Hairdressers and radiotherapy ....

[jackearls1000]

Hello everyone ...I hope your all well and enjoying some sunshine as we have here in Plymouth .....ive had a frustrating couple of days ...ive waited for 6 weeks for radiotherapy appointments and after ringing yesterday ..I get a start Monday at 3 ...being warned I'm going to be there till 5 ...I'm annoyed as the hospital know I have school run to attend to ..and also no times being issued till Monday ...and I'm just being fitted in ...I feel that the hospital forgot me ...then last week I went hairdressers with my daughter ...got talked into a hair condition ..( my hair is sparse and grey/white ) ...which was fine ..I also had a test done for a vegan black hair colour in the hope I can colour my hair black as its starting to poke out the sides of my wig ...this was emotional but glad I did it ...I went back today ..for a patch test to be done ..which was fine, but I cried as the shampoo girl dried my hair and it looked like a mass of cotton wool on top of my head it looked vile ...then I was told I couldn't have the dye done unless I had another patch test done during my radiotherapy ...I was so annoyed ..I had my wig fringe cut and this cost me £26 pounds ...£26 pounds last week ...so that's £58 so far ...and then another patch test and maybe dye my hair in three weeks ...that's an awful amount of money ...I feel tragic and like I achieved nothing ,,,,,I might buy a herbal hair dye and do it myself any thoughts ...xxx

[Nixh]

Oh Jack, sounds like you've had a torrid time

Re Radiotherapy, that's a long time for an appointment... they don't usually take that long worth asking why? Also - maybe go to the first one and see if you can change your times whilst there?

Re Hairdressers - can't believe they charge that much for a wig fringe trim!! I cold capped so had a fair bit of hair after chemo, a hairdresser friend trimmed it for me so it was even. I didn't have it cut for at least 6 months after finishing chemo and radio. Then I went to my local hairdresser who was fab, and very understanding.

There are salons that specialise in post chemo hair, google 'Toni & Guy Cancer Awareness Scheme' - not sure if you have a Toni & Guy salon near you?

Might be worth waiting a bit longer though until it's thickened up a bit, I know it's frustrating but probably worth it in the long run, the wispiness should go soon.

Watermans Hair products (google them too) have amazing results re fast hair growth. Might be worth looking at something like this also?

This journey sometimes feels like it'll never end, but you're almost there,

big hugs,

Nix

[jackearls1000 in reply to Nixh]

I know right ....I did ask why to the hospital but they said there was a 6 - 8 week back log ...I personally think they forgot me ..they didn't know I had my set up appointment 2 days after my last chemo ??? 6 weeks ago ....I know they are busy ...but crikey communication would be appreciated ...as for my hair ,,,I had the cold cap too ...don't think it was done properly but I managed to keep some ...just for the hairdresser to want to cut it all off,,,,i could have punched her lol ....anyways ,,,I bought a herbal dye from Holland and Barret ...so that's £60 so far on my non excitant hair ,,,ill do it next week ..in between radiotherapy ...im going to shove that in so the white bits don't show each side of my wig and wait ...and get a new hairdresser ..been going to her for 20 years ....that's disappointed me the most ...thanks for answering ..I thought I was going barmy yesterday ....been out in the sun today so feel better ....its a down hill ride now ..so onward and upwards xxxx

[Nixh in reply to jackearls1000]

Yeah my friend cut mine quite short and after all the faff to save it it almost made me cry.. it's nuts now though, really curly and thicker than before (apart from hair line which is a bit thinner due to tamoxifen I think)... before you know it it will be back to how it was.

I went for a walk in the sunshine, does make things brighter..

hope the radio goes OK for you

Nix xx

[jackearls1000 in reply to Nixh]

How long did you hair take to look sort of normal ? x

[Nixh]

I finished chemo Jan 16 and had thin areas especially on top, I carried on wearing woolly hats until late feb then had a cut in April. My hair was wavy/curly before and i had cut to my chin before chemo, so when I had it cut my friend squared it off and tidied up the straggly bits. I wore bandanas a lot in the spring and summer, I quite liked it. I think it filled in within weeks, you'll be surprised how quickly it does. I looked after it, didn't blow dry for about a year and had it coloured properly about 9 months later. It's back to pre chemo length now so two years for me x

[Iknitandstitch]

HI

I am sorry to hear about your trip to hairdresser don't know where you live but look up Trevor Sorbie he has salons with staff that are trained for this salons about the country just type your postcode and it tells you I am fortunate no chemo just radiotherapy I did visit the local one to me for something else and they were just brilliant

Hugs Diane

[Debster2016]

Hey Jack so sorry to hear all this! You haven’t had much luck with your hair have you? I found a hairdresser that had been trained by the Toni and Guy scheme for cancer patients. She came to a drop in centre and used me and my then wig as a model! So I got free cut which was lovely. And it made a difference! Much better.

So when I wanted another wig I went to Nicky and got a smasher! 👍🏻😁.loved it! And she cut that for me too and I had to pay and I bought some wig s(a pool too - anyhoo it may be worth a look to find hairdressers trained to work with cancer patients because the training includes being understanding sympathetic etc. hence it can be hurtful when people outside of this situation don’t quite manage that.

As for your rads appt what a shame! How difficult for you to have such a delay, you have my sympathies. What about utilising the hospital complaint procedure or asking PALS if there really is a 6-8 week delay? I know it won’t change anything but at least you’ll know if you were forgotten or not.

Apart from all that good to know your treatment is starting, I’m sure it will fly by.

Keep well Jack x

[jackearls1000 in reply to Debster2016]

Hi ..no, no luck at all ..I bought a semi herbal dye but my hair now looks Smokey grey not black .I have been everywhere to get help ...I'm just impatient lol ...I have my first rad apt today ...in fact I'm waiting for my lift ....I'm dreading it ...but ive done the hard bit in the chemo ..its like here we go a bloody gain ...still light at the end now ...it cant be as bad as chemo eh ?

[Mousemum]

Hi, I lost all my hair with chemo,but my chemo nurse told me to let it grow back to about 2 inches and then shave it all off again because that hair would still contain chemotherapy chemicals and when my hair grew again it would be free of everything. I did this and my hair is good, only taking tamoxifen and thyroid meds have left it a bit thinner than usual. Hope this helps x