Hair post cancer..

We live in a world where image can sadly at times be more important than anything else, social media is full of filtered images, hair extensions are now a norm, hair colour is constantly changing, brunette one day platinum the next. I wanted to touch and talk about a hair concern a little more real, one in which 1 in 3 people may encounter but is rarely spoken about, hair during and post cancer.

I didn’t want to call this a blog, but instead I thought I’d share my story on how I first met Sarah and how I was then so shocked to hear that she had been fighting breast cancer and then how lovely it was to be able to do her hair for her.

I first met Sarah at her sisters wedding hair trial in 2019 She was Emma’s maid of honour and I noticed straight away her gorgeous, thick, dark, shiny hair.  They had such a great relationship and it was a joy to work with them both.

 On the day of Emma’s wedding Sarah chose to wear her hair in a pony tail, with a simple braid. To be honest Sarah could have washed and rough dried her hair and she still would have looked stunning!

Fast forward a year to 2020, had just opened my salon and Emma contacted me to colour and cut her hair I was so shocked to hear that shortly after Emma’s wedding ( October 2019), Sarah had sadly been diagnosed with breast cancer. 

 Sarah came with Emma to her appointment, they hadn’t seen each other much during lockdown, as Sarah had been shielding, so it was lovely for the sisters to spend some quality time together. 

 While waiting for Emma, Sarah browsed the Natulique hair colour chart and “oohed and ahhed” at the gorgeous array of colours available. 

 During her chemo treatment, Sarah had decided to wear a cooling cap. This is worn during the treatment of certain types of cancers -  its cooling effect reduces blood flow to the scalp which in turn reduces the amount of chemotherapy medication to reach this area. This can help to reduce or even prevent hair loss during this gruelling treatment. Cooling caps need to be worn for 30-40 before treatment as well during and after the chemotherapy has been administered. Meaning that it can be worn for quite some time and can be quite an uncomfortable process.

 Unfortunately, some people that wear a cooling cap can still loose their hair. Sarah was really fortunate as she had thick hair before her chemo therefore so held on to a lot of the length but it became really thin and lost hair in patches, and  it was badly damaged by the treatment. Chemotherapy not only attacks the bad fast growing cancerous cells but can also cause damage to healthy cells, including skin and hair. which is why hair can be so brittle after treatment.

 A few weeks after attending Emma’s appointment, Sarah contacted me to book her own appointment as it had been 6 months since her last chemo and therefore her hair had grown back enough and able to be styled.  I was honoured that she felt comfortable enough to trust me with cutting and colouring her hair. I sent her a patch test set in the post, with no adverse reactions we were all set to cut and colour. It was that weekend that Boris announced we would be entering another national lockdown, typically on the day before her appointment, a disappointed Sarah messaged me to see if there was any way I could squeeze her in before lockdown, luckily I could. 

Appointment

After a long consultation, we decided to use a rich mahogany and blend in the hair which had withstood the treatment, I had no doubt that Natulique colours (98% organic), full of essential oils, and ingredients such as sunflower seed extract and wheat protein would transform Sarah’s grey, dry brittle hair (hair can quite often grown back grey after chemotherapy due to loss and change of pigment), as well as nourishing her dry scalp.

After her colour I applied an Intense repair Treatment and then cut her hair, I felt it was only right to to try and keep as much of Sarah’s length as possible after she had endured many uncomfortable hours wearing a cold cap to try and keep hold of her hair. 

 I was so pleased with the results, shiny, healthy, touchable hair. It was great to see Sarah so happy with her hair, I really do believe that our hair can transform our mood and confidence when it is feeling its best. 

When I was diagnosed with Cancer, and told I would need chemo, of course one of the things that struck me was the thought of losing my hair and having to deal with looking totally different. Obviously at the time this was something I just tried to put to one side and focus on getting rid of this horrible disease.

When I was asked by my chemo nurse on my pre assessment day if I had considered the hair loss part, she asked me if I had thought about scalp cooling. I had a few people give me stories about this and I had mixed feelings about it.. would it ensure all my cancer was gone if I chose it, would it be extremely painful, would i be able to endure it, and would it even work. The nurse was so reassuring and said that she was pleasantly surprised with the technology. I decided that I had nothing to lose and to give it a go, if I didn’t get on with it, I could stop using it but would have to at least try it as I would never know. 

My experience of the cold cap, actually was a very good one compared to a lot of other patients who I spoke to afterwards. For me, as I had very thick hair to start with, I didn’t find it as cold or unpleasant as I had built it up to be.. the main thing I complained about was the strap around my chin being tight, haha! I actually think because I’d never had a chemo session before it distracted me from the actual treatment part. 

I wore the cap for 30 mins before they started treatment, then for the length of administering the drugs which was about 30 mins, and then a further 90 mins afterwards. This is a big drawback for some people, as if you have long sessions of administering the drugs, which can be over an hour for some patients, this greatly increases your time spent in hospital, and all you want to do afterwards is get home, not wait around even longer than needed. However for me, now I’d started it I wanted to see it through and I felt the benefits would be worth it.

After getting to the last couple of sessions, my hair had thinned a lot, I had some patches which were bald, therefore the coldness of the cap were a lot more intense, but having only a couple to go I decided to stick with it. I was extremely lucky as I didn’t lose all my hair, and to people who didn’t know what I looked like beforehand would not necessarily know I was having treatment as I was able to disguise the patches well. I received so many compliments from people that I really didn’t look like “a cancer patient”. This to me made a massive difference to pushing me through my treatment, and how I actually felt about myself through it all. Going through cancer in itself is a horrible experience so any little things that make a difference to pick you up was worth it to me 

My hair actually started growing back quite thick and fast after my last chemo.. again I am very grateful for having thick hair naturally so believe this helped however one drawback to thick hair is how much thickness you realise you have actually lost when it starts to come back in very large bushy bits!! Also my hair has come back a lot wavier and curly than it used to be (a common thing) and of course grey (some would have been natural anyway and some due to the chemo). I had to wait 6 months after my last chemo before considering dying it again as your hair is so delicate after treatment and therefore in that time my hair had looked very un-cared for, and un styled. I was too worried about doing anything to it other than washing with a baby shampoo. 

 After visiting Kate with my sister, it made me realise that it was time to bite the bullet and do something. My hair had grown back enough and it was the one thing now that was making me look and feel like a recovering cancer patient.

Kate is such a friendly, caring and lovely soul and the fact Emma used her for her wedding hair I already knew how good was. 

I had no hesitations at all about asking Kate to do my hair too. Not only is she amazing and understanding but the range of products & colours she used were gentle and free of any nasties that would be a problem for my post chemo hair. 

As soon as the dye had been applied I felt amazing, he transformation had started. Kate took her time to show me techniques to ensure my hair styled properly due to it being so short in places it was prone to being spiky and wouldn’t sit flat but with what Kate had achieved there was none of that anymore! 

The style which Kate created made me look and feel like my “old self”. No one would even notice that I had been through chemo as it looked like a “normal” hairstyle which finally had a shape and style  There was no sign of the short spiky bits and it all blended seamlessly. For the first time, I walked out of the Kate’s salon and I didn’t feel like a cancer patient, I felt like me again, which is the biggest and best feeling ever and something I am extremely grateful for. 

All I can say to Kate is Thank you, and I cannot wait to keep coming back for colour touch ups and trims .