Breast cancer, chemo and hair loss

[Gabrielle]

Good luck to all fellow DIS-ers battling breast cancer.

I'm in my fifth year of survival after staging at IIIa - so, don't give up hope!

Gabrielle

 

[DebbieB]

My Mom has been fighting breast cancer for 8 years. After her initial diagnois, she had the standard adrimycen & cytoxin and completely lost her hair. She hated the wig. Her reoccurrence was 4 years ago. She's had several different treatments and has not lost her hair completely again. She was on herceptin for a year, which is a gene therapy, which did not cause any hair loss. That stopped working, so they put her on taxol, which did cause thinning. That worked for a year and stopped working so they switched her to navelbeen (sp?), no hair loss and gemzar, no hair loss. We saw the doctor last Tuesday and her liver tumors are a little larger, so he wants to switch again but isn't sure which type, he has to check into some new drugs which have protocols that she may not be eligible for. So she has to go back on March 30. The last thing she said to him - don't pick one that I lose my hair!

There is a girl in my office who coincidentally went to the same doctor last year, she was diagnosed in her early 40's. She had a beautiful wig, people who did not know her situation never suspected. Her last treatment was last summer, she recently stopped wearing the wig, her hair came back curly, which is very common. My mom's stayed curly for about a year after.

 

[annemariec]

Years ago, I heard of something that *can be* a preventative solution to losing hair during chemotherapy. I looked it up to be sure and came across a couple of websites.

It's called a cold cap or ice cap that a person wears prior to receiving the chemo. It's supposed to work because it restricts the blood flow to the hair follicles thus keeping the chemo from having the side effect. I heard years ago it works for some people and not for others. You can get the caps at a drug store, I believe one of the articles stated. It might be worth a try!

Here are the websites:

http://www.msc-worldwide.com/
http://www.healthcastle.com/se_chemo.shtml
http://www.cancernet.co.uk/hairloss.htm

There were more websites. If you want to look into it more, use "cold cap for chemotherapy" and "ice caps for chemotherapy" as key words using a search engine.

I hope your sister does well! My thoughts and prayers are with her.
Annemarie

 

[goodstarr]

You DIS-SERS never stop amazing me. Thanks again and I'll relay this info to my sis.

 

[C.Ann]

One of my lake neighbors had breast cancer & chemo - never lost her hair, nor did it even thin..

On the other hand, another lake neighbor has had chemo for ovarian cancer 3 times and all 3 times went completely bald..

My Dad had some VERY strong chemo prior to his death for several months and never lost a hair from his head..

I'd get the wig "just in case"..

Best wishes and prayers to you, your sis and your family!

 

[momof3disneyholics]

The type of chemo I had was methotrexate (hope the spellings right), and it didn't even cause my hair to thin. I had 3 doses, once a week for 3 weeks, and my hair didn't even thin. It did make me very sick for a couple of days after I had it, but that is to be expected.

 

[Disney's Deluxe Princess]

Originally posted by goodstarr
Do people who are undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer ALWAYS lose their hair? Please, no flames, I know that saving a life is the most important thing, I was just wondering if this is always the case.

No flames here. I've seen friends and family members go through hair loss and it was very traumatic for some of them. I'm sorry to hear about your sister. I'll say a prayer for her.