Sinead or Donald?

[Keri]

I was a little freaked before surgery because it felt like he was shaving so much off. He shaved underneath my long hair, but it was quite a lot above and around and behind my ear. Then he had to shave off all these little circles in various places all over my head for MRI leads.  I thought, 'great, i'm being punished for never donating my hair to chemo patients.'   I couldn't tell anything post op because my head was all wrapped up and I didn't care anyway. A few days later, after being home and getting to wash my hair, I was impressed at how well my 'barber' did. All my long hair covered everything. I'm 8 months post op now, and if I put my hair up in a pony tail, I have a little tuft that hangs down like short hair, almost shoulder length. Overall, it really wasn't any big deal, and usually not noticeable.

But I hope I don't look like Donald.

Keri

[ppearl214]

I thought, 'great, i'm being punished for never donating my hair to chemo patients.' 

I've seen your hair, you got great hair, and you could still donate to chemo patients
xoxo
Phyl

[DR]

I will be shaving the majority of my hair off on October 31st.  My reasons are:

1) My hair is short anyways (1.5" - 2") so it won't be that big of an adjustment
2) Keeping it very short will make it easier to keep clean prior to getting the "all clear" to suds it up
3) It can all grow back together and will give me a 6-8 week break from haircuts
4) Most importantly, my kids are going to be the barbers.  This gives them a "part" in the whole situation, a nice, fun, nonthreatening part!

[leapyrtwins]

4) Most importantly, my kids are going to be the barbers.  This gives them a "part" in the whole situation, a nice, fun, nonthreatening part!

DR -

this is a great idea 

Jan

[Kaybo]

I was thinking that that was a GREAT thing to do too so that everyone is involved!  Hats off (hair too) to you, DR!!

K

[CHD63]

DR .....

You have a wonderful attitude about this whole thing.  What a special way to involve your children.  Many times children are very frightened by illnesses of their parents and do not know how to express it or ask appropriate questions.  What a great way to help them relax and know that you are confident.

(I might guess that you have some uncertainties yourself, but it sure helps to strive for the upbeat attitude!)

Good for you and keep us posted.

Clarice

[Keri]

Oh, please post pics after your kids cut your hair!!!

Keri

[DR]

Oh, please post pics after your kids cut your hair!!!

Keri

No problem.  I have several coworkers and friends looking forward to seeing it as well.

[leapyrtwins]

Cool 

I'm looking forward to the pictures, too!

Jan

[Nickittynic]

I actually did kind of a combo of what Seal wanted to do and DR did - my son and husband gave me the mohawk I've always wanted a few weeks pre-op. I figured if I was ever going to have a chance for it this was it!

[leapyrtwins]

Nicole -

pictures? 

Jan

[Nickittynic]

Jan-
I have "before and afters" on my blog - http://buginthebrain.blogspot.com
I think the post is in September somewhere and is titled "The Haircut".

[Alchemist]

My surgery was translab. The usual incision site had too many blood vessels, so they had to shave adjacent...think sorta left back quadrant (almost) with a bit of the front. The incision went down about an inch, maybe a bit more, on my neck, plus the incision behind my ear. Although I had fairly long hair, there was no way to hide it. I had thought of cutting my hair prior to surgery, but could not do it. After surgery, I wore lots of hats, baseball caps & scarves. I bought pretty scarves in preparation to return to work. My sister stayed with me for about two months. Before she left, I had her take it all of. And I have kept it short. The scar is still visible...it is that short. Of course, some people stare, but it's okay.

And I had to wait 2 and a half weeks after surgery to wash my hair...that was the best feeling ever!

Ronnye

[Adrienne]

I'm with whoever said to wait until after surgery to decide what you want to do.  No one was more surprised than me when I came out of surgery with barely anything shaved.  There is no way you would ever know what I had just been through.  Here is the thread with pictures (some additional pictures on the 3rd page of the thread).

Glad you've got a sense of humor (or sense of tumor, as my friend used to say) about it.

http://anausa.org/forum/index.php?topic=9767.msg111298#msg111298

Adrienne

[pjb]

Hi, I thought I was being smart and cut my somewhat long hair I figured it to would grow back all together I was very surprised that there was no need to cut the hair at all they only shaved the incision site which was an "S" and if i still had the long hair it would have covered it and no one could tell..