Do chemotherapy patients always lose their hair?

[hellssaints]

Do chemotherapy patients always lose their hair?

and, if say, the patient was predicted to die within a month, is it likely that the patient could keep themselves looking thoroughly healthly, or would obvious signs of health deterioration show?

see.......someone close to me claims they have cnacer, and they have no proof to offer me, so i am looking for evidence to suggest they are lying.

[songbird2009]

I am in stage 1 of MM and I look perfectly "normal" for the most part.I have undergone a Stem Cell Transplant and bounced back pretty quickly. I have not had to go through any chemo thankfully but I have met several other MM patients who have who have not lost any hair(noticeably anyways). I hate that we are expected to look a certain way. There are so many advances in science and cosmetics now that allow cancer patients to look just fine. I looked perfectly healthy even after living with cancer for 2 years before treatments. If you think this person is lying for whatever reason, let them live their own life in their own shame. It does not make you any better to pry for answers to make them look bad. I hope they aren't lying because that is an awful thing to do but either way I personally think it's their own business.

[jdwithhcv]

During cancer treatments a few years ago, and again during the past year when I've done 46 weeks of chemo, I have been told "you look just fine to me."  Perhaps it was meant as a compliment, but I always wonder.  How am I supposed to look?  For my own morale and pride, I work really hard at maintaining my appearance.  I hate to look sick, so I cover my balding head and use "tan in a can" to cover my pasty face as much as possible.  

Believe me, I FEEL sick, no matter how I look to others.  Anybody who requires me to prove I'm sick or wants to pry into private medical information for "evidence" that I'm not lying, is invited to mind his own business.

[Mukenhimer]

I guess without knowing the situation, it'd be hard to know what symptoms/signs to look for (and chill danceswithbirdies, we've all seen the news stories of people lying about cancer for one reason or another or women who fake pregnancies/miscarriages, etc...  Some people are just evil.)

I would suggest offering to take them for treatments and ask for as much detail and information as possible (names of medications, which oncologist they're seeing, who their surgeon is, etc...)  Most people who do not have cancer couldn't even fake an educated guess for some of these questions.  I would approach it as a concerned (but cautious) friend or relative.

[hellssaints]

dances with birdies, i have many different reasons to beilve this person is lying. i am not so arrogant to assume they are lying, just that they have lied in the past and it wouldn't suprise me that they are **** it again

[danceswithbirdies]

I have done several different chemos.  Sometimes I lost hair, other times I did not lose hair and did not have "obvious signs of health deterioration"

Why on earth would you be so arrogant as to require "proof" that someone has cancer and what kind of person are you that you are looking for evidence that the patient is lying.  That is one of the most offensive things I have ever read on this board and if you are not ashamed of yourself, you SHOULD be.

[Emser]

As far as i know,  not always, depends on what form they are treated with, so not always a case of hair loss

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,

Chemotherapy affects the hair follicles and it may cause hair loss also called alopecia. But not all chemotherapy drugs cause alopecia and sometimes the hair loss is so small that it is not even noticed. Fortunately this hair loss is temporary and hair will grow back when treatment is over. Some chemotherapy drugs make other body hair fall out, such as eyebrows, eyelashes, beard, moustache, chest, underarm, leg and pubic hair.

Different types of cancer have different types of features. Some tumors of the head and neck have prominent visible location and they may cause a visible deformity. In some cases, due to the anatomical location of the tumors (like in tumors of the larynx, pharynx and oral cavity), certain vital functions like speech, swallowing and respiratory functions may be affected.

Other types of presenting features like weight loss or gain, fatigue, change in the physical ability like inability to participate in some physical activities are also there. Sometimes swelling of the limbs or placement of a stoma (in some gastrointestinal tumors)can be seen.

Pls do keep us posted if you want any other information.