Information about breast cancer
Your new hair after chemo
It is a major fear of many women treated with chemo for breast cancer: hair loss. Chemotherapy involves administering drugs that kill fast-dividing cells, such as cancer cells. Unfortunately, these products do not discriminate against other fast-digesting cells: the cells in our hair follicles.
Hair follicles are structures in the skin from which hairs grow. These cells divide every 23 to 72 hours. When you receive chemo, your hair can become thinner and you may lose your hair, both your head hair and body hair. Sometimes your eyelashes and eyebrows also fall out. How quickly this happens depends on the type of chemotherapy and your individual sensitivity. Your hairdresser will advise and assist you.
Usually, after chemotherapy, you get your hairstyle back the way it was before. Some women, who had their hair dyed for years, rediscover their natural hair color. Occasionally, the new hair has a different color and also feels different.
- 3 to 4 weeks after last chemotherapy: soft down
- After 1 to 1.5 months: the first real hairs
- After 2 to 3 months: 2 inches of hair! Demi Moore for her role in G.I. Jane
- After 3 to 6 months: snappy short head
- After 1 year: ample room for a stylish short haircut
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Pink Monday offers advice and support on returning to work after cancer
Most self-employed people going through cancer feel they could have used more emotional support during their illness, according to new research from the VUB. Pink Ribbon vzw, through its project Pink Monday , frames all breast cancer patients who want to get back to work after their treatment.
Reading: the breast cancer handbook - Anna van Wittenberghe
In 2019, Dutch writer and translator Anna van Wittenberghe received her breast cancer diagnosis. Because the book she was looking for did not exist, she took matters into her own hands. She turned that unfindable book into reality. Earlier this year, she released The Breast Cancer Handbook, a guide for those facing the terrible disease. Annette Van Hoof (65), also a fellow sufferer and bosom friend of Pink Ribbon, has read the book and gives us her personal view.
Breast reconstruction?
Gone are the days when oncologists were only concerned with removing breast tumors. Because breast cancer is so common - and sometimes affects very young women - specialists started looking for new surgical techniques that focus not only on healing, but also on aesthetics.
