How long until hair is back to normal?

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  • melanie
    Registered User
    • Feb 2018
    • 123

    How long until hair is back to normal?

    My husbands baldness is a constant reminder of this terrible experience and the comments or questions from people are hurtful and getting very old. We are both eager to put this behind us and move on. It seems the hair is a major aspect preventing us from doing so.

    Its been 8 weeks since his chemo ended. Hair really started falling out around the last week of chemo and so he shaved it. For about a month or so there was no growth. Now there is some but it is so fine it looks more like arm hair than head hair. Looking a little spare as well. He hates it more than the cue ball look.

    I am wondering when we should expect his hair to be able to pass as normal? How long are we talking...3 months? 6 months? With summer coming he wont be able to wear a hat as much. It would be so great if he didn't need one!

    Thanks
    2/7/18- Husband diagnosed
    2/12/18- I/O- Stage 1b 99% embryonal carcinoma 1%seminoma/yolk -CT's clear -All markers in normal range
    3/12/18-4/1/18 Adjuvant BEPx1
    4/12/19- ONE YEAR ALL CLEAR
    4/2020- Two years all clear
    4/2021- Three years all clear
    4/2022- four years all clear
  • JeskiM69
    Registered User
    • May 2014
    • 806

    #2
    Melanie,

    Sounds like he is in what I called the "Peach Fuzz" stage of hair re-growth. I would imagine that in the next two weeks it should start re-growing in earnest. It should be pretty sudden too. Once it starts it will progress fast.

    I finished chemo in early July and remember having to shave at the end of September....so that was around 10-11 weeks.

    Funny thing is that I was the opposite of him....at the time I preferred the cue-ball on top. However I did want my beard back. I woke up one morning and walked past the mirror and did a double take thinking I had a smudge of dirt below my nose....instead it was hair....turns out that for me the first bunch of hair that came back was the mustache. So I sported the cue-ball/mustache look for a week and then the beard came back from the bottom up....my head came back from the top down at the same time as the beard.

    Just stay bit more patient. The hair is right around the corner now.

    - Matt
    March 4th 2014: [AFP = 2.5; bHCG = 6; LDH = 618]
    March 13th: Left IO 100% Classic Seminoma
    6.3 x 5.1 x 3.8 cm, no invasion of anything
    LDH never fully normalized
    Stage: IS
    Watchful Waiting
    May 1st: promoted to Stage IIB with two PET active tumors in the para-aortic lymph nodes 2.5 & 2.4 cm
    May 12th: started 3xBEP
    Neupogen during Cycle 2 and 3
    July 8th: Last Bleo shot of Cycle 3 -- chemo completed !
    August 4th: Post Chemo CT/PET scan
    September 4th: Port removed
    Jan 9th 2019: 4.5 YEARS ALL CLEAR !

    Comment

    • melanie
      Registered User
      • Feb 2018
      • 123

      #3
      Thanks for your reply Matt!

      His beard is definitely coming back faster too. So how many months post chemo would you say you felt like you had real hair? We kinda thought at 2 month post chemo he would be further along
      than this.

      I love seeing 3.5 years all clear on your signature! That give me hope and make me so happy for you Keep it up
      2/7/18- Husband diagnosed
      2/12/18- I/O- Stage 1b 99% embryonal carcinoma 1%seminoma/yolk -CT's clear -All markers in normal range
      3/12/18-4/1/18 Adjuvant BEPx1
      4/12/19- ONE YEAR ALL CLEAR
      4/2020- Two years all clear
      4/2021- Three years all clear
      4/2022- four years all clear

      Comment

      • JeskiM69
        Registered User
        • May 2014
        • 806

        #4
        I'd say around mid November. I didn't have my 1st haircut till around 5-6 months post chemo.

        About 4 months post chemo it suddenly curled up. I have naturally straight hair and didn't know what to do with curls. The cur lasted a month or so and then suddenly it went back to straight. Even now it's not the same as before. There's more of a wave than before....but that could be because I am keeping it much longer than I ever used to. Also, it's softer than before with a bit of a red tint.

