Cut your hair off in advance

Having long blonde hair before my cancer diagnosis meant that hair loss was going to be a bit of a challenge. I decided rather than wait for my hair to fall out, I would do something positive and give it to charity. There is an amazing charity called Little Princesses which makes wigs for children who are suffering with cancer or other illnesses that cause baldness. I had my hair cut off and then sent it to the Little Princess Trust, giving me a good feeling inside that I had helped a child to feel better during their illness. I then had time to get used to having a shaved head before my hair eventually fell out. When it did fall out, it all happened on one day (two weeks after the first chemo). By this stage it was only half a centimetre long so it wasn't especially traumatic. If I'd had huge clumps of long hair falling out I'm sure it would have been a lot more difficult to deal with. I didn't really feel too awful about losing my hair until after the last chemo, when the eyelashes had gone too. When I was going through treatment, my hair seemed to be the least of my worries, but as I started to get out and about again and resume normal activities, I did struggle with being bald. I don't have much advice apart from just know that people look beyond your hair and can see beauty in you even when you can't. And invest in some comfortable hats! Amanda.

I had below the shoulder length hair and a friend of mine who had previously been through breast cancer, advised me to have my hair cut short prior to chemo, she advised me to have a wig the same length as the new haircut so that it wouldn't be as traumatic when I had to wear the wig for real. I did just that, I had just become used to my new haicut before I started chemo and my hair started to fall out during week two after my first cycle. I then had my hair shaved along with my husband, son and two brothers who all had theirs shaved as well to support me. The men of the family have since had their hair shaved every time I have had a chemo cycle and in the process, we have raised lots of money for Cancer Research.
To be fair, losing my hair hasn't really bothered me, I was more worried about chemo side effects and being ill (I don't do illness). My wig is amazing and people really don't know it's a wig. Yes, it's a strange experience when you have your first outing because you feel paranoid but after a few outings, you realise that actually, nobody takes any notice as the wig is so 'real'. Debbie.