Dear Family and Friends,

Last night was the first time I have left the house without my wig, scarf or a baseball cap. We went to dinner at Benihana’s with all the kids and some friends (there were nine of us) and I decided to go “commando.” I was very self-conscious but observed that there were far fewer eyes on my head than when I tried this on the cruise in Alaska (where I was comfortable enough to attempt this being quite sure I wouldn’t run into anyone I knew).

Here’s the thing about hair and the time-line for re-growth ~I really can’t find much written on this. One of the nurses at the office said she was a hair dresser in her former career and stated that my hair would likely grow about a ½ inch per month. That’s sounds good to me so I’m going with that thought. However, when did the clock begin? When did that “month” start? Was it the last day of chemotherapy (which was May 29^th for me) or two weeks later? Or is it six weeks after that last treatment?

Here’s my cancer timeline which includes hair loss:

February 8^th, 2009: Dr. Benitez calls to say I have cancer

February 18^th, 2009: Lumpectomy and sentinel node dissection

March 17^th, 2009: Oncologist recommends chemotherapy

March 27^th, 2009: Chemotherapy # 1

April 13^th, 2009: Hair cut and started to wear wig

April 17^th, 2009: Chemotherapy #2

April 27^th, 2009: Hospitalized x 3 days

May 8^th, 2009: Chemotherapy #3

May 29^th, 2009: Chemotherapy #4

June 30^th, 2009: Radiation starts (every weekday for 33 treatments)

July 16^th, 2009: First outing without baseball cap, scarf or wig.

So, what does my hair look like today? Well, it is very dark with a dose of gray. I really forgot I was a brunette as I’ve been “blond” for about a decade now. I once read in Ladies’ Home Journal (I mean this literally) that as we grow older we should lighten our hair because it makes us look younger. I don’t mean to imply that Ladies’ Home Journal is something I would consider a peer reviewed, scientific journal but for some reason I read and believed it and acted upon it. Now, here I am with new hair growth and it doesn’t look anything like the hair I’ve been sporting for the last ten years.

Hair salon today:

I’m going to see Linda at 9 a.m. for a “color” and a “trim”. I hope she doesn’t laugh when she sees me although I’m sure I’m not the first post-chemotherapy patient she has ever seen in her career and sadly I won’t be the last. I find myself pondering the following; if I color the gray hair popping up amongst the darker colored hair, perhaps it will look like there is more hair than there really is?

It’s a theory – because I really don’t know if it will work. Here are my concerns about this color thing.

1) My hair is new and fragile. I’m concerned that the chemicals will be too strong and cause the new growth to fall out (people have actually warned me that this can occur)

2) I worry that the dark color will get on my scalp between the sparse hair and I will be left with a stained scalp – which would look awful before it dissipated.

I’ll let you know how this all turns out.

My thoughts and prayers to you and yours.

Love,

Veronica