Who knew that your hair falling out would hurt? I had been told that my hair would begin to fall out approx. 14 days after my first chemo. Oddly enough, when I woke up in the morning, I didn't have a bunch of hair on my pillow like so many other people describe. When I brushed my hair though, that's when I saw it...all of my beautiful hair stuck to the brush and on the floor. My social worker at the hospital advised that I should cut my hair shorter to get used to that look before it all fell out. My feeling was, what is the point in cutting half of it off if it's just going to fall out anyways?
I lasted exactly 18 days after my first chemo which I guess is longer than most. At that point, when I washed and dried my hair, it was coming out pretty fast and furious so I went to get it chopped off. The place where I got my wig was able to tie my hair into small pony tails and cut those so I could keep the majority of it either to donate or for extensions later on. At first as the hairdresser started cutting, I wondered if I could have waited another few days but it turned out this was the right time as when tying one of the pony tails, she pulled it right off my head!
The social worker explained that for many people, loosing their hair is the worst part. You have to mourn the loss of it before you are able to move on. I cried as each pony tail was being cut but found that after the shock of looking in the mirror, I put on my wig and was myself again. A lot of people say that you will not want to wear your wig at home because it is uncomfortable but I wear it from when I wake up in the morning to when I go to bed at night. Everyone is different and my recommendation is to do whatever you are comfortable with.
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