Hair Falling out

This week has been a difficult week for a number of reasons and I shall do a separate post to resume.

However, I thought it worth doing a separate post on the onset of hair loss as I know it is something that people immediately associate with chemotherapy.

Before I started chemotherapy my friend (who I shall call Napoli man) sheared my locks and took me from a normal haircut down to a grade 2 or 3.  It wasn't too severe but meant that if my hair started falling out immediately then I wouldn't be waking up with big clumps of hair on my pillow.  If you've been following the blog then you will see that this approach fits with the overall way that I am attempting to manage myself through the whole experience.

Anyway I popped in to see Napoli man a few days ago and he said "Right time to take it really short because you are due to start the second cycle of chemotherapy and your hair is unlikely to last".  Now whilst Napoli man is a top qualified Toni & Guy stylist he is not a top qualified oncologist, so you might question his authority on the subject.  However, he has the unfortunate experience of watching his daughter go through chemotherapy as a baby.  I am pleased to say that is a tale that, whilst apparently miserable, has had a very a happy ending.  She is now a bouncing and mischievous 5 year old in good health.

So off the hair came down to grade 1 on Tuesday lunchtime.

I must admit I noticed short stubbly hairs on my laptop on Thursday but didn't connect.  All us men need a good wife though to announce that our hair is falling out. The hair on top of my head is going patchy and I don't think it will be long before it goes.

It's never been a big issue for me.  I was asked whether I wanted a "cooling cap" to try and preserve my hair when I received my first dose of chemo.  I have heard that cooling caps are not particularly pleasant and when I queried why a bloke would be that bothered I was surprised by the nurse's answer.

My attitude for my personal circumstance  has always been that whilst I don't want to lose my hair, it isn't a major concern in the wider scheme of things.  It may be simplistic but this is how I look at it

• Getting a secondary cancer - That would be bad as death would be the likely outcome
• Having  a large part of my oesophagus and stomach removed - bad but inevitable, short of a miracle
• Losing my hair - not my greatest concern

I say this in in full realisation that it would be traumatic for many people and my attitude has always been that it is something that would be more difficult for "members the fairer sex".  Some people might think that chauvinistic but I just feel that society places a lot more emphasis on women's appearance and most (but not all) buy into that philosophy.  As a man, I am not complaining :-)

What surprised me about the nurse's response was that it is often young men who struggle the most.  I must admit that whilst I know that you can get cancer at any age I hadn't considered a lot of cancer sufferers to be young, but she pointed out that there are a number of young men who have testicular cancer.

So all previous jokes about hair loss aside and now it is happening.  Am I bothered?  My attitude is the same as I anticipated; it is not something I welcome but it's not a big issue for me (D.A. Decorator I'm going to look like you soon, but without the chin).