Chemo and Losing my Hair

The information overload you receive before you begin chemo is a little daunting. Kind of like those commercials that list all the possible side effects in the last 10 seconds of the commercial.  You may experience nausea, vomiting, fatigue blah blah blah or death.  Do most pay attention to that part of the commercial, if it's promising a certain level of improvement in lifestyle? I know with chemo and all the life threatening side effects listed, I had no option but to go for it.

Before I received chemo, my oncologist recommended that I attend chemo prep training.  It's basically a 3 hour session on what to expect. My husband I diligently attended, notebook in hand. Whatever info we could gather to help us succeed, we were willing to listen. The session was informative and somewhat daunting. The main tip, I took away was to avoid simple infections or I'd end up in the ICU. Seriously - she told us that a simple nail infection has landed chemo patients in the intensive care unit.

My first chemo treatment was very nerve wracking! Some people can react to the treatment quite negatively and not knowing how I was going to react was a tough one to manage for me. To this point I'd already had allergic reactions to a couple medications they'd given me, so I prayed this chemo would go easy on me. My adorable husband had contacted many of our friends and asked them to send a video wishing me well. He put this together with well over 50 videos. Oh my heart! I watched this on the drive to our session and it gave me the strength to face the challenge ahead. My treatment went well that day with a minor irritation.

Within 3 weeks of starting treatment, my hair became brittle and began falling out in handfuls. Losing my hair was never an ordeal in my mind, I don't care about hair just make me well. BUT when the hair finally did come out. I found it hard to look in the mirror,  I still avoid looking. I don't see myself. Shortly after, I lost most of my eyebrows and lashes.

I have yet to don my shiny head to many aside from my immediate family. It's just a comfort thing I guess. I wish I could proudly walk around without a hat, as I see others and they are beautiful. I just can't seem to get over that hurdle.  I do have a beautiful wig that I have wore on a few occasions.

To each their own I say. But being bothered about losing my hair surprised me in this journey. I'm far from vain, but I do look forward to getting my hair back!