Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Who Told Me To Shave My Head Anyway?

If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't shave my head so early. I believed my clinical trial nurse when she told me last Wednesday that my hair would be gone by the weekend. It appeared to be happening pretty fast when on Thursday morning in the shower, lots of hair had collected on the hair catcher. Later in the day, I had hair in my fingers every time I ran my fingers through my hair. Somewhere along the way, I had the impression that shaving it would make the process so much easier to bear. Now I'm not so sure.

It's Tuesday, nearly a week after my clinical trial nurse declared my hair would be gone by Sunday and I still have lots of hair. But it's rough stubble all over my head and my stretchy caps hurt like crazy to wear, just prickly, prickly as it squeezes against the grain. The hair is indeed falling out at a fast rate, but it's absolutely unbelievable how many strands are in a head of hair! I sat at my desk yesterday and discovered I could rub and rub, going with the grain of course, and it just fell out onto a piece of paper looking like two-day's worth of someone's beard as it accumulated. The "whiskers" fell down my neck and got stuck in my collar. Very uncomfortable.

I tried taking a second shower late in the day yesterday to see if I could finish the job, but no luck. I remembered a friend describing how her hair fell out over a period of several days and how it got harder and harder to blow dry and style (hers was all one length below her ears with bangs). Eventually, the day came when she could finish it, so she sat and pulled the rest of it out.

I can't change the fact that I shaved my head a little too early. I have to live with my decision and it will eventually all be gone. In the meantime, I've added just a little bit to my suffering. And I know what I'll advise someone else facing chemotherapy-induced baldness: don't shave it prematurely!

1 comment:

  1. I know how you feel about having no hair...everytime I post on my blog I think I mention how much I hated having no hair! Mine is growing back (as I am sure yours is by now) but I still cannot go outside without a wig or baseball hat. I am hoping that by the spring I'll be wig-free. And, truthfully, it is growing at a fairly steady pace now...and I finished chemo in September! Things to look forward to, like your walk on that beautiful road you did recently (I went back & forth on your blog) but good stuff! Feel well and I hope the worst is behind you!

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