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Hair Loss After Chemo Part II, Mom's Point of View


Mathew always had awesome hair.    


Rock and roll hair.
When he first started treatment, they shaved his head. 


He still wasn't bald, plus it represented the beginning of treatment. It was temporary until the cancer was gone and he was well again.

Before treatment started, Mathew was so sick I wondered how he would accept the change. He hadn't wanted anyone seeing him when he was first hospitalized. But I was surprised how quickly he adjusted to the new look.

Then when treatment started and his hair fell out it coincided with the tumor responding to the chemo, so overall he looked so much better than he had for a long time. Less bloated and healthier color. I was so happy he was responding to the treatment, that being bald didn't bother me. I'm a Mom, I thought he looked terrific.


Mathew was dismayed over the bald look at first. It made him appear younger, and since he also lost his eyebrows and eyelashes, he referred to it as that "kid with cancer" look. No one was going to mistake his baldness as a fashion statement. He got used to that too. 


Though by August, since he hadn't been able to receive any chemo, the last treatment was early July, his hair started to grow back. As his inability to receive treatment continued, I began to see the hair regrowth as our powerlessness. People would comment on how nice it was that his hair was growing back. They didn't stop to think what it must mean. When Mathew passed away, he had short hair and a mustache. Since, as I have already mentioned, I am not reading ahead in his journal, I don't know if he writes any more about his hair, being bald or having it grow back.

If you haven't read the first part of this part about hair loss after chemo, read Mathew's point of view, a journal entry.





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