        When it first came back there wasn't a single gray hair to be found. Then suddenly the grays came back. My beard is now mostly white. However the grays that were up top never came back much.

        - Matt
        March 4th 2014: [AFP = 2.5; bHCG = 6; LDH = 618]
        March 13th: Left IO 100% Classic Seminoma
        6.3 x 5.1 x 3.8 cm, no invasion of anything
        LDH never fully normalized
        Stage: IS
        Watchful Waiting
        May 1st: promoted to Stage IIB with two PET active tumors in the para-aortic lymph nodes 2.5 & 2.4 cm
        May 12th: started 3xBEP
        Neupogen during Cycle 2 and 3
        July 8th: Last Bleo shot of Cycle 3 -- chemo completed !
        August 4th: Post Chemo CT/PET scan
        September 4th: Port removed
        Jan 9th 2019: 4.5 YEARS ALL CLEAR !

        Comment

        • melanie
          Registered User
          • Feb 2018
          • 123

          #5
          Wavy with red tint sounds pretty good! And a little silver fox beard action too

          Thanks for giving us/me a little more hope!
          Last edited by melanie; 05-22-18, 12:56 AM.
          2/7/18- Husband diagnosed
          2/12/18- I/O- Stage 1b 99% embryonal carcinoma 1%seminoma/yolk -CT's clear -All markers in normal range
          3/12/18-4/1/18 Adjuvant BEPx1
          4/12/19- ONE YEAR ALL CLEAR
          4/2020- Two years all clear
          4/2021- Three years all clear
          4/2022- four years all clear

          Comment

          • JoeTheAstronaut
            Registered User
            • Dec 2016
            • 344

            #6
            A few months for me, and my hair was always very thin - now it's thicker and darker... It will come back, hopefully better than before!!
            July 2016 - Left I/O
            December 2016 - BEPx3
            All clear for 2.5 years now + new baby!

            Simplify Cancer: Man's Guide to Navigating the Everyday Reality of Cancer
            My Testicular Cancer Support Kit
            First Oncologist Visit Checklist
            Simplify Cancer Podcast

            Comment

            • MamaAng
              Registered User
              • Sep 2017
              • 90

              #7
              My 25 yo son had coarse, poker straight hair prior to chemo and now has soft, wavy hair and a "splotch" of gray on one side. He's 6 months post treatment and, initially, his facial hair growth was CRAZY but has now calmed back down. He's missing the fuller beard he was rocking a few months ago lol. He lost his eyebrows and eyelashes after his last round and that was devastating. They said it would take a while to grow back but they were full again in 3 weeks. Not sure if it will stay this way but he's grateful for any hair now!!

              Comment

              • JeskiM69
                Registered User
                • May 2014
                • 806

                #8
                I want to add one last thing (not hair related....but will help).

                The times I listed are approximate. The truth is that I don't recall the exact times anymore. I used to know precisely how long between the end of chemo to facial hair, arm hair, etc. Same goes for just about any post-chemo event in those first two years after chemo.

                What I am trying to say is that here I am now, coming up on four years, and I have mostly forgotten a lot of the chemo/cancer specific stuff now. Simply put: Time heals. You husband, your son, and even you will eventually simply, just move on from this, live life and mostly forget....it does eventually just become one of those crazy experiences that happened in your life.

                I do remember myself posting on this very board these same types of questions. Most of the people who answered said the same thing that I am now saying. Most of those men and women I have not seen on here since....they have most likely just moved on with life same as I have done.

                I always told myself to be patient and take one thing at a time. First getting back to work, then the port removal, then the hair coming back, then the holidays, the 6 month mark, 9 month, 1 year,etc

                It's a long journey, but we all make it. So will you and yours.

