← Return to Wigs: Prepping for hair loss due to chemo: Where to start?

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@merpreb

@ahurlbert30- Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I am a lung cancer survivor. When I was about to have my chemo I was all set to shave my head. My hairdresser even came to my house and was ready to cut. My hair was long and thick and I was determined to be a warrior and brave the baldness! Just before I sat down for the first snip Jen asked me if I was sure that the chemo that I was going to get would make me lose my hair. WHAT? I called my to-be-infusion nurse and she said not always! So I didn't get my hair shaved. My hair thinned but eventually filled out.

Are you sure that your chemo will make your hair fall out?

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Replies to "@ahurlbert30- Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I am a lung cancer survivor. When I was about..."

@merpreb I'm probably a bit late to the party here but my experience was similar to yours. I was prescribed a pretty heavy duty regimen of folfirinox (pancreatic cancer) and was convinced my hair would fall out. I cut my hair short but my hairdresser wasn't keen on cutting it as short as I wanted - she kept saying "not everyone loses their hair", but from all I'd read about the side effects and the type of chemo I thought no way could it stay in place.

I didn't want huge hanks of my long hair coming out in my hands and thought hair loss would be more tolerable with shorter hair. Held off on the wigs but bought several head wraps and caps.

What do you know? Other than some slight thinning, not noticeable to anyone but me and my husband, my hair stayed put! Some people suffer little to no hair loss, even on a pretty harsh form of chemo. Not sure if it's genetic or what.