Getting a cancer diagnosis is scary and bad enough. Then, if you’re among those who learn you will need chemotherapy, the kind where you will most certainly lose your hair, it feels like receiving insult upon injury. You’re going to feel lousy and lose your hair. Thank you, NOT!
Receiving this news may have you scrambling for solutions. Perhaps, though, you’re not even ready to deal with anything. Loved ones will want to jump into the void to help you. They may provide advice or buy you gifts. They are well-intentioned, and it’s hard to say no when your world feels like it’s been turned completely upside down around you. But one thing few people but survivors can really tell you is how the seasons affect what you probably want to wear on your head when you’re bald from chemotherapy.
I received my diagnosis at the end of March and began chemotherapy late mid-April.
In my case, Spring was fully underway, and the weather was pleasant. I was told the kind of chemotherapy I received in the first phase of my treatment, a combination of the two chemotherapy drugs Carboplatin and Taxol, would definitely lead to baldness. My hair began falling out around Day 40 of my treatment plan, which meant it was around early June. June 5th to be exact. Summer hadn’t arrived yet, but by then I had already cut my hair into a pixie, and I noticed something right away: the back of my neck was cold!
My shoulder-length hairdo before chemo
Before my treatment and hair loss began, I had a shoulder-length hairdo. I was so used to having hair covering my neck that every little breeze now caused me to shiver. This fact became even more important as the air conditioning kicked on once summer got here. I’m the kind of person who’s usually cold in an air-conditioned setting as it is, but having no hair made things much worse. At night, I always wore sleeping caps, my whole head was otherwise so cold.
As spring transitioned into summer, my headwear selection began changing.
The days got hotter, and I stopped wearing many of my wigs, as they were not great quality and felt itchy and clammy on my head. By day I began wanting to wear lightweight, breathable or sweat-absorbing materials on my head like cotton and other fabrics like bamboo (“vicose”), bandanas, beanies, or baseball caps.
On infusion days, everything changed.
The infusion center, kept air-conditioned year round, was always freezing. On infusion days, I needed to wear a top that could give access to my port so I couldn’t wear a turtleneck top, but I really wanted to have my neck covered. When I discovered the pre-tied scarves with long, full tails, I was thrilled! They became my go-tos. They were comfortable, didn’t make my head itch, and kept my neck warm. Because I was getting infusion weekly for the first 12 weeks, I also mixed-up my summer headwear on infusion days by wearing a baseball cap with built-in hair. These are great products – mine even sort of looked like my old hairdo under a cap -- so I felt really confident and more like my normal self in them.
My baseball cap with hair at a chemo infusion
As summer transitioned into fall, I found my needs for my headwear changing again.
I wanted to move away from summer colors and into more fall tones. I also didn’t need fabrics that were so breathable. In fact, as the weather continued to cool, I wanted a bit more heavier materials to keep my head warm. I began wearing wigs again.
Then it was October and I’d been in six months of treatment by the time I finished chemotherapy. Though I had some peach fuzz growing by then, it certainly wasn’t enough hair to keep my head warm. I continued to wear cozy-warm headcovers, including knit beanie caps and a fun newsboy style felt cap.
My after chemo peach fuzz hairdo
My favorite newsboy style felt cap
After Chemotherapy
I got my first official haircut on Valentine’s Day, nearly 11 months after my initial diagnosis. My hair was still super-short, which meant my ears and neck were still cold when I went out. I wore hats, hoods, and neck scarves to try to fend off the cold.
That’s the great thing about some of the headwear I purchased during that time: it had and still has staying power! Truth be told, I was already a hat person. I’m one of those lucky people with a head shape that looks good in hats. Cancer just enabled me to add some fun pieces to my collection that I still use to this day.
There’s a silver lining in everything if you look hard enough!