“But, will my hair fall out?”
The most common question in cancer world. “But, will my hair fall out?”
Oncologists anywhere will tell you they try so hard to explain cancer treatment. What it will do to the body. How each patient is different, but most will have to endure some kind of side effect from the poison. Nausea, cramps, weakness, fatigue, diarrhea…the list is long. But the most asked question of all is about hair loss.
It’s our face frame. It’s also our time line through childhood, our teen years, our adult life. Sometimes we go through life with the same exact hair style. That really is a time stamp. Our moms and dads took us to a barber or hair stylist and that person decided then and there, as children, what our hair cut would be for the rest of our lives.
And then comes cancer and chemo and the hair is history.
We probably spend more time on our hair than any other part of our body. Hair has always been a big deal in our society. Going through old family pictures means laughing at all the old hair styles and chuckling about “bad hair days.”
So when cancer drops in, and the hair falls out, it becomes another symbol of where we are in our lives. And it’s not a good place. We’d like to be anywhere but in cancer world.
Our hair, or lack of it, speaks volumes.
May 14, 2012 @ 3:55 pm
Absolutely – hair is about identity, not glossiness or shine. Your post hits the nail on the head. Unfortunately, there’s often little choice between losing one’s hair or sitting for hours with a cold cap on. Most of the ladies at FacingCancer.ca seem to have opted for the hair loss.
May 14, 2012 @ 2:37 pm
I have to say, the hair loss when I was going through chemo treatments was freeing for me. Once the hair was gone and I was wearing a wig that I felt good in, the freedom from dealing with the hair every day was exhilerating. I actually became fond of “bald” and, when I wasn’t feeling well, it was so easy to just put on one of my cotton caps and lie down for a while. As tired as I was, getting ready for work in the morning was so much easier. And once it grew back out, I was free to experiment with shorter hair cuts, something that I would probably never have done before. So I choose to look at the positive side of that experience. In the whole scheme of things, it registered as “low maintenance” in my book.
May 11, 2012 @ 6:43 pm
great stories! keep them coming!:)