A couple of weeks after I had my mastectomy, I had just gotten out of the bath and was walking through my living room where my 3 sons were sitting, and my youngest who was around 8 at the time said "close one eye here comes Mom." They also would offer to shine my head when I got ready to go out during chemo. If it hadn't been for my family and their sense of humor I don't think I would have made it this far, 15 years and counting.
Two weeks after my first chemo treatment, I was at work, and bored, so I was just twirling my hair around a finger, heard a snap, and pulled my finger away, with a big chunk of hair attached. I reached up with both hands and pulled some hair out of both sides of my head. I start thinking "What can I do with this?" So later, my boss came into the room where my co-worker and I were. She asked how it was going, and I turned to her with the most miserable look on my face, and said in my most disgusted voice, "You know, sometimes this job just gets on my nerves so bad, I coiuld just pull my hair out!" and I reached up and pulled out two handsful of hair as I said that. Their eyes got so wide, and the look on their face was priceless. I burst out laughing, then they got the joke and joined it. I went home that night and shaved my head. When I was done, I looked at myself in the mirror and saw...... my brother looking back at me. You gotta laugh about it!
Im 45 years young and was diognosed with triple negative breast cancer Dec. 2009. March 2010 had double mastectomy and went through 16 rounds of chemo...no radiation. I never thought I would have been able to handle loosing all my hair till it happened..and wow was I scared! It was ok...I lost my hair and now its growing back better than before..not to say I always wore it long..now I love it short! I got through the worst of this with the love of God and my beautiful..wonderful family...I love them so much they helped me stay strong and now Im doing well one year later..now its time to move on I have three wonderful children and a wonderful husband and thats what keeps me going!
Always think in the positive and know that each life event brings a new perspective.
I'm coasting through life contending with bad hair days and good hair days when I'm blindsided with no hair days...
I had never thought about no hair days so now I had a new adventure to explore. I discovered that I got ready for work much faster in the morning, I saved a bundle on hair products, trips and tips to the hair stylist, gas to the stylist, about eight hours sitting in the chair, electricity to dry my hair, hair clips and water to wash hair towels. This being said I also discovered that even though I had lost my hair I had not lost myself. Stay positive and find the humor while travelling though the cancer journey.
I had been told that I would lose my hair with chemo but it didn't really sink in until I was brushing my lovely long hair up into a pony tail one morning before work and saw huge amounts in the brush.
Oh well, it'll be fine!
A few days later I was sitting at my desk, sans ponytail, and as my head was itching a bit I ran my hand through my hair. Imagine the horror when a mass of strands stuck to my hand and simply fell out. I felt like crying but held it in until I was talking to a couple of workmates and when they asked how I was going, ran my hand through my hair again and showed them how much was coming out. That's when I lost it and just cried and cried. They were brilliant and took me away to sit down and just let me vent the horror I was feeling.
When I got home from work that night I did the same 'run the hand through the hair thing' in front of my 34 year old son. The look of terror on his face was heartbreaking. Seeing his Mum so obviously sick with this insidious disease was something he was unable to deal with at the time. His way of dealing with it was to withdraw from me and try to ignore what were the obvious signs of my illness.
My hair is now starting to grow back but I kind of liked not having to mess around with hairdryers, straighteners etc. Hmm, should I just keep it super short? It certainly makes getting ready in the morning a breeze.
I didnt let Breast cancer win...and having my family and awesome Doctors helped a real lot!! thank you to all..stay strong and keep the faith. Miracles happen for those who believe!
February 2007...
I am a healthy fit woman.... WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!!!! Never in my wildest did I ever emagine that I would have breast cancer. No family history, I breast fed my three daughters... Geeze...
I have learned that Breast Cancer is not particularly selective. I got it. Having said that, "it" NEVER EVER had me.
I decided very early on to be the victor!... Mind set is so very powerful. I had my cancer removed, and I never let myself consider that a cell may have broken off, or that a cell morph may happen... Our minds are powerful tools and if I can offer any advice to early stage cancer recipients...Minds are powerful! In healing, in acceptence, in grief, in sorrow....and in victory.... I am a lucky woman, and I am four years into my battle against breast cancer....
When I had lost all my hair, I put on a cowboy hat.
Turned around and looked in the mirror, first thing I thought was,omg
I look like Garth Brooks, well my partner and I laughed so hard.
That was 7 years ago, and we still laugh about it!
In a short paragraph, my way of beating cancer was to stay positive. I know that this advice may seem banal but it's the truth. It's the best advice for someone with cancer.
I am a 45yr old mother of 3 young kids (10, 8 and 6) and they helped me through it all. I even got separated during my chemo treatments, so emotional support from my husband was not a luxury for me.
I just forged ahead, took my medicine (figuratively) and persevered.
I have a blog on blogspot that helped me tremendously as well. I recommend writing about your experiences, it's very cathartic.
Good luck to all who must go through this terrible disease, but remember there's a light at the end of the tunnel.
At age 59 I was diagonosed with invasive breast cancer. 2 weeks later my friend of nearly 30 years was diagnosed with the same thing. We do a lot of things together but we never thought we would have breast cancer together! Our gynecologist, Dr. Marion Pandiscio, found the lumps on both of us and we both used the same team of doctors for treatment. She & I had a lumpectomy and I followed with radiation. She followed with chemotherapy & radiation since she was triple negative.
If there was one thing I would tell women it would be to get checked by your doctor. Nothing showed up on my mammogram or ultrasound. Only my doctor felt the lump. Thank goodness she insisted that I see a surgeon before dismissing it as nothing.
Having Valerie to talk to every day made the journey so much easier.
We are both on the road to recovery now and look forward to a lot more years together.
Chris Rudacille
Holmes Beach, Fl.
