CopeLink

In a recent posting to the New York Times health blog “Well,” oncology nurse Theresa Brown relates her experiences in helping two patients shave their heads when the gradual hair loss from chemotherapy became intolerable.

The stories she shares reveal, in her words, “how difficult it can be to lose your hair as a by-product of saving your own life.” Of course, each patient reacts to treatment-related hair loss in their own personal way, as reader’s comments on the blog illustrate:

“I had chemo last year and loved being bald. My son and I went together to have our heads shaved and our local paper made a video of it,” says one woman. Another writes, “I lost my hair twice due to different treatment regimens and each time there were emotions associated that I did not expect.”

CancerCare social workers offer the following tips to individuals coping with hair loss:

• Buy a wig before all of your hair falls out. This way, you will have a good match to your own hair color.
• Get a professional fitting. There are full-service wig salons that fit and style wigs.
• Find out if your health insurance company covers the cost of wigs. If so, remember to save your receipt.

For additional tips, read CancerCare‘s fact sheet, “Tips for Managing Hair Loss.”

One commentator to the “Well” blog offers the following helpful advice to parents with cancer who are contemplating going bald:

“Parents with school aged children should talk to their kids and set expectations with them. Our kids were fine with their Mom being bald AT HOME, but when she was at school they requested that she wear a wig so she would look normal.”

Do you have some tips of your own? We invite you to share them with our readers by leaving a comment on this page.