Hair

It was pretty much a given from the start that hair loss was a very, very common side effect of the chemo. It fits neatly into the trope of ‘cancer patient’, and it turns out that one is based on reality.

What wasn’t clear to me is that it’s gradual. I basically expected it all to fall out over a couple of days - but that’s not how it works. Every time I brush my hair, every time I touch it, some hair comes out. Not much, but definitely more than usual - I’d say I find a month’s worth of hair in my brush every time.

This comes its own fun mental hamster wheel. When is the hair loss too much? Does it still look normal? Is my scalp starting to shine through? What is the point where I just give up and cut it all off? (a pro tip I got from a relative is to not go for the full shave but keep a bit of short hair)

I’m starting to see how a lot of people must get tired of waiting - choosing the ‘sod it’ solution rather than keeping on going with the chinese water torture.

There’s many much worse things in life than to lose one’s hair, it feels silly to be preoccupied with it, but there it is. Maybe I’m lucky to be have that mental space - things can’t be too bad when you can still worry about your appearance.