The Eyelashes

The eyelashes (and hair) are coming back.  The hair loss side effect of chemo has been most interesting. A week and a half after starting chemo back in April I noticed a lot of hair in my hairbrush.  I was hoping to be part of the small percentage who does not lose hair but it was not to be.  By two weeks minus one day when I took a shower and washed my hair, there in the brushout was a mountain of hair.  That was it.  I went in for chemo the next day, left after my treatment and drove (actually my husband did the driving) to the hair salon where I had purchased a wig before I even began chemo.  I told the woman I was there to pick up my wig and have my head shaved.  “I don’t want to see myself.”  I told her so she buzzed off the hair, put on the wig and then turned me toward the mirror.  It was not until I got home that my curiosity got the best of me.  I took off my wig, peeked around a corner and peered into the bathroom mirror.  “Not as bad as I thought it would be.” I thought and then came around the corner and stood in front of the mirror for inspection. “Weird hairdo!”   Phil told me.  But the family soon got used to seeing me without hair as we headed into the summer months.  A few months later the eyebrows and the eyelashes fell out.

Now that chemo is over and the hair is starting to grow, one of Phil’s favorite things is taking off my wig when I come home and rubbing my head while telling me how soft my hair is.  I have gotten quite a few head rubs in the past couple of weeks from him and others in the family and daily comments on noticeable growth.  My hair grows slowly so it will probably be many months before I go out in public without a head covering but at least for now I can put mascara on my very short eyelashes.