I was dreading loosing my hair due to the chemo and prayed that I would be the exception especially when it came to my eyebrows and eyelashes. My oncologist told me that it will all definitely fall out eventually. (The only great thing is unwanted hair that you used to shave or wax or epilate being gone too).
Now I have come to terms with my Gollum look, but when my long hair started falling out in clumps in the shower while I was washing it, it was utterly devastating. I felt like sobbing, but the sobs were stuck.
After that devastation was replaced by annoyance. Hair falling everywhere was such an irritation. I had to keep picking it off my clothes and pillows and I hate mess, so I had a hair stylist come to the home to help me cut it as short as possible. I didn’t want it shaved as my scalp was hurting and very sensitive. I also imagined that shaved hair would grow back with a rough texture and be prickly and itchy. Think I made the right call.
With shorter hairs falling it wasn’t as bad and I eventually got used to my new look. Besides everything else that was going on, like my right leg swelling to resemble an elephant’s foot, and making me loose my mobility, loosing hair seemed minor.
This journey definitely puts things into perspective. I used to complain about my thinning hair, but now looking back at old photos, my hair looks thick enough and pretty darn great.