Hair Loss and Cancer Treatment
- Ayesha Khan, a reporter at FOX 5 in Washington, D.C., is a breast cancer warrior bravely sharing her ongoing breast cancer journey. Most recently, she gave an exciting update on her post-chemo hair.
- Khan has is currently receiving radiation treatments for her stage 3 invasive breast cancer. She’s already undergone a mastectomy and chemotherapy.
- Chemotherapy often causes hair loss which typically begins about three to four weeks after beginning chemotherapy and continues throughout treatment. Woman can expect regrowth around four to six weeks after they complete treatment, but changes to hair color and texture can occur as it grows back.
- Experts tell SurvivorNet that grieving over a cancer diagnosis often represents the end of them being a "healthy person." They encourage embracing those emotions because it can help them get through tough steps along the way such as hair loss.
The Washington, D.C., based journalist finished chemotherapy treatment for her stage 3 invasive breast cancer in April. But the drugs took a big toll on her hair.
Read MoreShe used a cooling cap to help reduce her hair damage, but it didn’t salvage all of it.
Did you catch my, after #chemo new look reveal @fox5dc? I have to say, I'm beginning to slowly feel like myself again! #fightoverfear #breastcancerawareness https://t.co/TAfUX6XvJi
Ayesha Khan (@AyeshaKhanNews) June 24, 2022
“When cooled, the blood vessels in the scalp constrict, reducing blood flow to the hair follicles,” she explained. “That means less chemotherapy medication can get into the hair follicle cells. The cold also makes those cells less active, so chemotherapy drugs don't target them as quickly.
“I believe the invention worked to preserve some of my hair, but most of that is just dead, cooked hair.”
But that was until now. After researching to find a local hair expert who had worked with chemo-affected hair she found Eivind Bjerke. And he had been treating and styling chemo hair for more than 30 years.
“I have seen your hair before all this, and it's gorgeous. But it'll be that again,” Bjerke told her. “We are going to take care of you.”
And take care of her, he did. In the latest installment of her FOX 5 series, Cancer: Fight over Fear, she revelead her new hair transformation and explained how happy it’s made her to have healthy hair again.
“I love my new look,” she said. “I can run my hands through my hair, and I really am feeling like myself again.”
At the end of her latest cancer-update, Khan also shared that she was currently going through radiation, but getting closer to finishing treatment.
Ayesha Khan's Cancer Diagnosis
It was Friday, July 20, 2021; it was a hot summer day in the DMV area. Ayesha Khan was meeting a co-worker in the field to work on a story, but when she arrived, she was on the phone with her doctor.
Her doctor said: "Brace yourself, the biopsy came back…"
"All he had to say was 'brace yourself' and I just knew," Khan says. Her worst fear was confirmed: she had breast cancer.
More specifically, the tumor was classified as invasive ductal carcinoma. This is the most common type of breast cancer; about eight in 10 invasive breast cancers are invasive (or infiltrating) ductal carcinomas. Khan's tumor was in two different places, right behind the nipple; one was 2.8 centimeters in size, and the other was 1.1 centimeters.
Aggressive Breast Cancer in Young Women
Khan received her devastating diagnosis at age 39, a few weeks shy of her 40th birthday. That is relatively young to receive a breast cancer diagnosis, considering organizations like the American Cancer Society (ACS) says women should begin yearly mammogram screening for breast cancer at age 45 if they are at average risk for breast cancer. The ACS also says those aged 40-44 have the option to start screening with a mammogram every year, and women age 55 and older can switch to a mammogram every other year, or they can choose to continue yearly mammograms.
Breast cancer mostly occurs in older women, but it is possible for women under the age of 45 like Khan to be diagnosed. About 9% of all new breast cancer cases in the U.S. are found in women younger than 45.
"And just like any woman," Khan says, "I never imagined being that statistic."
In some ways, a diagnosis for a younger woman can often be even more devastating, Dr. Ann Partridge, an oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, tells SurvivorNet during a previous interview. This is because the disease is likely to be a more aggressive form of the disease and at an advanced stage, as screening for younger women is not standard.
Hair Loss during Cancer Treatment
Many chemotherapies can cause hair loss or thinning, just like Salas' did, and this can be an incredibly distressing side effect for some. It's important to speak with your doctor about any personal issues that may be caused by treatment side effects including the loss or thinning of your hair. To help patients cope with hair loss, a doctor or nurse may be able to recommend a local wig-maker or other resources that can help slow down the process such as a scalp cooling cap like Ayesha Khan used.
RELATED: Preventing Hair Loss During Chemotherapy: Scalp-Cooling Devices
Hair loss typically begins about three to four weeks after a woman begins chemotherapy and continues throughout treatment. Woman can expect regrowth around four to six weeks after they complete treatment, but some patients may experience some changes to hair color and texture when it begins growing back. Keep in mind that the hair loss associated with chemo is temporary just look at Khan’s lovely 'do!
Prioritizing your mental health and doing whatever will make you the happiest is of the utmost importance when undergoing cancer treatment. And whether you decide to rock a bald head or go out with a fun wig, there are no right or wrong answers.
Take San Jose resident Teri Chow, for example. Chow was 44 years old when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She knew she would lose her hair during chemotherapy, and she even tried to prepare her family for the change by cutting her long locks into a short bob. In a previous interview with SurvivorNet, she explained the process and how she decided to cope with the side effect.
"I think it was shortly after the second round of chemo, so that would've been about four weeks after starting chemo, [my hair] started to fall out," Chow says. "It was coming out in the shower [and] it was coming out just combing [my] hair."
How Ovarian Cancer Survivor Teri Chow's Wig (& Humor) Helped Her Cope With Hair Loss
Some women choose to shave their heads right away so they don't have to watch their hair fall out, but Chow decided to start wearing a wig immediately. She even looks back on that time in her life with some humor. Se would often laugh because many people didn't even realize she was wearing a wig.
"The other moms at the school didn't realized that I was going through this, and they'd compliment me on the wig and not knowing it was wig," Chow laughs. "I made the mistake to somebody I thought knew. I went, 'Oh, thank you,' And I moved the wig forward and she freaked out [and I was] like, 'Sorry, sorry, I thought you knew!'"
Then when her hair eventually started to grow back, Chow decided to switch things up and ditch the wig. She visited a hair dresser who transformed her short, curly, gray locks into a whole new look with a straightener and some dye.
And while Chow may have handled the hair loss journey with a bit more laughter than some, it's important to know that everyone's experience is individual. Feeling upset over losing your hair is very common and a completely warranted emotion.
Experts tell SurvivorNet that grieving over a cancer diagnosis often represents the end of them being a "healthy person." They encourage patients to feel through those emotions because the grief can be a crucial step to accepting the new normal and being able to push through treatment. After grieving the initial shock of hair loss, it might be easier to accept and find some positivity from there.
"I help patients acknowledge their grief so they can move on. I think the more we try to push [those feelings] away and say, 'Oh, it doesn't matter,' it tends to stick around a little longer," says Laurie Ostacher, a medical social worker at Sutter Bay Medical Foundation in the Bay Area. "If [a woman] seems like she's having trouble moving on, we explore [that too]."
Contributing: Sydney Schaefer
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