs…!
I’ve even got a follow up appointment at the wig shop for tomorrow when they will cut a fringe in the wig & they will also cut my rapidly disappearing hair. Now when I say cut my hair I’m actually meaning that I’m going to brave the shave, as the constant hair loss is so disheartening & let’s be right it ain’t going to get any better soon.
So I just need a little bit of courage…
Judy x
Dancing with chemo 