i am due to start 5 weeks chemo radio combo on Monday (cisplatin). i apologise if this sounds irrelevant to some of you but just wondered if cisplatin makes you lose your hair? My oncologist and nurse have said it will thin but not noticeably, however I met a lady on holiday last week who had cut her hair very short because it thinned a lot. She advised me to ask for cold cap. However oncologist and nurse not keen. Does anyone know whether my hair will noticeably thin, or lose it, and whether I should ask for the cold cap as a preventative!! Sorry if this sounds petty, but I think I'll get through the treatment better if I feel I still look like me!!
Hi sophie I finished radio and chemo cisplatin sept 14. I was too told hair would thin (mine is very thin at the best of times). To be honest I didn't notice any difference what so ever. Since finishing treatment I've gone and had it cut short. I agree with Mandy about nails they were really strong and grew well.! ( I used to say though it was because I was not at work). Hope all goes well with treatment. You can do this. H.
I had a combination of Cisplatin & Paclitaxel and about 2 weeks after the first session I noticed my hair was coming out in handfuls. I didn't wash it for a week, thinking if I didn't touch it too much it would be ok, stupidly I didn't want to believe it was happening. Just before the 2nd session it was coming out so much, I thought I would eventually lose it anyway so I shaved it off. My daughter, training to be a hairdresser, shaved a bit, I shaved a bit and my husband shaved a bit - and that was it - gone! I didn't want to go through the stages of going thin & patchy, I thought that that would look dreadful so I took matters into my own hands. It was so libeating actually - I cried, just a couple of sniffles then had a glass of wine, for medicinal puposes! I don't know if my hair would all have come out or if it would just have thinned but I would rather have had no hair than really patchy growth. It was the right thing for me personally, it was the least of my worries, plus I had an amazing wig that was so much nicer than my own hair and I wore it like a badge of pride - daring people to comment on it or even notice it was a wig. I had to tell people it was a wig on some occasions it was so good! Even the radiographer asked if it was a wig and you'd think they see them every day!
As I say, shaving it off was the right decision for me and you will have to wait & see how you feel about it when it actually happens - let it be your own decision, whether you cut it short or leave it, you have to be ok with it. I wore my hair in a bob before all this, and had it styled & coloured it regularly as I liked it to look nice. It grew back, thicker but a two tone shade of grey with a Cruella Deville dark streak at the front! I have kept it very very short and I've had more comments about how I suit it so much better than my previous style!!
Thank you for the comments so far guys, not looking forward to Monday, but not much I can do, just got to get on with it. Onwards and upwards!! Hope you are all doing ok. Dominique I remember reading about your journey when I was waiting to have my op. Little did I know I would be having the treatment as well at that point. Hang on in there everyone xx
Hi sophie your treatment will be fine. I had radical hysterectomy 18 lymph nodes removed there was micro invasion on 1 (not shown on mri/ct)-so went onto do the 5 week chemo radiation. Just waiting for 6week check up next week.jos is a fantastic site plus All the nurses doctors are fabulous just ask them if you have any worries. Are you in the uk.?. Take care.
it feels like a long time ago since my journey started even though it was only a few months ago! sorry you have to go through more treatment after your op but I promise you will find it doable don't get me wrong it's not a walk in the park but it was nowhere as bad as I anticipated. Let us no how you get on xx
Thank you both. Yes Helen I am in Coventry, midlands in the uk. i was told my situation was unusual as it was unexpected so it is interesting to hear your story too. And thank you Dominique, ready to battle it head on and hopefully feel good for Xmas. It's crazy but I feel totally fine now from my op, I sometimes forget what is really going on. Good luck both with your check ups xxx
Hi I'm midlands too . You will be fine for Christmas I'm sure. The consultant didn't say rare to me just it was that small it would not show up on the scans. I did the 5weeks like you to make sure it had gone. Don't forget your aqueous cream for radio and a good book for chemo days. Take care. H.
That's the best attitude Hunni just plough straight through it head on! I'm glad you have recovered from your op. It's Just the waiting game now for me waiting for my mri to see if treatment has worked the nerves have really kicked in again now! xx
Thank you, off to buy aqueous cream tomorrow and iPad loaded with mags!
Dominique, i agree it is the waiting that is a nightmare. fingers crossed for a good result for you. Becky, I have seen your story before and always thought you are an inspiration, as is everyone else on here of course. Stay strong and positive everyone xx
thank you Molly, good luck, when is your op? I had my op in Leicester purely because cov was busy and I wanted the keyhole surgery. I worried people may think petty as it's really the least of our worries in the grand scheme of things, but I know that if I still look like me and not obviously having treatment then it will be easier to manage. My husbands aunt said the same thing when she went through chemo, she lost all hair and said she felt dreadful and looked in the mirror and said she felt even worse, I can kind of see where she's coming from, but if I had to lose it to get well then of course I would xx
I don't have a date yet! And I have been given 'poo it all out' medication to take the day before, along with a special day before diet, so really hoping I'm not called in too suddenly! Not nice feeling on standby :-(
Oh no how annoying not having a date! I had the diet too along with the Senna!! Think it was part that and part nerves that cleared me out haha! Everything crossed for you, the surgery wasn't as bad as I thought and I was a right wimp, having never been in hospital in my life, talk about 0-70mph in seconds! Xx
