So here's the hair sitch as it stands now:
Head - peach fuzz
-a lot of it is soft and really blonde
-but some of it is dark and it makes it look like my scalp is dirty
-I'm not dirty, I am bathing regularly. It could be that "it grows in curly and dark" post-chemo hair that everyone talks about.
-Dr. Evans says the hair I have now has a name: Lanugo, and it's the same type of hair babies are born with that eventually falls out. To be determined if mine will fall out and then the "real" hair will grow back in.
-Dr. Evans also says it takes at least four months to grow enough hair to style. Hair grows an average of 1/2 inch a month. So instead of singing "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth," I'll be singing "All I want for Christmas is two inches of hair."
I know it's hard to see. I've have to have Ronda, my personal photographer, take a better picture of the down growing on my head. |
-anyone who knows me well knows I could stand to loose a little arm hair. Before chemo I was part monkey. I am a practicing Catholic who knows all about Adam and Eve. But the amount of hair I used to have on my arms confirms for me that we descended from apes. I think I'm still part ape. Must not have made it up that last rung on the evolutionary ladder.
-one chemo silver lining is that the arm hair thinned out a bit. I'm not smooth like a gay man after he shaves his arms or a swimmer getting ready for the Olympics, but it's thinner. No major regrowth yet.
Eyebrows - thin
-I remember going to counseling and the woman saying to me, "So you lost your eyebrows?" I was thinking, no they are still there. I said to her that I was thinking of plucking some of the straggling hairs just to make what was left look even. She said clearly, "You don't have to bother plucking anything." I put the tweezers down and haven't picked it up since. It's saving me time, I guess.
Eyelashes - growing back!!
-This is wonderful news! I had some long lashes before. Nothing like most 7 year old boys I meet. (God is so unfair when he gives little boys eyelashes that are so lush and long they create their own breeze. And then when a women notices and tells a little boy he has the most beautiful eyelashes, he invariably rolls his eyes at you!) So when the long ones fell out, putting mascara on was train wreck.
Thankfully, there are some hairs there the mascara sticks to and it makes be feel like a new person.
-Kara, my hairdresser extraordinaire and fun-loving friend, gifted me fake eyelashes before my hair fell out. Two pairs: one normal pair of long, pretty lashes; the other with rhinestones at the lid line! I've been waiting for a special occasion to use them, but nothing that exciting has happened to me yet. I haven't been out and about much - that's for sure. I bought the red wig so I could wear it dancing ... I have yet to dance. But when I finally get the energy to stay up past 9pm and hit the dance floor, that's the day I'm breaking out the rhinestone eyelashes!
Chin - oh ... it's back with a vengence!
-No decent woman should admit to having chin hair. But if this blog proves one thing, it's that I am no decent woman.
-I've been tweezing the hair on my chin since I was 17. To be honest, it's like popping pimples for me - I love it! Sitting in front of the magnification mirror for hours on end!
-I've invested several thousand dollars in laser hair removal on my face. Let's just say, it doesn't really work.
-But the laser hair removal lady I've been going to recently is so much fun. She's obviously had her lips done, so even when she is done talking and at rest, her lips land in this overstuffed pouty look. I love looking at it.
-Back to the chin tweezing for me. Oh well, maybe they'll cure cancer and excessive body hair in the same week.
My Legs - eh
-If you're going to beach it, they need a quick razor.
-But like my arms, my legs are enjoying a hiatus from all that fur.
"Other" hair - Still like a 10 year old
-It was my chemo friend Agnes who schooled me on this. She said, "You lose your hair everywhere!" (emphasis on everywhere) She didn't have to say it twice, I got it.
-No Brazilians for me. Saving money on razor blades and waxing.
-Chris doesn't seem to mind.
Now I've said too much, but you're up to date. You're welcome.
Mer- I'm now unemployed and would LOVE to either haul you somewhere or hang out on a chemo day. Call me? 201-4691 Thanks for making me laugh and reminding me about what really matters! Andi
ReplyDelete