Dana,
Congrats on getting over with the LP shunt! I hope you feel better and better every day. I lost almost all of my hair after my surgery 18 years ago. I was not completely bald, but you could see a lot of scalp all over. My mother-in-law cried when she me bald in the back like an old man. Surgical stress, megadoses of steroids and tremendous weight loss (over 20 lbs) made me lose so much hair. Once it started shedding, it was impossible to stop. However, new hair came in pretty quickly. I had to get a very short cut otherwise I would look totally ridiculous. What helped me get back better hair than before are hair products that increase circulation to the head ( to this day I use some but the brands changed, I now use Nioxin and VitaTress) as well as special attention to the diet- lots of protein, fruit, vegetables, extra vitamins and minerals. Obviously nothing low calorie but no empty calories either, just large portions of good healthy food.
The rationale behind it is that when body recovers after surgery, all the nutients (and you need more than average at this time) go to the wound, and the body sacrifices hair production because it needs as much as it can get. By increasing your intake of nutrients by mouth, the body gets what it needs and has some left to resume hair production. In addition, all those hair products for hair loss increase the circulation to the hair follicles so they can utilize the nutient-rich blood and also supply additional nutients topically.
As far as a wig goes, I purchased one but never wore it because I read somewhere that it is not recommended in cases when the hair is growing back because it impedes circulation and hair quality and quantity will be affected. My hair became so thick and healthy, my hairdresser was shocked! Hope yours will, too!
Eve
