The Naked Eye

Turns out, I did lose ALL of my hair. What makes chemo folks look different, I've determined, is our lack of facial hair - especially the eyebrows! When those vacate, one begins looking a bit like a visitor from a parallel universe, if you know what I mean. Case and point: see the close-ups.

These pictures were taken ~2 weeks post-surgery.
Hardly a hint of hair.

No time for eyebrows this day.
But you get the idea.

I look normal to myself without any makeup, but when the total hair loss thing caught up with me (~2 weeks after surgery/6 weeks after my last chemo), I looked weird even to myself. Enter my makeup lesson from the Look Good Feel Better seminar I attended months ago. Time to turn those notes into practical application!

Luckily for us post-chemo folk, the total hair loss days are not long. Just last week, I noticed tiny, mini eyelashes. Not long enough to pull at - not even long enough to apply mascara onto - but they exist! Also, a "shadow" of eyebrows...like I had shaved them off. The hair growing back was just under the skin - and even THAT made me look more human-like than before. Then the stubbles started coming out. It's a slow process, and there's a good portion of me that's reluctant to fully celebrate each hair's arrival. After all, I may lose it all again. Bummer.

Front stubble.

Back [of head] fuzz.

My frizzy, teddy bear-like hair is soft and I'm using an equine shampoo to see if it helps. Yes, this means I'm using horse shampoo. See picture to the right: Mega-Tek is supposed to help revitalize the growth and strength of the hairs. I am glad to see it coming back.

Not only do I feel like I'm gaining strength post-surgery, but I also feel like all of my rapidly growing cells (hair, nails, skin, etc.) are making a comeback of their own. My nails are still frail and were really thin from the chemo, so I'm using a nail hardener to help them along.

My skin is already back to normal everywhere that it wasn't. It's good to FEEL like a human to the touch again.