Hair Journey Post-Chemotherapy

 

 

I’ve been looking back at pictures of my hair growth from the past four months and am so thankful my hair is growing! One of my fears while going through chemo was that my hair would not grow back.

    Several people have asked me if cold capping “worked”. I think that all depends on how you define “worked”. If you define it as not losing your hair, then it did not work for me. If you define it as your hair growing back in fairly quickly and thick, it did work. I’m so thankful for the hair on my head and do think the painful experience of cold capping was worth it for me.


Hair growth post-chemo is different for everyone but here is what it has looked like for me:


8 weeks post-chemo: Enough hair for a buzzcut! And eyebrows and eyelashes starting to grow back!


13 weeks post-chemo: Enough hair for little frizz and spikes!


15 weeks post-chemo: Hair that you can move your fingers through!


16 weeks post-chemo: Enough hair to create a part. Now combing my hair to assist with shape.


22 weeks post-chemo: Mini fro situation beginning. Pretty much does what it wants.


24 weeks post-chemo: Curls are becoming more apparent, making my hair look even thicker.


25 weeks post-chemo: Starting to stick out everywhere. I believe I’m in need of my first haircut since the buzzcut.



Definitely still lots to process with this hair journey. It has definitely taught me about beauty and shown me even more about how beauty is so much more than appearance. It has given me empathy for others going through hair struggles. It has made me happy for bad hair days.