                - Matt
                March 4th 2014: [AFP = 2.5; bHCG = 6; LDH = 618]
                March 13th: Left IO 100% Classic Seminoma
                6.3 x 5.1 x 3.8 cm, no invasion of anything
                LDH never fully normalized
                Stage: IS
                Watchful Waiting
                May 1st: promoted to Stage IIB with two PET active tumors in the para-aortic lymph nodes 2.5 & 2.4 cm
                May 12th: started 3xBEP
                Neupogen during Cycle 2 and 3
                July 8th: Last Bleo shot of Cycle 3 -- chemo completed !
                August 4th: Post Chemo CT/PET scan
                September 4th: Port removed
                Jan 9th 2019: 4.5 YEARS ALL CLEAR !

                Comment

                • melanie
                  Registered User
                  • Feb 2018
                  • 123

                  #9
                  Thank you so much Matt. I am grateful for people like you who take the time to help those of us struggling to get on the other side of this thing.
                  2/7/18- Husband diagnosed
                  2/12/18- I/O- Stage 1b 99% embryonal carcinoma 1%seminoma/yolk -CT's clear -All markers in normal range
                  3/12/18-4/1/18 Adjuvant BEPx1
                  4/12/19- ONE YEAR ALL CLEAR
                  4/2020- Two years all clear
                  4/2021- Three years all clear
                  4/2022- four years all clear

                  Comment

                  • Davepet
                    Registered User
                    • Mar 2010
                    • 4459

                    #10
                    The thing about hair coming back is that it seems to be the biggest variable from guy to guy. I recall needing a haircut, just to even things up, at around two months. Mine came in so curly I bought a hair product to help straighten it some, it helped, but it was two years before it was close to what I recall, & I'm pretty sure, it's still different than pre-chemo.

                    The thing to keep in mind is we are beating cancer here, something that isn't very common yet with most cancers. We can't always get everything back to the way it was pre-cancer, but we live with the changes & accept them. His hair will regrow when it's ready, it may be different than his old hair, thicker, thinner, more gray, less gray, more curly less curly, etc. We've even had a few that ended up with various patterns of baldness that probably wouldn't have shown up for years without chemo.

                    Just focus on beating cancer & find a way to deal with the various side effects, some of them are inevitable. I don't think any of us get out of this without a "souvenir".

                    Dave
                    Last edited by Davepet; 05-26-18, 01:18 PM.
                    Jan, 1975: Right I/O, followed by RPLND
                    Dec, 2009: Left I/O, followed by 3xBEP

                    Comment

                    • Max5590
                      Registered User
                      • Jun 2018
                      • 4

                      #11
                      1,5 months after chemo my hair began to grow. but it felt like baby hair.
                      another month later I cut it down to 5mm and it feels like before now.

                      my girlfried said that my hair loss at the back got much better than before. at least one good thing about the side effects ;-)

                      Comment

                      • eodtech2001
                        Registered User
                        • Feb 2012
                        • 409

                        #12
                        My hair came back after 3xBEP like a big ole perm had been done. Like Dave said VERY curly was an under statment
                        Jan 2012- U/S mass in Left testicle
                        Feb 2012- I/O performed to remove cancer
                        Mar 1,2012- pathology pure seminoma
                        Mar 7, 2012 PET SCAN stage IIa
                        April 2012 Mayo clinic carbolite.
                        May 2012 carbolite failed, started BEP x3
                        August 7th 2012- BEP complete
                        April 2013 CT/PET show relapse
                        May 2013 RPLND
                        Aug 2013 Relapse again Started VIeP x2
                        Oct 2013 HDC AUTOLOGOUS
                        Dec 2013 HDC completed CT/PETSCAN 1.1 cm x .8 cm right lower lung lobe
                        Feb 2014 confirmed false positive all clear FINALLY !
                        Jan 2015 1 year cancer free Pet/CT scan
                        Jan 2016 2 years cancer free "Pet/CT scan
                        Jan 2017 3 years cancer free "Pet/CT scan
                        Jab 2018 4 years cancer free "Pet/CT scan, labs, xrays

                        Comment

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